Southwest Airlines makes change reducing passenger movement in effort to lower injury risk

Southwest Airlines is making a change this week “to reduce the risk of in-flight turbulence injuries,” the company confirmed to FOX Business.

The airline is changing procedures for crew members and customers starting Wednesday. Rather than preparing the cabin for landing at 10,000 feet, flight attendants will start doing so at an altitude of 18,000 feet.

“It is the result of the airline’s close collaboration with its Labor partners and a robust approach to Safety Management,” Southwest said in a statement. “Nothing is more important to Southwest Airlines than the Safety of our Customers and Employees.”

Per FAA regulations, passengers are required to have their seat belts properly secured during taxiing, takeoff and landing. While the regulations do not define the term “properly secured,” passengers are required to follow crew member instructions regarding the use of safety belts.

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The interior of a Southwest Airlines plane. (Southwest Airlines / Fox News)

The change also means that cabin service will cease roughly 10 minutes earlier, USA Today reported.

According to a 2023 study by researchers at the University of Reading in the U.K., clear-air turbulence has increased in regions around the world. Over the North Atlantic, which is one of the busiest flight routes, the total annual duration of severe turbulence increased by 55% between 1979 and 2020.

Moderate turbulence increased by 37%, and light turbulence increased by 17%. All the increases were consistent with the effects of climate change, according to the study, which was published in Geophysical Research Letters.

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Passengers are required to have their seat belts properly secured during taxiing, takeoff and landing, per FAA regulations. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Weeks ago, a Scandinavian Airlines flight was rerouted back to Europe after severe turbulence forced its return. 

Back in August, a United Airlines flight traveling from Cancun to Chicago was diverted to Memphis, Tennessee, after the plane encountered “a brief period of severe turbulence” that left one passenger hospitalized and six others injured, officials said. 

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A Southwest Airlines plane departs Phoenix, Ariz. (Southwest Airlines / Fox News)

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Dallas-based carrier Southwest is pivoting from the so-called open seating model, charging a premium for the best seats, and offering red-eye flights, starting in 2026, the airline said in a September press release. 

FOX Business’ Jasmine Baehr, Daniella Genovese and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.