If there’s one airline that may be described as polarizing, it is in all probability Southwest. Some vacationers swear by the airline’s open seating coverage, whereas others favor to fly with carriers that let you decide your seat prematurely. However now, the controversy about the way you select your seat has considerably fallen by the wayside, as vacationers are up in arms about Southwest Airways’ new bodily seats. The airline introduced some controversial “upgrades” in a latest TikTok video, which showcased computer-generated pictures of a redesigned cabin.
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“Introducing our up to date cabin design and new seats!” the caption reads. “You may catch this inside on new plane deliveries starting subsequent yr. To not point out our ongoing rollout of including greater overhead bins and in-power ports to our present planes!”
In a Feb. 2 press launch, Southwest defined that it partnered with design firm Tangerine to create the up to date inside, which integrates shades of blue. The brand new seats have the Southwest coronary heart emblem on adjustable headrests and private digital system holders, per the discharge. Provided by plane seat producer RECARO, the seats are “intuitively designed…for final consolation whereas maximizing seat width and general help,” the airline stated.
Nevertheless, prospects had totally different ideas on the seats—they usually weren’t precisely optimistic. Southwest’s TikTok video was flooded with sarcastic feedback, with many stating that the seats regarded “smaller and thinner” than they did earlier than.
“I did not suppose it was potential to make the seats any extra uncomfortable, however it seems like someway you managed. Congratulations, I suppose,” one remark reads.
One other commenter was shocked that the seats have been authorized in any respect, asking, “Did y’all not do a single focus group on these?!” (Within the press launch, the airline did write that “Buyer analysis and product testing” guided Southwest to collaborate with RECARO.)
Others made jokes, asking if there’s “an possibility to only stand” or whether or not the airline thought-about wood benches, which might “be simply as cozy.” A number of feedback in contrast the seats to garden chairs, plastic pool recliners, and slabs of granite, whereas others stated that the brand new chairs are akin to these on price range airways like Spirit and Frontier.
Critics additionally argue that the “thinner” chairs could be rolled out to create area for extra seats. “So extra crowded and fewer consolation? Superior,” a remark reads. One other asks, “Are the cushions thinner so you possibly can put them nearer and squeeze in an additional two rows?”
Curiously sufficient, Southwest (together with JetBlue) has been acknowledged as having probably the most legroom in economic system seating. Again in 2015, Southwest’s Chief Business Officer Bob Jordan additionally stated that the airline would have the “widest economic system seats obtainable within the single-aisle 737 market,” at 17.8 inches, Condé Nast Traveler reported. This set Southwest aside, as most airways have been transferring to slimmer seats.
In a press release to Finest Life, a spokesperson for Southwest famous that the RECARO seats “keep the common seat width and pitch on Southwest Boeing 737 MAX 8 and -800 plane, and exceed the width at present obtainable on the -700 sequence plane.” (Pitch is the time period utilized by airways for the area between a seat and the seats in entrance and behind it.)
Relating to the seats themselves, the airline stated that they’ve truly made enhancements when it comes to consolation.
“We collaborated with RECARO to custom-develop a extra ergonomic cushion by utilizing totally different foam applied sciences and densities, and including extra padding to sure areas of the headrest, backrest, and backside cushion,” the spokesperson stated. “The seat materials chosen for these new seats isn’t solely softer to the contact, however higher showcases the froth know-how.”
The Southwest spokesperson additionally stated that the airline did, actually, conduct testing for the brand new seats.
“Southwest carried out a number of rounds of consolation testing with tons of of members, and we’re assured within the consolation and reliability these seats present,” the assertion reads. “After testing, Southwest continued to leverage RECARO’s experience in growing long-haul premium economic system seats within the worldwide market and translated these learnings and enhancements to make a {custom} seat distinctive to Southwest.”
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On prime of basic frustration with the seats, some vacationers stated it is sufficient to make them take their enterprise elsewhere.
“You simply earned your self a Delta buyer,” one remark reads on the TikTok video, whereas one other referred to as Southwest’s video “the very best Delta advert I’ve seen.”
A number of commenters additionally wished to know why the renovated cabins did not embody charging ports, which has been a ache level for vacationers. Nevertheless, the airline addressed this within the launch: New 737 MAX 8 plane could have USB A and USB C energy ports and bigger overhead bins. As well as, each charging ports and bigger bins can be added to present MAX 8 and 737-800 plane over the following a number of years, Southwest stated.
Finest Life reached out to Southwest for remark and can replace the story once we hear again.
