Warning: Don’t Use This Software!

The Southwest Airlines boarding process has a rich and colorful history. Bucking the industry standard of providing assigned seats in different cabins, Southwest has historically offered an “open seating” policy that favors an assigned boarding order to determine who is first to enter the plane and choose a seat. Beginning 24 hours before a flight’s departure, passengers are arranged into groups (A1-A60, B1-B60, and C1-?) according to a formula determined by Southwest:

  • Elite travelers (Business Select, A-List Preferred, and A-List) are given preferential spots in line (A group)
  • “EarlyBirds,” passengers who pay Southwest $12.50-$40 to use an automatic check-in service to secure a prominent spot (A group)
  • Travelers who wait eagerly at their computer to check-in online exactly 24 hours before departure are next (A group)
  • Later online check-ins (B, C group)
  • The poor souls who check-in at the airport on the day of the flight (C group)

Southwest has argued that revenue from the EarlyBird system helps keep costs low despite evidence to suggest that the Southwest “free-for-all” boarding system, which frequently causes traffic jams and long lines as passengers scramble for available seats, may be more trouble than it’s worth. From 2011’s Experimental Test of Airplane Boarding Methods:

the average cost to an airline company for each minute of time spent at the terminal is roughly $30. Thus, each minute saved in the turn-around time of a flight has the potential to generate over $16,000,000 in annual savings.

Given that Southwest flights experience delays averaging 25 minutes or ~$750/flight, the airline needs to entice at least ~60 passengers (46% of the flight) to use the EarlyBird check-in service to offset the cost of delays including time wasted during random seat selection. Southwest doesn’t publish statistics on how many passengers opt for EarlyBird check-in but empirical evidence gathered by checking-in exactly 24 hours before a flight suggests that the number is closer to 20%.

Perhaps due to their LUV of tradition (before the widespread usage of online check-in Southwest passengers were given plastic plackards at the gate indiciating their position in line), Southwest seems reluctant to nix their admittedly frustrating boarding process and has become increasing litigious against companies that threaten the EarlyBird model. The airline has requested “injunctive relief and damages” in federal court from companies offering automatic check-in services promising front-of-the-line treatment for much less than Southwest’s own $12.50 fee (CheckInSooner.com in 2010 and MySouthwestCheckin.com in 2012). Countless free services and apps have received cease and desist orders citing Southwest’s Terms of Service which prohibit “any…robot…or other automatic device…to access…any portion of the Southwest Airlines sites”.

The Gray Area

What then, dear reader, are we to make of Yet Another Southwest Check-in, a piece of software that has the ability to automatically check into Southwest flights 24 hours before departure, guaranteeing a prominent spot in line and bypassing the EarlyBird fee? Is the mere existence of the application illegal or, like lockpicks, is the tool only criminal when used to explicitly violate Southwest’s terms? Does the wording of Southwest’s terms also prohibit “automatic devices” such as screen readers for the blind from accessing the Southwest site? I believe it is in the public interest to know how much power companies have over what you can and cannot create, publish, and employ to explore a website. I only wish that it did not require contractual disobedience to do so.