Southwest Airlines has reached a tentative agreement with its pilots union that, if ratified by the pilots, will permit Southwest to choose to adopt the 737-800 into the fleet.  Southwest says it is still evaluating the choice and will make a decision soon. 

Some have speculated that doing this and adding Airtran into the mix would be unattractive to Southwest.  I say it that aircraft is coming and sooner than later.  Despite Southwest’s potential gains (via the merger) at airports where this aircraft would be most useful, it still has great potential for the airline in those markets and others including, perhaps, some routes that Southwest will harmonize between itself and Airtran in the future. 

Ultimately, this means Southwest is suddenly looking at operating 2 types and 3 classes of capacity in its system in the near future.  The Boeing 717 on the bottom end w/ 117 passengers and the Boeing 737-500 sitting there right next to it at 122 passengers is the first “class” of capacity.  The Boeing 737-700 at 137 passengers will remain the mainstay aircraft for mst routes and represents the second “class” of capacity.  Finally, the Boeing 737-800 will offer increased capacity at about 175 passengers. 

I wouldn’t expect the Boeing 737-800 fleet to be that large for a long time.  Look for a sub-fleet of these that will probably range from 40 to 60 unless and until Southwest decides the entire fleet needs to bump up in size.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax