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Big changes are coming to Southwest Airlines early next year. They will soon require plus-size passengers to purchase additional seats.
The policy is set to go into effect on January 26, 2026 and it is already gaining a lot of chatter.
Southwest Airlines New Plus-Size Passenger Seat
Southwest Airlines announced the new policy on their website. The initial announcement did not pick up much attention but when a screenshot of the policy made its way to Reddit over the weekend, chatter around Southwest’s new plus-size passenger rules exploded.
The policy stipulates that plus-size passengers who spill over the arm rest and into the next seat will be required to purchase an additional seat. Their extra seat policy reads:
Customers who encroach upon the neighboring seat(s) should proactively purchase the needed number of seats prior to travel to ensure the additional seat is available. The armrest is considered to be the definitive boundary between seats; you may review information about the width of Passenger seats.
Southwest, who used to be notorious for asking passengers to measure their carry-on bags before traveling, is asking passengers to proactively purchase two seats before traveling to avoid issues.
If the flight is fully booked and an additional seat is needed, the passenger will potentially be forced to re-book another flight. If the flight is not fully booked, the passenger who purchased a second seat will be able to receive a refund for the additional seat purchased.
This is part of ongoing changes from Southwest Airlines which historically did not charge for checked bags but is now charging. They are also assigning seats like other airlines when in the past it was a numbered system and ‘first come, first serve’ for seating.
All of this is happening at a time when America as a whole is losing weight. Bloomberg published an article earlier this year on how airlines could save tens of millions of dollars each year as passengers lose weight across the board.
Ultimately, this new policy from Southwest Airlines creates more opportunities for the airline to make money and for passenger to experience delays, harassment, and more.