Southwest Airlines (LUV) Flies to 4-Year High on End of 'Open Seating' Era

We recently published 10 Big Names With Explosive Gains.  Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) was one of the top performers on Thursday.

Southwest Airlines soared to a new four-year high on Thursday, jumping 18.70 percent to close at $48.50 apiece, as investors welcomed the end of an open-seating era following the company’s official adoption of assigned seating.

At intra-day trading, the stock jumped to as high as $49.12 before paring gains to finish the session just up by 18.70 percent.

This followed the company’s earnings call, where it announced the start of an “assigned seating” era, ending 54 years of open seating arrangement—an initiative expected to bolster the company’s profit margins moving forward.

“Just yesterday (January 27), assigned extra legroom seating became operational, and Southwest expects earnings upside based on how booking behavior related to these initiatives unfolds,” it said.

Last year, Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) saw its net income drop by 5.2 percent to $441 million from $465 million in 2024. Total operating revenues inched up by 2.1 percent to $28.06 billion from $27.48 billion year-on-year.

In the fourth quarter alone, net income jumped by 23.7 percent to $323 million from $261 million, while revenues grew by 7.4 percent to $7.4 billion from $6.9 billion.

"Southwest closed 2025 with strong momentum. Last year, we implemented the most ambitious transformation in company history, including bag fees, basic economy fares, assigned and extra legroom seating, Rapid Rewards program optimization, online distribution expansion, and free Wi-Fi for loyalty members. We also outperformed our cost reduction goals, strengthened operational reliability through new technology, and returned $2.9 billion to our shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. That foundation positions us well for long‑term success and sets the stage for significant earnings growth this year,” said President and CEO Bob Jordan.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.