Yesterday I flew a 7-day old 737-MAX8 plane from St Lous to Las Vegas and got to check out the new Southwest seats and interior. I really enjoyed my flight in the extra legroom seats and the crew, especially flight attendant Alex, were great.
I had seat 2D, an aisle seat in the second row. It was immediately clear this was a new plane with the light blue accent colors on the row with the extra legroom seats (first 5 rows and the exit rows). Here are my overall impressions with photos below:
Pros
- I found the new Recaro seats to be well padded and comfortable for the 3.5 hour flight.
- The extra legroom offered plenty of space for my laptop to work without having to contort into a strange position.
- Seatback power, both USB A and C ports are useful for these long flights. This is really table stakes now in 2025 but I appreciate Southwest is getting with the times.
- I thought the head rest was particularly comfortable with thick padding and the ability to slide it up or down depending on your height.
- The new tray tables include a little flip-down tray to hole your phone or tablet.
Cons
- The armrests were very narrow and almost slippery, almost impossible to use with just your elbow
- While not exclusive to this plane, I hate how the base of the seat frame is offset and really blocks your natural foot position in the aisle seats (see photo below)
- While the seat padding was surprisingly good for a thin seat, I felt like the lumbar support was lacking.
Beyond the new interiors, Southwest is promising additional benefits when these seats can be reserved starting next January 27th, namely “premium drinks” and honey roasted or roasted and salted shelled pistachios. I do miss the old honey-roasted peanuts they used to serve so that will bring back some nostalgia. You can read more about the new interiors in Southwest’s press release. I did also get on the WiFi (which is now free for all members) and while it certainly wasn’t blazing fast, it was good enough to stream Champions League soccer on the Paramount+ app.
TL:DR: It was fun to fly a one-week old plane and experience the new Southwest interior and extra legroom seats. While not perfect, I do think it represents an improvement over their old interiors.
