On Thursday, Southwest surprised those faithful customers when it jettisoned one of its most beloved idiosyncrasies—a free-for-all seating system. Rather than getting a specific seat in advance of a flight, Southwest passengers were assigned a boarding position and once on the plane were free to pick whichever seat they wanted.

In the wake of that decision, Southwest loyalists are wondering if the move will be a one-off or if the culture that set Southwest apart is being dismantled.

“They’ve always had that extra sauce versus being just another one of the legacy carriers,” says Roger Knight, a private-equity investor from Rowayton, Conn.

Bradley Bolin, a 64-year-old from Minneapolis, similarly worries that Southwest’s latest changes signal that the carrier is morphing into “another Delta or United.” The open seating appealed to him because of how it put all Southwest fliers on relatively equal footing since its cabin wasn’t divided into different classes.

“I don’t know if I’m just an old socialist, but I liked that you didn’t have to walk through all the beautiful people to get to your seat,” he says.

Seating switch-up

Southwest on Thursday said it would introduce assigned seats on its flights soon. The airline plans to reconfigure its plane cabins to create additional seats with extra legroom that will be sold at a premium.

Southwest Chief Executive Bob Jordan said the airline’s new boarding policies are expected to bring in more than the roughly $1 billion the carrier makes currently from selling extras, including priority-boarding slots. The added revenue comes as the airline faces falling profits and a showdown with activist investor Elliott Investment Management. The company also expects that ending open seating will lead to flights boarding more quickly and less squabbling with passengers.

Southwest fans say they had many practical reasons for loving the open-seating framework.

Matthew Mahoney almost always chooses to fly with Southwest.

When he and his wife, Elaina, planned their honeymoon to Cancún, Mexico, they even opted to book most aspects of the trip through Southwest. Being over 6 feet tall, key for him was the ability to get his preferred seat—without paying extra.

“When we get on, I don’t necessarily care to sit up at the front,” he says. “I’d rather have the extra legroom in an emergency row.”

Courtney Dinyarian also likes to fly with Southwest whenever possible. The 39-year-old lawyer has three children and another on the way, and relies on Southwest’s current preboarding policy to find seats together. With other carriers, she said, she dislikes having to scour for seats when booking her airfare and how flights often cost more for her family as a result.

Funny flight attendants

The open-seating concept is just one attribute that sets Southwest apart. Southwest fans speak lovingly about how the airline is a rare company that embraces a good joke. Indeed, the company’s flight attendants are famed for their warmth and humor.

“There’s been a couple times where I’ve been in stressful situations, and the kind of humor that you get from Southwest flight attendants more than other airlines helped diffuse that a little bit,” says Brian Makela, a 30-year-old from Alexandria, Va.

Makela says he’s inclined to consider traveling with other airlines in the wake of the change.

“If I’m going to sit in the back of the plane on a Southwest flight or the back of the plane on an American flight, I’m going to do whichever one saves me a couple dollars,” he says. “I wouldn’t pay $20 to hear a couple jokes during the safety briefing.”

Southwest executives said the current setup can create more anxiety for some families, and then puts pressure on crew to figure out how to solve problems for families who board late and need help finding seats together.

Ryan Green, the executive charged with leading Southwest’s commercial transformation, said that almost 60% of customers check in to flights in the first 30 seconds the window is open and 75% are checked in within the first hour.

“So if you’re a busy family and you don’t hit the check-in window right on the nose, that causes anxiety,” he said. “I think families at the end of the day are going to love the change.”

Open-seating opponents

Southwest CEO Jordan said he expects the company will win skeptics over. He said he was taken aback by the overwhelming support for assigned seating in the company’s own surveys. “I was surprised that it was an 80-20 split,” he said.

The open-seating policy was cited as the No. 1 reason why travelers defected from Southwest to another airline, Jordan said during the company’s quarterly earnings with analysts.

In addition, Southwest’s boarding process allegedly led some people to try to game the system by claiming they need extra time to get seated in order to board earlier in the process.

Some travelers are already embracing the change.

Noah Robinson, founder and CEO of mental-health startup Innerworld, travels between Nashville, Tenn., and Chicago frequently. Until now, he has opted to fly airlines other than Southwest. He said the open seating was the main reason behind his choice.

“You just want to be in a routine and know what’s happening,” Robinson says. “They’re going to be back in my rotation.”