A-B-C, and now 1-2-3

Moooooooo. The Cattle Call at Southwest Airlines is going away… sort of. When you check in for a Southwest Airlines flight, you will still be assigned a letter (A, B, or C), but the letter will also be accompanied by a number. A-1 through 60, B-1 through 60, and C-1 through 60.

A video on the Southwest Airlines website shows a line of columns. Each column represents a group of five on one side, and five on the other. For example, the first column reads 1-5 on the left side, and 31-36 on the right. The next column reads 6-10 and 37-42. Now you, the passenger, sit in the seats in the waiting area (instead of on the floor in your designated line). When your letter is called, you jump up and queue up to board the aircraft.

“After testing assigned seats in San Diego last summer, we quickly learned that the majority of our customers did not want us to abandon our open seating but they did challenge us to enhance the way we board our aircraft.” Southwest Airlines’ CEO Gary Kelly said. “Through innovative thinking and a lot of long-hours, I am confident that our employees have successfully built a solution that answers our customers’ direct request, while protecting and even improving our aircraft efficiency. All the while, I am proud to say, preserving our out of the box thinking that makes us different.”

The assignment of letters will still be based on the time at which one checks-in, so it is still important to check-in for your flight as early as possible. The airline allows Ticketless passengers to check-in and print out a boarding pass beginning 24 hours prior to the flight’s departure time.

View a sample of the boarding pass.

View the video.