An unofficial motto of Southwest Airlines’ open seating process for its people boarding its planes was once, “You can sit anywhere you want — just like at church.”

But after some 50 years, Southwest passengers will soon encounter a different process when they book and board a flight. The airline will offer assigned and premium seats and a revamped boarding model, it announced on Thursday.

Adopting a system of “assigned and premium seating is part of an ongoing and comprehensive upgrade” for customers, Southwest President and CEO Bob Jordan said, adding that research shows passengers “overwhelmingly prefer” an assigned-seat system like that used by other carriers.

In another change, Southwest also said it would introduce redeye flights. It did not say when the new policies would be enacted.

The company unveiled the dramatic shifts in how it does business as it announced financial results for the second quarter, showing net income of $367 million on record operating revenues of $7.4 billion. In the previous quarter, Southwest lost $231 million. The airline has $11 billion in liquid funds, but it also has $8 billion in debt and is affected by the ongoing struggles at Boeing, its longtime partner.

“We are taking urgent and deliberate steps to mitigate near-term revenue challenges and implement longer-term transformational initiatives that are designed to drive meaningful top and bottom-line growth,” Jordan said.

The Southwest CEO said in April that delivery delays of new planes from Boeing, which has been embroiled in regulators’ concernsover safety issues, “presents significant challenges for both 2024 and 2025.”

In its update, Southwest said it received five Boeing 737-8 MAX planes in the second quarter while retiring seven older Boeing planes. Southwest had ordered 58 Boeing 737-8 MAX planes for 2024; it now expects to receive around 20 of the aircraft this year.

Southwest says it’s carrying passengers in record numbers. But it’s also retiring more aging aircraft than it can add this year: With the delivery delays from Boeing, the airline’s fleet will fall from 817 planes at the end of the second quarter to roughly 802 at the end of 2024.

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No, Chipotle’s servings have not shrunk as TikTokkers have suggested. But yes, Chipotle is reminding its workers to give customers big scoops.

That’s how the chain’s CEO began his address to shareholders on Wednesday, referring to “portion concerns” from a recent swirl of videos and Reddit posts that allege that Chipotle workers are skimping on fillings for its normally hefty burritos and bowls.

“There was never a directive to provide less to our customers,” Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol told investors in prepared remarks. “With that said, getting the feedback caused us to relook at our execution across our entire system with the intention to always serve our guests delicious, fresh custom burritos and bowls with generous portions.”

Chipotle has assessed its 3,500 restaurants to focus on those where consumer services delivered “outlier portion scores,” Niccol said. The company is bringing more “training and coaching” to those locations to make sure its bowls and burritos are consistently correct in size.

“We have also leaned in and re-emphasized generous portions across all of our restaurants, as it is a core brand equity of Chipotle,” he said. “It always has been, and it always will be.”

This comes a month after the CEO drew side-eyes for his earlier attempt to address the smaller-portion accusations, in which he denied the idea but also suggested that people could get “a little more rice or … a little more pico” with a slight nod and a knowing look at the worker fixing the meal.

Overall, the company on Wednesday reported an 11% increase in sales during the latest quarter, with higher profits attributed to stores running faster and more efficiently plus the popularity of its limited-time chicken al pastor.

The chain had raised prices in recent years, and executives on Wednesday said they have “no plans” for further hikes this year.

The level of elite high school football played in the Austin area has always been solid, if not spectacular. While perennial powerhouses Westlake and Lake Travis have continually cranked out top high school prospects, other programs have tended to wax and wane, leaving the Central Texas hub behind other prospect rich markets like Dallas and Houston (and often nearby San Antonio as well). 

For a school with the drawing power of Texas, that isn’t a major hindrance. Still, as the Longhorns have resurrected national hopes and dreams, that rise has coincided with a new influx of talent from the school’s backyard, with a number of contributors from the Austin area now dotting the team’s roster. 

That critical mass in turn could lend the field a very Austin flavor this fall, with at least one potential defensive backfield formation comprised of three of five members who hail from Texas’ capital city. 

Here’s how that setup might look, as broken down by On3 Sports’ Inside Texas: 

Boundary corner: Malik Muhammad
Boundary safety: Michael Taaffe
Field safety: Andrew Mukuba
Star: Jahdae Barron
Field corner: Gavin Holmes

The three middle contributors in that set up are all Austin natives. Taaffe starred at aforementioned Westlake before joining Texas in a preferred walk-on role (and later playing a key role in the recruitment of quarterback Arch Manning). Jahdae Barron has been one of Texas’ most stalwart leaders since joining from Pflugerville Connally, where he was a standout star on a middling team. And Mukuba is Texas’ most recent Austin (re)addition, transferring back home after three years at Clemson following a standout career at Austin LBJ. 

The trio make for a unique feel for Longhorns, with all members of the trio expected to contribute to Texas’ defense extensively, whether together or separately. For some hometown fans, the ability to integrate that much hometown flavor on a team expected to contend for everything in the year ahead could make the chase all the more exciting and impactful.