Southwest Airways reveals new boarding and seating course of

For greater than 50 years, open seating has been nearly synonymous with Southwest Airways. However that is all set to alter within the coming years.

Over the course of a number of hours Thursday, executives on the Dallas-based service walked buyers via the finer particulars of top-to-bottom adjustments aimed toward boosting the corporate’s monetary efficiency.

For purchasers, these adjustments will play out, most notably, within the type of the airline’s first-ever assigned seats and further legroom rows.

That seismic shift from Southwest’s half-century of open seating may also pressure the service to re-imagine its boarding course of — though the brand new procedures executives laid out Thursday do keep an aura of familiarity to the airline’s present one-of-a-kind course of.

Mixed with new seats the airline already had deliberate for its fleet beginning in 2025 and an total facelift for its cabins, it is protected to say the following couple of years will likely be a time of change for Southwest flyers.

Here is a rundown of what you may quickly see reserving, boarding and on board its flights — plus, what adjustments the airline thought-about, however in the end determined towards.

Worth verify: Are airline bank cards price it anymore?

Reserving

The most important change clients will discover when reserving a flight on Southwest within the coming years is the power to pick a seat — or, in the event that they select, to pay additional for an additional legroom seat.

Southwest estimates these adjustments will go dwell in its reserving channels in late 2025, for flights departing throughout the first half of 2026.

Particulars in regards to the precise providers included in every of the service’s 4 present fare courses are nonetheless within the works, leaders stated, however here is just a few issues we do know:

No seat choice on Wanna Get Away

Wanna Get Away fares will not embody complimentary seat choice. Passengers on this fare sort who do not pay to pick a seat will likely be assigned one previous to departure.

Whereas some vacationers could also be disenchanted by this information, Southwest executives argue the fare will stay a extra lenient choice than the essential economic system merchandise provided by different U.S. carriers, lots of which do not enable free cancellations, checked luggage or, within the case of United Airways, full-size carry-ons.

“That is by far one of the best base fare product within the trade … on the subject of two free luggage, no change and cancel [fees] on the bottom product,” argued government vp Ryan Inexperienced. “Flight credit do not expire, all of that is still. In the event you do not worth the power to pick your seat at reserving … nothing adjustments for you.”

Wanna Get Away passengers may also nonetheless obtain full Fast Rewards elite qualifying credit score, executives added.

Wanna Get Away Plus

Wanna Get Away Plus (and better) fare courses will include complimentary seat choice, although clients can choose to buy higher-priced seats.

Additional legroom seats

Southwest will cost additional for its all-new additional legroom seats, which provide between three and 5 inches of additional area, relying on the plane.

A-Listing elite standing members will be capable to choose these seats free of charge inside 48 hours of departure. A-Listing Most well-liked elites will be capable to choose these seats for gratis when reserving a ticket.

It is potential Southwest might also provide seat choice perks (together with for its “most popular” normal economic system seats located nearer to the entrance of the aircraft) to elite standing members and as a future credit score cardholder perk.

These selections are nonetheless within the works, leaders stated.

A brand new (however acquainted) boarding course of

Whilst Southwest overhauls its seating processes, its boarding procedures will stay “very acquainted,” the airline stated Thursday — albeit with one massive exception.

“Gone would be the days of setting an alarm clock 24 hours upfront of a flight to safe an excellent boarding place and an excellent seat,” Inexperienced quipped, alluding to the lengths Southwest flyers go to as we speak to verify in on the first potential second in hopes of securing one of the best boarding place.

Nevertheless, the general boarding technique of the longer term will likely be paying homage to the service’s distinctive present procedures.

Passengers will nonetheless get a boarding quantity, and so they’ll nonetheless line up, single-file subsequent to numbered posts within the boarding space.

“As a result of our clients are used to lining as much as board the plane so as, subsequent to stanchions, we count on our future boarding course of to really feel very acquainted and uniquely Southwest,” CEO Bob Jordan stated Thursday.

The airline plans to award increased boarding positions to elite standing members and clients who buy increased fare sorts — although within the absence of open seating, the important thing good thing about boarding early, going ahead, will likely be precedence entry to overhead bin area.

Past that, the airline plans to order remaining passengers in a manner that maximizes boarding effectivity.

