Southwest Additional Legroom Seats Coming To Complete Fleet By Finish Of 2025

In September 2024, Southwest Airways introduced that it could introduce assigned and further legroom seating, as one of many greatest modifications to its enterprise mannequin in many years. Within the meantime, the corporate has in fact gone far more excessive than that, and plans to start out charging for checked luggage, introducing fundamental economic system, and rather more.

Anyway, in the case of Southwest’s plans to introduce further legroom seating, there’s an replace, as plane will begin to be reconfigured shortly. Nevertheless, it’ll be fairly a while earlier than the airline truly begins charging further for these seats, in order that creates an fascinating alternative.

Southwest aggressively retrofitting plane interiors

Southwest Airways plans to beginning promoting tickets for further legroom seating as of late September 2025, for flights as of Q1 2026. In preparation for that transition, the airline is beginning to retrofit plane with new layouts.

The airline has now outlined the way it plans to retrofit its whole fleet:

• Southwest plans to retrofit the cabins of each single plane between April 30 and the top of 2025, with the primary reconfigured plane anticipated to enter service as of Could 1
• Southwest plans to start out by reconfiguring its 737-800s and 737 MAX 8s, after which after the summer time of 2025, will begin reconfiguring 737-700s
• Southwest is reconfiguring planes in a single day at its upkeep bases in Atlanta (ATL), Denver (DEN), Houston (HOU), and Phoenix (PHX), and expects it could retrofit as much as 150 plane monthly
• Initially, there might be no visible indicators that some seats have further legroom, although we’ll begin to see these added after the summer time of 2025
• Whereas Southwest has introduced new-style seats, these will solely be put in on newly delivered plane for now; for a lot of planes, it’s merely the spacing between present seats that might be modified

In the intervening time, Southwest is continuous to make use of its present boarding course of (although that can change ultimately as effectively). So over the approaching weeks and months, clients will doubtlessly have alternatives to fly in further legroom economic system seating with out truly paying something further, which is fairly cool.

How Southwest 737 cabin configurations are altering

As soon as Southwest Airways reconfigures jets, how will the layouts change? There might be three seating varieties:

• Additional legroom seats might be these on the entrance of the cabin, with further legroom, in addition to at exit rows
• Most well-liked seats might be these proper behind the seats with further legroom, and in entrance of the exit rows
• Normal seats might be these behind the exit row

For instance, beneath is a seat map that Southwest has supplied of its up to date 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 configuration.

The expectation is that Southwest’s further legroom seats can have 34″ of pitch, whereas commonplace seats can have 31″ of pitch. Basically, 737-800s and 737 MAX 8s can have legroom lowered by 1″ for traditional seats, so as to have the ability to add extra legroom for different seats.

Backside line

Southwest Airways is beginning the method of reconfiguring its fleet, with the intention to supply further legroom seating. All planes are anticipated to be reconfigured between April 30 and the top of 2025. Nevertheless, the airline doesn’t plan on promoting assigned seating till late September 2025, for flights as of the primary quarter of 2026.

It’s price being conscious of this undertaking, because you’ll begin to discover some modifications on Southwest plane. In order you board Southwest plane over the approaching months below the present open seating idea, maintain this in thoughts…

What do you make of Southwest’s undertaking for reconfiguring 737s?