You have got to be kidding. Southwest is only pleasurable if you like riding in a cattle car. Also, they board by the order you arrive, not by loading from the back of the plane first. So you get traffic jams in the aisle.
People will trade a lot for a low fare.
Also, who the hell cares about a reserved seat? And, if you can't get to the airport an hour in advance, then maybe you ought to sit in the middle seat.
No traffic jams on SW when I fly; I get to my window seat in the first boarding group just fine.
Other than the boarding order, how is this different than any other 737 flight you have been on? I fly exclusively on Alaska airlines and it's the same thing only they call row numbers. There are still idiots on every flight who think they own the aisle. Oh, and depending on the gate person calling the flight, it'll load front to back or back to front.
I didn't notice that at all. In fact the plane seemed to board much faster because everybody was grabbing choice seats just as fast as they could. Though I would change slightly their boarding policy. That is, issue numbers instead of letters and have people line up in the order that they arrived at check-in. That way you don't have to queue up at the gate after getting your letter.
Also, I'm not one of those jerks that have to be the first one off the plane. I'm talking about the people who are already out of their seat belts and hanging over the person next to them before the plane has even come to a stop. What I do is quietly sit, reading my book, until most of the people are off the plane and everybody is moving. Then I close my book and stroll off the plane like a normal person and by the time I get to the baggage carousel, the luggage is usually just getting on the belt. So I don't know what the big rush is with respect to getting off the plane. It doesn't make the luggage come any faster.