Yesterday I talked about Southwest’s broader plan coming out of its investor day, but today I want to talk about the most significant change, Southwest’s decision to assign all seats and add an extra legroom section. Before we start, I should say that we know a lot, but there are still things we don’t know. In other words, I don’t have all the answers, but we know a lot, enough that Southwest let us walk through a plane with the new seats and cabin design so we could see what the future holds.

Let’s start with the new look. If you like blue, you’ll like what Southwest has planned.

The new seat

The new Recaro seats are dark blue like the seats you see at Southwest today, but there is a new light blue accent on the headrests. And seats with extra legroom are more likely to have a light blue accent at the top of the seat. You can see this most clearly in row 16 of the 737-8 MAX, where the window seat provides extra legroom since there is no seat in the front, but the aisle and middle are regular seats.

There is also more blue in carpet design. Add to that the cool blue mood lighting and everything is just so blue….

The seat itself has a device holder and a USB charger to charge your laptops. The tray table was equipped with cup holders on both the left and right so that left-handers are not left out.

And as a practical little extra, a water bottle holder is integrated into the backrest pocket at the bottom.

The general idea is to have lots of seats with extra legroom, more than most airlines have with this product. Let’s talk about each type of aircraft individually, starting with the ones we didn’t see.

737-700

The old ladies of the fleet will remain the worst experience unless you are a tall person. This aircraft will lose one row of seats, going from 143 to 137 seats. It then has 40 seats with more legroom and a seat pitch of a whopping 36 inches. Everything else will be at 31″.

The worst thing about this plan is that the -700s won’t get any new seats. They keep the same seats and just have them restored in the new design. You won’t get any power.

If this feels like lipstick on a pig, then it is. Those planes will be gone by the end of the decade, so Southwest apparently thinks it’s okay to just let them limp along. If you’re tall, the extra legroom is great. If not, avoid this plane.

737-7 MAX

Assuming Boeing one day receives -7 certification, this 148-seat aircraft will join Southwest’s fleet instead of the original 150-seat plan. The extra legroom seats will have a seat pitch of 34 inches and the rest will have a seat pitch of 31 inches. These aircraft will feature Southwest’s new USB-powered Recaro seats that were introduced to us at the event. There’s no real reason to talk about this plane yet, so let’s move on.

737-8 MAX/737-800

These aircraft make up the majority of Southwest’s fleet and will continue to have 175 seats on board. Instead of having 32 inches of pitch across the board, there will be 68 seats with 34 inches of pitch in the extra legroom areas. The remainder is reduced to a slope of 31 inches.

There are currently more than 120 aircraft that feature Southwest’s new Meridian seat with built-in power. These retain their seats but are restored to the new design and moved to create the extra legroom area. Once everything is approved by the FAA, new deliveries will receive the new Recaro seats. There are apparently around 60 of these aircraft that still have the old seats. I believe these will be replaced by the new Recaro seats in due course, but some of these may be sold anyway so we’ll see.

Southwest had a brand new MAX in the hangar for us with the new seats on board, but those are being ripped out and the regular seats are being installed so it can be put into service.

I’d like to say the seats are comfortable, including the oversized headrest, but I sat in them for 10 minutes. Until I can sit for a few hours, it’s hard to say if they’re really comfortable.

I can say that the legroom is good for me, even in the regular seats. But I’m only 1.75 meters tall. It looks like I’m doing my best alfalfa impression.

The cabin is divided into four different areas. Here’s the real seating chart, which isn’t all that different from the guess I made two months ago:

The first five rows on each side offer 30 seats with additional legroom. There is only one row 1 on the starboard side of the aircraft, meaning that in row 6 the port side has more legroom while the starboard side does not. Curious what that looks like? Don’t wait any longer…

The next seating area before the exit includes 45 regular seats that fall into the “preferred” cabin, meaning you will have to pay an additional charge to reserve these seats in advance.

How the exit rows fall is a bit unclear to me. The six seats in row 14 appeared to have more legroom, but they don’t recline. The four seats in row 15 are the worst as they are both regular seats and have no backrest. I don’t know if that’s considered preferred or normal. The same applies to the four aisles/middle in row 16, although these can be reclined. The two windows in row 16 are the same full legroom seats that are available today.

Behind there are another 30 seats with additional legroom. This is followed by the last 54 seats, which form the regular seating area.

What is the difference between normal and preferred? Nothing other than priority is further forward, and Southwest therefore assumes that it can charge extra for this.

How will this all work in practice? Let’s go through it.

How it works

If you book a ticket at the lowest fare, which Southwest will continue to call Wanna Get Away, you won’t receive advance seat assignment. When you purchase this plan you have three options:

1. Please wait until check-in and you will be assigned a seat. I don’t know if you can select or change your seat after it’s been automatically assigned or not yet. But if the regular section is full you might have the preferred or extra legroom I suppose.
2. You can purchase a seat in the preferred section as an add-on.
3. You can book a seat in the extra legroom area as an add-on.

You do not have the option to purchase a seat in the regular section as an add-on. This applies to those who book the higher fare categories.

Wanna Get Away+ includes regular seat assignment. What if all regular spots are full? We don’t know what that means yet. Regardless, if necessary, you can also purchase a preferred seat or a seat with more legroom from this fare. However, it is important to take a look at the seating plan before deciding to purchase.

We don’t know anything about Anytime and Business Select. You haven’t decided yet what services will be included in these plans, but you can expect them to include more and more extras as they go up.

We know that as a top tier A-List Preferred member, you can reserve extra legroom seats for free at the time of booking. If you’re an A-list regular, you can reserve it for free upon check-in. I assume both can assign seats in preferred or regular cabins for each fare at the time of booking. This makes A-list status far more advantageous and important than it is today.

Currently we don’t know if the extra legroom area includes anything else like free drinks and all that, but it’s possible. Stay tuned.

Get to know the new boarding, just like the old boarding

There is also news on the boarding front. Southwest will keep the boarding bars it uses today.

In my opinion there are two good reasons for this. First, Southwest already has these poles, and it wouldn’t be cheap to reconfigure each gate area. Second, it allows Southwest to control the boarding process. It can assign people to different boarding groups and positions to make it easier to get people onto the plane at the right time. This speeds up boarding and eliminates the gate lice that plague other airlines.

When does this all happen? It takes time to do something like this, but Southwest’s schedule is actually pretty quick considering what needs to be done.

The timeline

The airline is now beginning the FAA certification process for the seats and will be completed in the first half of 2025. After that, the conversion will be rapid, with 50 to 100 aircraft completed per month. It will be ready by the end of 2025.

The technology plan also starts now, and that will take the longest of all. There are apparently more than 60 systems that need to be updated and the airline has to conduct numerous tests at every step. The technical completion will be completed by the end of 2025.

This will be a difficult transition. One day the airline will have a system-wide network of open seats. The next day all is forgiven. We don’t have exact dates yet, but sales will begin in the second half of 2025, for travel in the first half of 2026.

Until then, prepare yourself for some surprises and delights. Planes have extra legroom long before they fly with paid and assigned seats. This means that anyone can take these places. Therefore, I can imagine that the early boarding spots A1-15 will be in high demand on the day of travel.

It’s hard to overstate how big a task this whole thing is. Still, the plan seems possible – assuming FAA approval – and well thought out. I’m excited for this to come together.