Originally Posted by Jimmy The Squid

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore...7/daily24.html

Southwest Airlines, the dominant carrier at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, is changing the way it boards planes.

The airline's "cattle-call" boarding procedure -- in which the first passengers in line got first choice of seats, with some people getting in line more than an hour or two before takeoff -- is being replaced by a modified open seating plan. Passengers will be assigned a letter (A, B, or C) and a number on their boarding pass when they check in, and they'll board when their letter is called. They'll also line up in the airport boarding area by number from first (1) to last (60).

Officials at Dallas-based Southwest (NYSE: LUV) said they tested the system in San Diego and San Antonio before introducing it nationwide. They added that the passengers wanted some sort of open seating system during testing. The new boarding system will be in place by early November at every airport served by Southwest.

Southwest is the dominant carrier at BWI, controlling 52 percent of the fast-growing airport's market share.