A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 aircraft lands at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on May 7, 2023.
Nikolaos Oikonomou | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Southwest Airlines is considering changes to its one-class, open-seat cabins to boost revenue, CEO Bob Jordan told CNBC on Thursday, a change that would be among the largest in the airline’s history.
“We’re looking for new initiatives, like the way we sit and board our aircraft,” Jordan said in an interview after the carrier’s disappointing first-quarter report.
all southwest-Boeing The 737 fleet has a single economy cabin and no seats, although it does offer early boarding for a fee so customers can grab their preferred seats. The airline has focused on keeping its product simple and user-friendly for years, aiming to keep costs and complexity to a minimum.
Meanwhile, opponents incl Delta and United have touted high revenue growth for premium seats such as business class and strong upsell rates.
Analysts have repeatedly asked Southwest about opportunities for premium seats or additional fees. (The airline does not charge travelers for their first two checked bags.)
Most US airlines charge travelers to select many of their seats in advance, even those without extra legroom. Eight US carriers — Alaska, Employee, AmericanDelta, Border, JetBlue, Spirit and United — brought in a combined $4.2 billion from seat fees on their domestic networks in 2022, according to Jay Sorensen, an expert in airline ancillary revenue at IdeaWorksCompany.
Jordan said no decisions have been made on what kind of changes Southwest will ultimately make, but he said the studies have yielded “interesting” results.
“Customer preferences change over time,” Jordan said.
While details were scarce during Southwest’s earnings call, when asked if Southwest would consider a separate cabin on its planes, Ryan Green, the carrier’s chief commercial officer said, “Curtains and things like that are a little bit away from that. which is Southwest Airlines’.
Green added that the carrier is not considering charging for checked bags because “people choose Southwest Airlines because we don’t have bag fees.”
— The CNBC Phil LeBeau contributed to this report.
