I'm wondering whether the perception that Southwest's boarding process is a "cattle call" stems from something other than open seating. To wit: Southwest pushes 2 to 3 times as many flights per day through each of its gates than do other airlines. This means that you often have passengers from two flights, rather than just one, waiting at a given gate. Southwest's gates could easily be twice as crowded than legacy gates for this reason alone.

What do people here think? Is the perception problem due to crowded gate areas or due to the people standing in line? If the number of people typically present at a Southwest gate formed a legacy-style mob, I don't think it would a pretty sight, even compared to long A/B/C lines.