Southwest Airlines’ huge onboard changes get mixed review

Southwest Airlines has generally been the T-Mobile of the airline industry. It makes moves designed to solve passenger pain points while highlighting the anti-consumer actions of its rivals.

It's a disruptive strategy that works, but it has not had the same effect T-Mobile has had on Verizon and AT&T. That's because most Americans can choose between all three wireless carriers which all provide nationwide service.

Related: American Airlines makes seating change passengers won't like

When it comes to air travel, choice does not work the same way. You might like that Southwest Airlines (LUV) - Get Free Report does not charge for baggage — something every major airline does on its basic tickets — but not be able to fly the airline because it does not fly to your chosen destination.

That has not stopped Southwest from generally trying to take a passenger-friendly approach by doing little things like offering free non-alcoholic beverages on its flights. That's something that's standard on Delta, United, American, and other major carriers, but even water comes at an added cost on low-cost carriers like Spirit and Frontier Airlines.

Basically, Southwest has carved out a spot as a mid-tier carrier. It offers good, but not super low prices, and includes pretty much everything aside from WiFi and early boarding in the cost of that ticket. It's an airline operating in a unique space that, until its 2022 holiday meltdown, generally had a stellar reputation with its customers.

Southwest plans a major cabin overhaul

Southwest plans to redesign its airplanes with new seats from Recaro. Those seats, and the overall cabin refresh, will make their debut in early 2025. In addition, the airline plans to add power ports and larger overhead bins to existing 737 Max 8 and 800 airplanes.

Part of the overhaul simply will improve the look and feel of the airline's cabins.

"The design is based on extensive research covering customer and employee perceptions of color, comfort, and their aspirations for the overall onboard experience. The design brings to life Southwest's warm energy with deep blue tones, sky blue accents, and a nod to the Southwest Heart woven throughout the carpet," the airline shared in a press release.

That's nice and perhaps passengers will notice, but the real change from the airline is its new seats.

"The new Recaro seats include a multi-adjustable headrest cushion for enhanced head and neck support, an intuitively designed seat for ultimate comfort while maximizing seat width and overall support. The upgrades continue as each seat also will include a personal electronic device holder for customers to enjoy free inflight entertainment on their devices more easily," the airline shared.

Key industry analyst not impressed

Adding power to seats will bring Southwest in line with its full-fare rivals. All of the airline's new 737 Max 8 aircraft come with onboard USB A and USB C power ports. Those will be added to existing MAX 8 and 737-800 aircraft, although that project will take Southwest "the next few years to complete."

And, while nobody has actually seen a remodeled Southwest plane, except for the airline and its partners, veteran industry analyst Gary Leff pushed back at the airline on his View From the Wing blog.

He had two complaints one relatively minor as he pointed out that the new seats as the pictures the airline shared show various tablets in the new personal electronic device holder. That makes it look like the airline will be adding screens to its seats, which it will not. The devices shown are meant to depict ones owned by passengers.

Leff's second critique is more serious.

"The seats look thin and insufficiently padded," he wrote.

Leff suggested that passenger comfort may not be why the airline chose these seats.

"In these photos, the seats look like the Recaro SL3710 which Frontier Airlines adopted. Regardless, Recaro is known for their slim seats that allow airlines to cram more passengers into cabins, and seats that are lighter and therefore reduce fuel burn. I don’t look to Recaro for comfort," he shared.

Frontier has been open about choosing less padded seats in order to use less fuel in order to charge lower fares. 

Southwest, he noted, does give coach passengers (in the airline's case, that's all its passengers except for exit row seats) more room than any of its rivals.