It's the end of an era at Southwest Airlines as the company has announced it is changing its seating process for the first time in more than 50 years.

In an announcement On Thursday, the company, founded in 1967, told customers it would switch to certain countries for the first time in its history. The airline has traditionally been characterized by its unique policy of not having seats assigned to passengers.

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“After listening carefully to customers and conducting extensive research, Southwest has decided that it will assign seats and offer premium seating options on all flights,” the airline said. “The airline has been known for its unique open-seat model for more than 50 years, but preferences have evolved with more customers taking longer flights where assigned seating is preferred.”

Southwest said that, based on testing, about 80% of customers prefer assigned seats, while 86% of potential customers want the same.

The airline said it hopes to attract more customers by adopting the new model, but did not specify when the changes would be implemented, revealing only that more details would be announced in September.

“Moving to select seats and offering premium legroom options will be a transformational change that affects nearly all aspects of the company,” said Bob Jordan, Southwest's president, CEO and vice chairman in a company statement. “Although our unique open seating model has been a part of Southwest Airlines since our inception, our thoughtful and extensive research makes it clear that it is the right choice – at the right time – for our customers, people ours and our shareholders.”

The decision comes later speculation in April when Jordan hinted at possible changes coming to the airline's boarding process after a rough first-quarter 2024 earnings report.

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“We're looking for new initiatives, things like how we sit and board our airplanes,” Jordan told the newspaper in that time. “Customer preferences change over time.”

Southwest Airlines it Was rose nearly 6.4% in a 24-hour period following news of the new boarding process on Thursday morning.