Over the past year, Southwest Airlines customers have heard plenty about the company’s transformation, from the end of “bags fly free” to the upcoming dawn of assigned seating.
Now, you can practically glimpse the future … if you’re on the right plane.
Earlier this month, I had the chance to fly on Southwest’s first aircraft that sported all the changes the Dallas-based carrier has been talking about for more than a year.
Remember those new seats the airline had been planning to deploy? They’re on this brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet, and three others just like it.
SEAN CUDAHY/THE POINTS GUY
Extra-legroom rows? Look for the navy seats highlighted in light blue.
Larger overhead bins for passengers carrying on to skirt the airline’s new bag fees? Check.
Free Wi-Fi and heart emblems everywhere you look? Yep.
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SEAN CUDAHY/THE POINTS GUY
After a year’s worth of headlines suggesting an ethos shift at one of America’s most historically customer-friendly airlines, Southwest executives see this aircraft as the best physical evidence of a transition that, they’ve argued, customers ultimately want.
“These things take a number of years to put together, piece by piece,” Chief Customer and Brand Officer Tony Roach said in an interview with TPG. “To see it all on one aircraft, all the pieces together, you kind of see all the vision we’ve been thinking about.”
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Read more: Southwest’s ‘major milestone’: First plane with new, modern cabin makes big debut
Driven by the numbers
Leaders say many of Southwest’s latest changes have roots in data.
For instance, according to its surveys, at least 80% of customers prefer assigned seating over its historic first-come, first-served model.
And those new seats? The airline said more than 1,000 people trialed them — which you’ll see on all newly delivered planes.
SEAN CUDAHY/THE POINTS GUY
And then there’s a matter of the financial metrics.
After decades of success, Southwest’s profits since the COVID-19 pandemic have solidly trailed those of top rivals Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, which have been propelled by their premium seats, long-haul international route networks and lucrative loyalty programs.
Beginning last year, Southwest — facing rising costs and pressure from an activist investment group — embarked on a path to revamp its business model, which had historically been devoid of pesky add-on charges, but also the bells and whistles that had been a revenue boon for the network airlines.
“The old model wasn’t working, and so now we’ve pivoted,” Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson told analysts in April.
The Southwest Airlines ‘pivot’
Customers’ wallets already got a taste of that pivot. Checked bag fees came online in May and the airline refreshed its credit card lineup in July.
The true reboot, however, really begins Jan. 27, 2026, when assigned seating goes live across every plane and flight in Southwest’s network. That date will also mark the debut of the carrier’s revamped boarding process and extra-space rows (Southwest’s take on an elevated seating option).
Standing in front of the airline’s newest MAX 8 jet last month in Phoenix, Watterson suggested Southwest’s changes amount to a logical evolution.
That’s despite a myriad of industry pundits fearing the watering down of a brand once personified by co-founder Herb Kelleher, and plenty of flyers bemoaning the end of some standout Southwest perks and policies that were unique in the airline industry.
“We’ve changed at different periods over our history as our environment has changed. As customer desires and expectations have changed, we have changed,” Watterson remarked. “And each time we’ve changed, people have told us we’re doomed.”
Southwest Airlines Chief Customer and Brand Officer Tony Roach (left) and Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson ceremonially christen the carrier’s new Boeing 737 MAX 8. SEAN CUDAHY/THE POINTS GUY
Could Southwest lounges, first-class seats and long-haul flights be next?
Southwest’s evolution won’t end after its first flight with seat assignments pushes back in late January.
Next year, the airline expects to bolster its fledgling network of partner airlines with international Rapid Rewards redemptions — a move the carrier hopes will enhance the attractiveness of its loyalty program and, in turn, inspire more members to apply for one of its cobranded credit cards.
Beyond that, it seems increasingly likely that the airline will look to add even more high-end offerings that once would have been unthinkable for Southwest.
Southwest Airlines headquarters in Dallas. SEAN CUDAHY/THE POINTS GUY
CEO Bob Jordan has talked openly about the possibility of adding long-haul international flights and true first-class seats — the latter already on the horizon for leisure-focused competitors JetBlue and Frontier Airlines.
“We’re actively looking at continued changes to widen our product offering for our customers,” Jordan said on the company’s earnings call late last month.
“Including things,” he added, “like premium seating, airport lounges and long-haul international destinations.”
‘What do our customers want?’
At least one of those things seems to be on the verge of happening. Last month, the state of Hawaii gave Southwest the green light to build a lounge in Honolulu.
It’s the latest signal that the changes Southwest has made so far may only be the beginning.
“We’re not stuck in a model that is, ‘This is how Southwest does it, this is how we will always do it,'” Roach told me. “The model we’re 1762268598 in is, ‘What do our customers want?'”
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