Southwest Airlines rolls out assigned seating policy Tuesday

The days of rushing to check in for the best seats and line up to board a flight are no more at Southwest Airlines, as the carrier rolled out its assigned seating policy on Tuesday.

Instead of checking in for seat assignments and lining up for group A, B or C boarding, passengers will now select their seats when they book their flights.

Passengers who choose the most basic fare may still have their seats assigned at check-in. Other flyers will pick their seats when they book their flight, according to the airline.

"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," Southwest Airlines said in announcing the new policy. "Our premium fares and our most loyal customers will have access to better seat types and will board earlier in the process."

Standard tickets with regular legroom will be booked in the back of the plane, while travelers can pay extra to sit closer to the plane's exit with more legroom. Passengers also can pay extra fees for priority boarding to board the plane first.

No passengers will be able to choose seats after they board the plane.

"With assigned seating, you’ll select your seat during booking for most fares, and it will be saved for you," Southwest said on its website about the new policy. "Seat selection will no longer be based on boarding order."

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.