Southwest Is Reportedly Eyeing a Plane It Has Never Flown

Southwest Airlines has flown Boeing 737s for about five decades, but an exclusive Reuters report on 8 October says the carrier is leaning toward the Boeing 787 for long-haul international flying. A Southwest spokesperson told Reuters: “We do not have any news forthcoming related to our fleet plans.” Business Traveller followed the story on 12 October, noting that the airline has not reached board approval on a purchase or lease.

The obstacles are practical. Boeing says the 787 is sold out through the end of the decade, so leased or secondhand aircraft are the most plausible route to launching within three years. The Southwest Pilots Association’s president said management has discussed both a large aircraft and a narrow-body long-haul type. CEO Bob Jordan has proposed a focused network of eight to twelve long-haul destinations. Retrofits, certification, pilot qualifications, crew-rest rules and widebody pay scales would all need work.

Passengers would also see a different product. Southwest has no first- or business-class cabin, only paid extra-legroom rows, and analyst Gary Leff has said it would need lie-flat business class and probably premium economy to compete on long routes. Its first airport lounges are planned for Austin, Baltimore, Honolulu and Nashville from late 2027, with at least eleven envisioned and access tied to a new premium Chase credit card.

Southwest already sells international connections through partners including Icelandair, Condor, Singapore Airlines, Air Premia, China Airlines, EVA Air, Philippine Airlines, ANA and Turkish Airlines, mostly through interline agreements rather than codeshares. Europe’s winter seasonality would weigh on a mostly economy 787, which is one reason analysts suggest rotating aircraft to Hawaii in slower transatlantic months.

Sources: Business Traveller