Around this time last year, Southwest Airlines announced that it would scrap its signature open-seating model in favor of a more traditional assigned seating system, chipping away at its identity as a “quirky” airline in order to better compete with rivals like Delta Air Lines and American Airlines.

A year later, Southwest is finally gearing up to sell its first assigned-seat tickets.

Over the past few months, Southwest has been slowly shedding the features that once made its brand stand out. The airline built its name around its uniquely standardized open-seating boarding system—which meant that every customer flew in the same kind of seat, without any divisions by price tier.

Last July, though, the airline announced that it would

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