Taylor Swift and Her Mom: They’re Just Like Us! (Or Were, When They Flew Southwest)

If you’ve flown Southwest Airlines or are even familiar with the Airline of Love, you know the company uses an open-seating policy.

I live in Los Angeles and generally fly Southwest for short hops from Burbank to Las Vegas, the Bay Area, the odd Phoenix trip.

You might find this hard to believe but it’s not uncommon to see celebrities flying Southwest. (Not everyone needs first class — especially when they actually have to pay for something themselves.)

Before Taylor Swift became TAYLOR SWIFT, she apparently flew Southwest on a fairly regular basis.

When she gave the NYU commencement address last year, Tay-Tay admitted to something most everyone who flies Southwest does: whatever they can to passively persuade fellow passengers from sitting next to her and her mom.

I went out on the road for a radio tour, which sounds incredibly glamorous, but in reality, it consisted of a rental car, motels and my mom and I pretending to have loud mother/daughter fights with each other during boarding so no one would want the empty seat between us on Southwest.

Can anyone empathize?

Back in the days when my one of my clients sent me on more business trips than they do now (#COVID), their preferred airline was Southwest. When a bunch of our group ended up sitting next to each other and in adjacent rows, it was a lot of fun.

During one such trip, a coworker and I were in the window and aisle seats, respectively, on a Friday morning Southwest trip to Vegas for a job that night. We’re polar opposites: she’s gorgeous with some piercings and tattoos. I’m, well, not. 🙂

But one of our crew ran late — and we did everything possible to keep the middle seat saved for her.

We did somewhat the opposite of T-Swift and Mama Swift: we laughed a lot (even at stuff that wasn’t remotely funny), showed each other pictures on our phones, were animated while talking with each other, and leaned across the middle seat as if hinting Don’t you dare be the one to break up this conversation to anyone who eyed 20B.

Worked like a charm. In fact, our coworker took a later flight (without telling us) and no one sat between us. Score!

These days, I’m guessing Ms. Swift decides who sits where — on her private jet.

H/T: Johnny Jet