I flew Southwest for the first time since it stopped blocking middle seats. The friendly service didn't make up for inconsistent social distancing practices

Flying on Southwest Airlines during the pandemic.Thomas Pallini/Insider

• Southwest Airlines stopped blocking seats on its aircraft in December 2020 and flights can now be filled to capacity.
• The trade-off is strict mask enforcement in addition to existing health and safety protocols.
• Inconsistencies remain across the airline's network, however, especially at outstation airports.

Southwest Airlines was a standout for most of the pandemic as it was one of the few airlines blocking seats to promote social distancing. Only 67% of seats were sold on its flights, allowing all rows to have at least the middle seat open.

That policy was abandoned in December, however, after the airline announced a $1.2 billion third-quarter loss. CEO Gary Kelly said the policy cost the airline $20 million in lost revenue over the summer.

Southwest cited studies from the Department of Defense and Harvard School of Public Health that showed the effectiveness of high-efficiency particulate air filters, or HEPA filters, and mask-wearing in limiting the onboard spread of COVID-19.

But leaving middle seats open was what truly set the airline apart from the rest of the big four US airlines, alongside fellow seat-blocker Delta Air Lines, as Insider found when reviewing new health and safety practices of the country's largest airlines in mid-2020.

With open seats no longer a factor, I sought out to see if flying Southwest had the same appeal by taking two flights on the airline during a recent trip.

Here's what it was like flying America's largest low-cost carrier in 2021.