Plane adjustments

To make these seating preparations a actuality, Southwest should reconfigure its fleet of round 800 plane. Within the course of, its planes are additionally getting an total inside facelift.

We obtained a glance Thursday on the future setup of a Southwest Boeing 737 MAX 8 with the brand new cabin look and format, together with 68 of its 175 seats (about 39%) sporting additional legroom.

Cabin design

As quickly as you stroll on a freshly retrofitted Southwest plane, you may discover a up to date colour palate, that includes a brand new colour scheme of navy and lighter-blue.

This explicit jet additionally options the airline’s all-new seats from seatmaker RECARO, which I first obtained a have a look at in Could at an aviation occasion in Hamburg, Germany.

Seats

Southwest says the seats, chosen after exhaustive buyer analysis, provide improved lumbar help in comparison with its present product. The headrest presents fold-out neckrests and vertical maneuverability.

Round again, the seatbacks sport USB-A and USB-C energy charging ports, a private system holder, tray desk with two cupholders, plus a seatback pocker and water bottle holder.

These seats are anticipated to start out hitting the fleet in 2025.

The seats are similar whether or not you are sitting in a normal or additional legroom row — with one beauty exception.

Additional legroom seats

Even when you do not have a tape measure, you may instantly acknowledge an additional legroom row on this Southwest aircraft by the sunshine blue streak on the seats.

Southwest’s “premium” seats will provide 34 inches of pitch on its Boeing 737 MAX 8, 737-800 and future 737 MAX 7 plane. (Pitch is the measurement from a set level on one seat to the identical level on the seat in entrance, and is a proxy measurement for legroom).

That is in comparison with 31 inches in the usual economic system rows — which itself will likely be about an inch tighter than what you may discover as we speak, a transfer the airline is making to keep away from dropping seats because it expands the legroom within the new, premium rows. The service argues its pitch will nonetheless be among the many finest in economic system within the U.S. airline trade.

On Southwest’s 737-700 jets, the additional legroom pitch will likely be a extra snug 36 inches.

On some plane, the additional legroom seats will occupy a couple of third of the cabin — however on others, like this MAX 8, it’s going to really be near 40% of the cabin.

Here is how an additional legroom seat’s area in comparison with a normal seat for TPG managing editor of aviation, Ben Mutzabaugh.

Cabin format

Consider the cabin format as 4 “zones,” stated chief industrial officer Andrew Watterson.

If you first board, you may see the additional legroom seats, up entrance. Then comes “most popular” seats, that are higher-priced economic system seats located nearer to the entrance of the plane.

In the course of the aircraft, close to the exit row, there are a number of extra rows of additional legroom.

Then, behind these, are the usual economic system seats.

Retrofit plans

Southwest has bold retrofit plans within the works to make these adjustments a actuality.

The service is at the moment working with the Federal Aviation Administration to get the brand new cabin layouts licensed, and expects that course of to take a number of months.

The airline hopes to start refitting these cabins within the first quarter of 2025, starting with its largest 737 jets — and plans to retrofit 50 to 100 jets per 30 days with the brand new seating configurations.

Then, these jets will return to service — which suggests you may begin seeing Southwest jets with additional legroom seats showing in service properly earlier than assigned and further legroom seats technically go on sale.

What Southwest thought-about, however did not do

These boarding and seating adjustments are simply half of a bigger industrial overhaul meant to spice up Southwest’s monetary efficiency because the service has trailed its bigger U.S. rivals in earnings of late.

They usually got here after what executives stated had been in depth data-driven analysis, and consideration of much more sweeping adjustments.

Bag charges thought-about

Southwest leaders acknowledged they studied the potential of dropping to just one free checked bag (as a substitute of its present two) — or introducing a bag-less “fundamental economic system” model fare.

Finally, Inexperienced stated, the corporate concluded that chipping away at its “two luggage fly free” coverage would have pushed clients away.

“It’s far and away the highest function that differentiates Southwest from our rivals,” he stated. “And it is without doubt one of the high standards in why clients select Southwest Airways.”

First-class? Not a match

Southwest even studied the potential of a extra premium cabin on its planes, earlier than deciding to easily proceed with the easier additional legroom idea.

“We checked out every thing and we examined every thing, together with a full first-class, the European first-class with the blocked center seat, and from each a income potential and a buyer need,” Jordan stated. “What we’re doing is what proved out to be finest for each.”

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