Southwest To Make Huge Investment in Passenger Experience

Southwest Airlines has today announced plans regarding a huge investment in the passenger experience onboard their flights.

As we will go through in this article, this consists of new seats and interior design, new employee uniforms as well as other enhancements to make flying onboard more enjoyable.

Without further ado, let’s get into it…

New Interior Design & Seats Onboard…

The biggest news out of the three is that Southwest Airlines will be implementing a new interior design, which includes new seats to enhance cabin comfort.

On the seats front, the airline will be partnering with RECARO to install new comfortable seats for passengers to experience onboard.

Tony Roach, Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer at Southwest Airlines had this to say on the matter:

“Southwest flies above our competition with industry-leading flexibility and our legendary Hospitality”.

“Our redesigned cabin interior significantly enhances our inflight Customer experience and will complement the amazing service that our Crews provide.”

Mark Hiller, Ph.D., and CEO of RECARO Aircraft Seating and RECARO Holding also commented saying:

“RECARO is proud to collaborate on expanding our footprint in the Americas, especially when working with a local partner like Southwest who began their story at the same time as us”.

“Our new seat will be a great addition to the Southwest Customer Experience, as its durable design and comfort features will serve Passengers well.”

New Uniform For Southwest Crews…

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Within the extensive press release also, Southwest Airlines also announced they would be teaming up with Design Collective by Cintas to create newly-designed employee uniforms.

It will be a design project working with 75 existing staff at the airline to develop the new look for the employees.

Abby Groshek, Apparel Designer with Design Collective by Cintas had this to say on the matter:

“It’s a true collaboration between Southwest Airlines and the Uniform Inspiration Team, Design Collective, and Bonnie Markel”.

“As the design process unfolds, Design Collective and Bonnie Markel are creating an apparel line that represents the Southwest Brand, with crucial input from the Uniform Inspiration Team Members who bring their everyday working knowledge and experience to ensure the apparel of the future fulfills all their functional and fashion needs.”

Photos are yet to be released regarding this.

Additional Enhancements On Top Of That…

Finally, Southwest Airlines laid out items that they have already implemented, following the five year plan of investment and evolution that was first started in 2022:

• Enhanced WiFi: Southwest completed upgrades of WiFi equipment fleetwide at the end of 2023 to offer an enhanced inflight internet browsing experience with more bandwidth and faster data.
• Onboard power ports and larger overhead bins: All new 737 MAX 8 aircraft delivered to Southwest are outfitted with onboard USB A and USB C power ports and larger overhead bins. Additionally, these features will be added to existing MAX 8 and 737-800 aircraft, a process that is anticipated to be completed over the next several years.
• New functionality for Southwest’s digital platforms and airport kiosks: Free Same-Day Standby⁵, Digital Bag Tracking, and Online Baggage Check-In allow Customers the option to self-serve on common requests.

Looking ahead, it remains clear that the airline is placing a lot of emphasis and investment into it’s product offering, and all eyes will be on how this will all look once the process is concluded.

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