Same Seat Assigned to Two Passengers and Airline Chase to Bottom

Last week, I traveled on business to Phoenix, AZ using America West Airlines. Interestingly, the airline assigned several passengers same seat on the plane. It is just not the case of overbooking as these passengers were issued boarding passes with same seat numbers printed on them while there were at least half-a-dozen seats empty. I don’t know enough about airline reservation and seat assignment system. I am assuming the seat assignment is database driven. And found it strange that a seat number which is a unique with in a plane got assigned on multiple boarding passes … Is it a quirk in the seat assignment system or database design problem?

Also, what’s up with all airlines following Southwest and JetBlue business model in trying to become “me too” no-frills airlines and ignoring premium category? It looks like a “sheep herd” mentality of the airlines. I wonder when a startup airline will come around taking advantage of a vacuum being created by these airlines in premium travel space.