I really don't see why the reservation, management, w&b, fuel, and unrealistic requests to change pax names last minute would be significantly more difficult for Southwest to deal with than it is for American, JetBlue, or Alaska, all of whom specifically offer any/all pax the ability to purchase a second seat. Delta and United also offer this, but less specifically and so I assume, without the same level of protection. Regardless, why would you expect Southwest to see so many more extra seat pax, or struggle so much more with them?

The boarding issues are the only part I can see being substantially different for Southwest vs the other airlines who offer this successfully. Where boarding is concerned, in my (admittedly limited) experience, a 'seat reserved' pass tucked into the tray table latch effectively prevented any arguments or delays. In all honesty, I almost never see the seat saving showdowns I've read about here - the longest delays seem to be from people who *have* found a seat, and then require some ridiculous amount of time to find their way out of the aisle.
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