This won’t be my usual blog post about something in IT. Instead, I want to bring attention to a change that has been announced at Southwest Airlines. Starting on January 27th, 2026, Southwest is changing to assigned seating. With this change, they are changing what had been the best policy for customers of size in the industry.

Currently, the policy (originally instituted due to a social media fight with Kevin Smith) is that a customer of size who cannot fit into a standard seat without encroaching on the seat next to them may purchase two seats and be reimbursed for one after flying all legs of the trip. Starting January 27th, 2026, the policy will have an additional requirement that the refund will only be offered if the flight is not full. Anyone who has flown with Southwest in the last few years knows that this means it will never be refunded.

So what is a customer of size? Well, it could be someone like me who is overweight, or it could be someone who is very fit and just muscular. It only means that you can’t fit into the imaginary rectangular prism that encompasses your seat. If you break the plane of space between you and the next seat, you are a customer of size. Part of the problem is that airlines have continuously pushed to put more seats in the same space. At the same time, the average passenger has grown taller and wider in the United States.

Go to any airline-related Reddit and you will find posts from travelers complaining about the person who invaded their space and made the flight uncomfortable. As someone who has been in that position, trust me, I’m not comfortable either as I try to smash myself into the window or the aisle to give as much space as possible. This is why I have enjoyed the current policies at Southwest that made me a very loyal customer.

Call to Action

So what can we do? First, sign the petition at #SizeFreedom to encourage governments to intervene for all fliers. Next, contact the airlines and complain. Unfortunately, a boycott really is not feasible because the US doesn’t have a good alternative to flying.

Beyond the customer of size issue, it’s time to start pressuring legislators to rethink the regulation of how private equity firms work. They’re basically like the parasitic aliens in Independence Day, they come in, strip a business of the useful bits and resources, getting as much money for them as possible, and then leave the hull and move on. Every industry is being hit by these parasites.