*Southwest Airlines plans to revamp the interior design of its fleet of 800 aircraft. The airline is also adding more red-eye flights and shifting to assigned seats after 50 years of open seating.
“This is a very significant change. It may be one of the most significant changes we’ve ever gone through,” Ryan Green, Southwest’s executive vice president commercial transformation, told CBS News.
As part of the major changes rolling out over the next two years, Southwest passengers will benefit from larger overhead bins, redesigned seat trays, and device holders and charging ports at each seat. Additionally, premium seating will be available in the front and back of the plane.
“Customers want premium of all kinds, and if you’re flying longer, that extra legroom is worth a lot,” Southwest CEO Bob Jordan told CBS News.
“For the passenger experience, you’ll have these new extended legroom seats. Those will come at a cost,” said Green. “And then, if you wanna sit towards the front, but you don’t wanna spend the money for these seats, there will be your regular economy seats that are still close to the front. You’ll be able to book those specifically as well,” he added.
Southwest plans to start offering flights with assigned seating in the latter half of 2025, for travel starting in early 2026. It is also expected that the newly redesigned cabins will be available around that time, pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Consumer preferences have changed, and the way we fly has changed,” said Jordan.
Check out the newly designed Southwest Airlines planes in the clip below.
READ MORE FROM EURWEB.COM: Don’t Wait! Southwest Brings Back ‘Buy-one, Get-one-Free’ Companion Pass Promotion | WATCH
The post Southwest to Introduce Assigned Seating and Redesigned Cabins by Early 2026 appeared first on EURweb.
