Southwest Airlines has announced that it will end its long-criticized “wheelchair priority boarding” practice on January 26. The airline will switch to an assigned-seating system from that date onward. The change is expected to reduce abuse of the system, as some passengers in the U.S. request a wheelchair simply to board earlier, yet are able to leave the aircraft without any assistance.
This issue isn’t unique to Southwest. At many airports, using wheelchair services allows passengers to bypass lines at check-in, security, and passport control.
