This Southwest customer ended up causing a scene as he clogged the boarding line. He insisted he wanted the seat a woman was saving for a friend. For him, it was a matter of principle. He cited Southwest’s open seating policy.
But as it turns out, that policy is a bit fuzzy.
The incident has sparked debate about whether he was actually in the right. And lots of people are actually on his side.
Man Insists You Can’t Save Seats On A Southwest Flight
In a viral video with more than 1.2 million views, content creator Anna Arney (@anna_arney) captured a tense confrontation between two passengers on the Nashville-to-Seattle flight.
Southwest flights are pretty much first-come, first-served. So when a man saw an open seat on a recent flight, he tried to take it. But he was told by the person in the aisle seat that she was holding it (it’s unclear if it was one seat or two) for a friend.
“I hate when people do this. I hate it,” the man said, upset but relatively calm.
“She’s not supposed to save the seats,” he insisted to the flight attendant.
The man pointed to the airline’s open seating policy. He tried to get clarification on it from the flight attendant, who didn’t seem quite sure if the policy fit the scenario. She frankly seemed like she just wanted the man to let it go—whether she thought he was right or not.
The man refused to back down. So the flight attendant called for backup from a higher-level supervisor and asked the seated woman not to keep going back and forth with the guy since it was only escalating things.
Did He Get The Seat?
In a follow-up video, Arney showed that the man did get to sit and put his stuff away, but it was short-lived. Soon after, he was escorted off by airline staff, and the cabin erupted in applause as he left the aircraft.
“He caused us to be 30 minutes behind schedule and multiple people missed their connections because of this,” she shared in the caption.
Arney added that a Southwest flight attendant told her there is no policy against saving seats on the airline.
Is There Really An Anti-Seat Saving Policy?
The incident highlights confusion around Southwest’s seat-saving rules.
The airline is known for its open seating policy (which allows passengers to choose any available seat after boarding based on their boarding group). However, the company has historically taken an ambiguous stance on whether passengers can hold seats for traveling companions.
The Wall Street Journal reported that “Southwest has never taken a stance on seat-saving because it says it doesn’t want flight attendants to become seat police.”
The airline also publicly acknowledged the dilemma in a 2022 tweet (seemingly responding to another incident) that read:
“All Southwest flights are open seating, and we don’t have a specific policy for or against saving seats.”
Seat-Saving Debates Won’t Matter Much Longer
The entire controversy over saved seats may soon be moot. For the first time in 53 years, Southwest Airlines is ending its iconic open seating policy and switching to assigned seats starting January 27, 2026, ABC News reported.
The Dallas-based carrier announced the historic change last summer in an attempt to improve the airline’s bottom line and stay competitive across the industry. Southwest opened bookings for the new system on July 29, 2025, for flights departing Jan. 27, 2026, and beyond.
The new system includes three seat categories: extra legroom seats, preferred seats, and standard seats.
The airline will also implement a new group-based boarding process optimized for assigned seating. Extra legroom seats will board in Groups 1-2, while premium fares, tier members, and credit card members will board earlier in the process. Customers will also have the option to purchase priority boarding beginning 24 hours before departure to be among the first to board.
Commenters React
“I am on his side. 1 person in the group pays for a better spot in line then saves seats for the others that didn’t pay. He is right,” a top comment read.
“If its open seating, why can’t he take the seat?” a person asked.
“Whether he is right or wrong why would he want to sit next to her the entire flight after all that,” another pointed out.
BroBible reached out to Arney for comment via TikTok direct message and comment and to Southwest via email.