Southwest to change extra-seat policy for plus-size passengers

The airline plans to remove the refund guarantee for eligible customers in 2026.

- By Karen GARCIA

TRAVELER CONCERNS now include reserving two seats together, along with other accessibility factors.

A change in Southwest Airlines’ seating policy has many advocates for the plus-size community saying the shift will create financial burdens and other barriers for this segment of the traveling public.

For the last decade, Jen McLellan has been a customer of Southwest Airlines because its “customer of size” policy allowed her to ride with dignity, she said in a post on Instagram.

Currently, travelers who “encroach upon neighboring seats” are encouraged to purchase an extra seat in advance of the flight to ensure it will be available. Upon request, Southwest has refunded the cost of the additional seat after travel.

The airline recently announced that, effective Jan. 27, the refund is no longer guaranteed.

A refund will be issued if the following conditions are met:

■When the flight departs, it has at least one open seat.

■ The traveler purchased two seats in the same fare class; both tickets need to be choice, choice preferred, choice extra or basic.

■A refund request is made within 90 days of the date of travel.

Alaska is the only other major U.S. airline that offers arefund on an extra seat, as long as there's at least one open seat on the flight at takeoff. Southwest’s current policy was something McLellan cherished, the traveler said in her post. It eased her mind that she wouldn't be the next “viral video of someone upset about sitting next to the fat passenger.”