Southwest Airlines will debut a new aircraft interior on Oct. 16, featuring a new seat design, enlarged overhead bins, in-seat power at every seat and carpeting and lighting updates.
The new cabin design will be on all upcoming aircraft deliveries.
Southwest said its new seats "are intuitively designed for ultimate comfort, while maximizing seat width and overall support." Photo Credit: Southwest Airlines
Southwest said the design is based on "extensive research covering customer and employee perceptions of color, comfort, and aspirations for the overall onboard experience, and it's meant to create a cabin environment that feels modern, welcoming, and uniquely Southwest."
The seats "are intuitively designed for ultimate comfort, while maximizing seat width and overall support," the airline said.
Seatbacks have a holder for personal electronic devices and tray tables with inset beverage holders both for right-handed and left-handed flyers. USB-A and USB-C ports are at each seat.
Carpets will be interwoven with the Southwest heart logo. The overall look of the planes will center around blue tones.
Southwest has been retrofitting its existing fleet since mid-spring with extra-legroom seats. With the new design, extra-legroom seats have a distinct mix of dark and sky blue to distinguish them.
The debut of the new cabin and seats will be on a Boeing 737 Max 8. Southwest said it will retrofit a few of its 737-800 older generation planes with the new seats later this year.
Beginning in the second half of next year, the carrier also plans to add in-seat power to more than half of its 300 Boeing 737-700 older generation planes. Work on those is expected to be completed by mid-2027.