System and methods for brokering and managing automated seat preferences and reassignments

A method of generating a final seat reassignment plan for a scheduled flight in response to an open seat event, the method comprising:

• detecting, by one or more processors, the open seat event indicating availability of a new open seat for the scheduled flight;
• suspending, by the one or more processors, manual seat change requests in response to detecting the open seat event;
• generating, by the one or more processors, a final seat reassignment plan for the scheduled flight, wherein the final seat reassignment plan fills the new open seat and one or more subsequently opened seats from passengers included on an assignment waitlist using seat preference data for each passenger included on the assignment waitlist, and wherein the one or more subsequently opened seats include seats opened in response to filling of the new open seat with a passenger from the assignment waitlist;
• updating, by the one or more processors, the assignment waitlist to remove reassigned passengers moved to the new open seat and subsequently opened seats in the final seat reassignment plan;
• transmitting, by the one or more processors, one or more notifications of new seat assignments from the final seat reassignment plan to user devices associated with the reassigned passengers;
• and
• reenabling, by the one or more processors, the manual seat change requests in response to selecting the final seat reassignment plan.

A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for generating a final seat reassignment plan for a scheduled flight in response to an open seat event, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a seat reservation system, cause the seat reservation system to:

• detect the open seat event indicating availability of a new open seat for the scheduled flight;
• suspend manual seat change requests in response to detecting the open seat event;
• generate a final seat reassignment plan for the scheduled flight, wherein the final seat reassignment plan fills the new open seat and one or more subsequently opened seats from passengers included on an assignment waitlist using seat preference data for each passenger included on the assignment waitlist, and wherein the one or more subsequently opened seats include seats opened in response to filling of the new open seat with a passenger from the assignment waitlist;
• update the assignment waitlist to remove reassigned passengers moved to the new open seat and subsequently opened seats in the final seat reassignment plan;
• transmit one or more notifications of new seat assignments from the final seat reassignment plan to user devices associated with the reassigned passengers;
• and
• reenable the manual seat change requests in response to selecting the final seat reassignment plan.