3 ms·

Using a lower-capacity plane is still less of an issue for SWA than other airlines since they also don’t do assigned seating so they can bump a portion of the b

by dhosek 4y ago

Using a lower-capacity plane is still less of an issue for SWA than other airlines since they also don’t do assigned seating so they can bump a portion of the booked tickets rather than all of them. Although are you sure about the fewer seats on some planes things? I remember having identical planes for all flights being a central part of their business plan last time I had read about this. I can’t imagine them getting any benefit out of having 737s with different seating capacities.

mjcl 4y ago
SeatGuru shows their 737-700 is 143 seats and their 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 are both 175 seats.
toast0 4y ago
> Using a lower-capacity plane is still less of an issue for SWA than other airlines since they also don’t do assigned seating so they can bump a portion of the booked tickets rather than all of them. Other airlines can do similar. Assigned seats don't prevent an airline from bumping you; it's been a while, but I've had my seat changed without my involvement as well as had to figure out what to so when someone else had a boarding pass with the same seat as mine. I've had pleasant surprises too; booked towards the front of the cabin for a plane without an extra leg room section, but the plane that was used had extra leg room for that row, so bonus. > I can’t imagine them getting any benefit out of having 737s with different seating capacities. It's probably a mix of things; one being they bought many 737-700s before larger models were available, but it looks like they've got 192 737-MAX7s on order, so it seems that they'll have three sizes for a while and probably have two sizes once the 737-700s age out. Some routes probably don't provide enough customers to fill the larger planes, and using a smaller plane reduces operating costs. Two sizes isn't that many. Alaska operates more sizes and has fewer aircraft.

by dhosek 4y ago

mjcl 4y ago

SeatGuru shows their 737-700 is 143 seats and their 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 are both 175 seats.

toast0 4y ago

> Using a lower-capacity plane is still less of an issue for SWA than other airlines since they also don’t do assigned seating so they can bump a portion of the booked tickets rather than all of them. Other airlines can do similar. Assigned seats don't prevent an airline from bumping you; it's been a while, but I've had my seat changed without my involvement as well as had to figure out what to so when someone else had a boarding pass with the same seat as mine. I've had pleasant surprises too; booked towards the front of the cabin for a plane without an extra leg room section, but the plane that was used had extra leg room for that row, so bonus. > I can’t imagine them getting any benefit out of having 737s with different seating capacities. It's probably a mix of things; one being they bought many 737-700s before larger models were available, but it looks like they've got 192 737-MAX7s on order, so it seems that they'll have three sizes for a while and probably have two sizes once the 737-700s age out. Some routes probably don't provide enough customers to fill the larger planes, and using a smaller plane reduces operating costs. Two sizes isn't that many. Alaska operates more sizes and has fewer aircraft.