New Boarding Process For Southwest Airlines Begins January 2026

Beginning January 27th, 2026, Southwest Airlines will implement its new boarding process. Numerical boarding groups (1–8) will replace the current alphabetical groups (A–C). Southwest stated that "the goal of this shift is to maintain an efficient and orderly boarding approach that is optimized to assigned seating, prioritizing Customers into boarding groups based on seat location, beginning with Extra Legroom seats in boarding groups 1 and 2."

Travelers can expect to be assigned to one of the following boarding groups based on Southwest's outlined criteria:

Groups 1-2

• Fare bundle type: Choice Extra
• Upgrade to an Extra Legroom seat with any fare
  • Upgrade available to A-List Members within 48 hours of departure with any fare at no additional cost
    
• A-List Preferred Members (seat selected at time of booking, will board no later than Group 2)

Groups 3-5

• Fare bundle type: Choice Preferred (will board no later than Group 5)
• A-List Members who are seated in a Preferred or Standard seat, who can make this seat selection at booking. (will board no later than Group 5)
• Cardmembers will board with Group 5 if they are not assigned an earlier boarding position based on seat type, fare type, or tier status

Groups 6-8

• Fare type: Choice
• Fare type: Basic (last to board)

For more details on Southwest's assigned seating and boarding process, click here.