Southwest May Start Assigning Seats

Southwest Airlines Co. may assign passengers to seats for the first time because the company thinks it can make the change without adding to the time planes spend at airport gates.

The carrier probably won’t make a decision for at least a year, President Colleen Barrett said.

A study within the last year showed the Dallas-based airline that ticketing-data technology it was developing may increase efficiency enough to consider assigning seats, Barrett said.