Southwest Airlines is reportedly plotting a superfast retrofit program of its fleet of Boeing 737s with plans to update as many as ten aircraft per night with new seats, including premium extra legroom seating, in time for its move to assigned seating.
The Dallas-based carrier first unveiled its new cabin interiors in February 2024, which feature lightweight, slimline seats produced by European manufacturer Racaro.
In addition to a lighter blue colorway, the seats will also feature an integrated personal electronic device holder and both USB-A and USB-C charging ports at every seat.
Other changes coming to Southwest cabins are a new patterned carpet throughout the cabin, along with larger overhead lockers for some aircraft – which will come in useful when the airline abandons its much-loved ‘Bags Fly Free’ policy.
Southwest originally intended to start taking delivery of new aircraft with the upgraded interiors this year, while the retrofit program for the rest of the fleet was meant to take several years to complete.
That timeline, however, has been brought forward because of Southwest’s radical change of business strategy, which will see the carrier abandon open seating and start selling premium extra legroom seats.
Approximately one-third of seats on every plane will be turned over to premium seating, offering between 34 inches to 36 inches of legroom compared to standard seats that will be set at 31 inches of legroom.
The most generous legroom is being reserved for Southwest’s older 737-700 jets with around 40 premium seats offering 36 inches of legroom. These aircraft are not, however, getting the new Recaro seats; instead, they will have existing seats reupholstered in the new design.
As a result, the 737-700s will not be getting in-seat power.
Other aircraft will offer 34 inches at premium legroom seats, although not all these airplanes are getting the new Recaro seats either.
Around 120 aircraft have relatively new Meridian seats with in-seat power, so Southwest will again reupholster these seats in the new design and simply shift the seats along the cabin track to create premium legroom areas.
Justifying its decision to abandon open seating for the first time in Southwest’s history, the airline explained that 80% of its existing customers said they would prefer assigned seating, while 86% of potential customers didn’t want the drama of dealing with Southwest’s open seating scramble.
Under pressure from activist investor Elliott, Southwest has announced a radical overhaul of its business strategy, removing its ‘Bags Fly Free’ proposition for all but the most loyal of its frequent flyers.
The move to introduce extra legroom seats was announced under pressure from Elliott, and the ambitious retrofit program will allow Southwest to meet its target of bringing in assigned seating by early 2026.
Although ambitious, the retrofit program will be helped by the fact that Southwest currently operates a very limited red-eye schedule, meaning that aircraft are otherwise parked up at night unused.
After 40 years of loyalty… Bye-bye Southwest. Herb is turning over in his grave.
Southwest has turned itself into a regular airline with no difference to make me buy a Southwest ticket. I wish them luck. They’ll need it!