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With its most recent announcement, Southwest Airlines is definitely ready for the 2025 holiday travel rush. Ahead of what's expected to be one of the busiest Thanksgiving weeks in recent years, Southwest plans to expand TSA PreCheck Touchless ID to Atlanta, New York LaGuardia, Portland, Seattle, and Salt Lake City. To qualify for the faster security process, you have to be a member of the Rapid Rewards program, enrolled in TSA PreCheck, and have a valid passport. If you check all three boxes and are flying to or from one of the expanded locations, you can simply opt in through the Southwest app.
Southwest Airlines is also going to be restoring digital bag check, which lets you check in and pay for up to three standard bags before arriving at the airport. These changes come after the airline scheduled more than 4,400 flights on the Sunday after Thanksgiving alone. Considering it's typically the busiest travel day of the holiday, there will be 21 unique routes operating exclusively that Sunday. To maximize flight capacity, Southwest is also delaying the rollout of its "Extra Legroom" 737-700 fleet until January 2026. That'll give six additional seats per plane through the end of the year. It's not much, but it sure beats that WestJet reclining seat fee.
These Southwest Airlines changes are separate from the ones coming in 2026
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Speaking of those Extra Legroom planes, these holiday-season changes come as Southwest prepares for sweeping structural updates in early 2026. Starting Jan. 27, 2026, the airline will officially transition from its traditional open-seating model to new assigned seating. This change will also impact the gate area and the boarding process at every airport in the network. That means widespread physical changes and new digital systems for every Southwest flight after the 27th.
Gate areas will transition to two alternating boarding lanes marked with digital screens (which means no more of those metal stanchions Southwest fliers are used to). Preboarding and Priority Boarding will also get dedicated lanes for eligible passengers, including active-duty military and those who shelled out for Southwest's new Priority Boarding option.
In addition to physical updates, Southwest will also overhaul its boarding groups, retiring the A/B/C structure in favor of Groups 1 through 8. The new system is optimized for assigned seating and prioritizing customers based on fare type, tier status, Rapid Rewards benefits, and seat location. As with any big change, expect some hiccups in the early weeks (if not months) of these new policies rolling out. Being one of the most reliable airlines in North America, Southwest better get the hang of it quickly... or risk hurting their customer satisfaction.
