An elevator swing operation system for use in a building includes a plurality of floors with landings that are grouped into zones. The elevator cars are allocated to service the zones with a default allocation setup or configuration. The allocation of elevator cars to zones can be modified by moving an elevator car from one zone to another in response to a maximum estimated time to arrival being exceeded and a maximum number of elevator cars allowed to change zones not being exceeded. Furthermore, the default configuration or allocation can be restored when the system is in swing operation, an elevator car is parked, and a minimum time for receiving no calls has been exceeded.