What did they change it from?
Well, no, instead you have them all lined up next to the numbers trying to squeeze in around each other. Neither method really gets your boarding pass scanned faster than the other, as both eventually have backups down the jetway. Zoned boarding usually works pretty well to spread people out as they settle in to their seats, just as open seating does as people will tend to spread themselves out to grab real estate.
Which airline? The one time I ever paid for a seat assignment and they had to change me (to accommodate a family that was split up) they simply moved the two of us to similar seats closer to the front. This never happens on SW because they never try to accommodate anyone... it's every man for himself.
On SW that only happens near the end of the boarding process as the poor suckers look for a seat, or group of seats, when the FA's tells them to just sit between two strangers. I think people sit down quickly when there are lots of seats available because many will tend to just go to an open area to avoid making someone else wait, but once people get all the way to the back, and nothing but middle seats are available all though the plane, then it becomes a much slower process as people now don't even know where they can go, and must scan the entire plane, sometimes going up and down the isle, since they don't have an assigned seat they can just go to and sit in. The same thing happens in theaters, lecture halls, etc.
Also, depending on how many through passengers there are, and how many special needs and families there are, A16 could really mean A35 or higher. I've been at A2 and boarded in a connecting city and got on to find a bunch of people already on board, some taking the best seats on the exit.
Here's a question: If you pay for EBCI, but your flight coming in to the connecting city is late, and they are about to board your next flight, but you are still taxi-ing in, will they hold up the entire boarding process just because you are supposed to be standing at position A1 or A17, etc, or did you lose 10 bucks (or worse if you paid for business) and get a middle seat once you get off your plane and get to the next plane already boarding?
What did they change it from??? Well, before the current system, it was a true cattle call. You checked in, and got a boarding group..but it was only A, B or C. So, when you got to the gate, you went to the 'chute' that was your letter. And it was first come, first served. So, if you wanted a chance at the seats you preferred, you had to be there at least two hours prior to departure. And then you had to remain in your 'slot'....if you left, you lost your place in line....you stood there unless you were lucky enough to be one of the first 6 or 7 and got to lean against a wall area. It was a true cattle call.
I have never seen people squeezin in to fill their number spots..it works very nicely. It is so much better, in my very humble opinion, then standing there, politely waiting for your zone or row number to be called, all the while watching other, less polite people, scoot in before their row/zone was called. I watch it happen every single time I fly. How do I know?? Just by listening...I hear...'Yeah, row 18 is close enough to 10, let's go.'...for example.
And what airline changes seats??? Almost every single one. Every time I have flown with Delta, I have had seats changed due to changes in flights...either schedule or equipment changes. Same thing with JB, although not nearly as frequent. It has happened on AirTran and DirectAir (most recently).
And A16 means A16. There are always going to be those who are medical preboards or minors flying solo. But, it's never a huge number. All the times I've flown SW, I've never seen more than 6 or 7 medical preboards for one flight, and I've never seen A1-15 taken up completetly. At most, it's 4 or 5 passengers. Families do not board at the beginning anymore. That changed at the same time the current system came into being. There always seemed to be an excessive number of families flying to MCO, and of course they had to board with the entire family of 10...so, yeah, that pushed everyone else back. But now, those families board inbetween the A and the B groups...so they impact the B group, not the A group.
I have seen people asked to move by flight attendents many times on SW. I watched one woman walk around the gate area for 90 mins, with her son. This was prior to the current boarding process. We all boarded, and as the doors were being readied for closure, that woman came running onto the plane with her son..he was about 4 or 5. The FAs then asked for someone to give up their seats so the woman could be seated with her ds. No one moved. The FA finally said that the plane wouldn't move from the gate until that mother and child were seated beside each other. So....a couple gave up their seats (that they had stood in line for for over an hour..they were a few people behind me) and they were split up, seated rows apart from each other. So, that mother and child did whatever they wanted to and still got to sit together. I've seen FAs ask for people to give up their seats many times...it is not uncommon.
As far as connecting flights, yeah, it's an issue. I know that I've taken only one connecting flight with SW and it worked out fine as far as boading went. But, I don't make flights that have too short a time between flights.
Is it a perfect system? No, it's not. But, it isn't the devil incarnate as some would have us believe. It is a very easy system to use. You stand in that line for about 10 mins, tops. And if you are in the B or C group, you remain seated until the previous group is boarded...no need to stand around, waiting.
Not to mention that SW seldom changes a flight once they put it out there. Yes, if there were to be an issue with the equipment or such, then there would be a change, but with SW, you don't have to continually be checking to see if your flight is still valid.
