The reason you may be forced to take a middle seat on the plane – even when there are empty rows

Southwest Airlines’ transition to assigned seating hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing (or flying?). Among other complaints about bin space and the boarding process, there have also been issues with the implementation of assigned seating.

Longtime Southwest travelers will remember the old days – also known as four months ago – when passengers could choose any free seat on the plane. Now, Southwest works like pretty much every other airline: You pay for a seat assignment, or you gamble and have one assigned to you at check-in.

This is where some fliers are having issues. People who opt not to pay for a specific seat assignment may find themselves seated in the back of the plane, in a full row, even when there are plenty of empty seats. Sometimes, when passengers try and move into a less crowded part of the plane, they’re told it’s not allowed.

“I get that there’s assigned seating now, but we can’t move to empty seats either?” complained one Redditor. “I’m on my fourth flight today and exhausted. I’m in a middle seat on a full row, but half the plane is empty. I moved seats and the flight attendant made me go back. WTF? “

Another recent incident went viral, showing an airline employee telling a passenger they had to stay in their assigned seat or get booted off the flight. In some cases, flight........

© The Hill