Greetings from Denver! This update is coming a day late as we have been busy hanging out with our Denver based travel friends and chasing kiddos around town. This week saw some big developments as Southwest finally rolled out assigned seating and a social media post by President Trump sent airlines across the country scrambling. Those stories and more in the ATX Jetsetter weekly recap for the week ended February 1, 2026.
In this post:
- Southwest Rolls Out Assigned Seating on All Flights
- American Express Adds Two New Centurion Lounge Access Restrictions Beginning in July 2026
- President Trump Announces Decertification of Bombardier Aircraft in the United States
- American Airlines Employees Receive a Paltry 0.3% Profit Share
- Review: The Osaka Station Hotel, Autograph Collection
- Summary
Southwest Rolls Out Assigned Seating on All Flights
Southwest Airlines has officially overhauled its boarding process with the introduction of assigned seating. This change marks the end of an 18 month transformation of the Dallas based carrier, leaving travelers with mixed feelings. Personally, I’m happy with the changes though social media shows that passengers have mixed feelings.
American Express Adds Two New Centurion Lounge Access Restrictions Beginning in July 2026
American Express is adding two new restrictions for cardholders with Centurion Lounge access. Beginning in July 2026 cardmember guests must be traveling on the same flight as the cardmember and access during layovers is limited to five hours before departure of the connecting flight. Both of these seem like reasonable changes and I believe the impact will be minimal.
President Trump Announces Decertification of Bombardier Aircraft in the United States
President Donald Trump took to social media announcing a decertification of all Canadian made aircraft. earlier this week. The White House later clarified that the decertification would apply only to newly built aircraft, which is a problem in and of itself as that’s not how certifications work for existing aircraft types. We have more questions than answers at this point and I’m sure this isn’t the end of the story.
American Airlines Employees Receive a Paltry 0.3% Profit Share
American Airlines released its year end financials for 2025 and the numbers are ugly. The carrier posted a net income of $111 million on revenues of $54.6 billion. American employees are expected to receive a paltry 0.3% of their income in profit sharing, placing it well below the other Big 3 U.S. carriers.
One has to wonder what motivates American employees to go to work each day as the carrier clearly lacks a corporate identity and likely needs a leadership overhaul in order to turn things around.
Review: The Osaka Station Hotel, Autograph Collection
We had a fantastic stay at The Osaka Station Hotel. Looking back on it, it may be one of my top stays ever. The attention to detail and the friendliness and professionalism of the staff may not have fully come across in this review but, if you’re visiting Osaka, this place should be near the top of your list!
Summary
The major news stories this week came courtesy of President Trump and Southwest Airlines. While Southwest’s changes were known for some time, the potential decertification of all Canadian made aircraft made a few carriers scramble this week. Fortunately, that issue seems to be resolved for now, but who knows how that may change. As always, thank you for reading and for checking out the weekly recap for the week ended February 1, 2026!