Southwest Airlines will substitute 20 of its Boeing 737-700 orders for the larger 737-800 aircraft, with the first delivery scheduled in March 2012, the low-cost carrier announced Dec. 15.
Southwest, which has 23 737-700 deliveries scheduled in 2012, says it expects to convert most of them to -800s as it replaces its -300 series aircraft, but the details still are being finalized. The carrier has another 19 firm orders for the -700 scheduled for delivery in 2013.
The order for the larger aircraft “sets the stage to bring more destinations into the realm of possibilities for Southwest, to operate a more economical aircraft, and to offer better scheduling flexibility in high-demand, slot-controlled, or gate-restricted markets,” Southwest CEO Gary Kelly told a Wings Club audience in New York.
Those additional destinations could include Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, Kelly says.
The high-demand, slot-controlled or gate-restricted airports likely will include places such as New York LaGuardia, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Boston, which Southwest has previously cited as possibilities.
Presumably they also could include Newark. Southwest already had announced its first services there, beginning in late March to Chicago Midway with six daily flights and St. Louis with two. On Dec. 15, it announced four more routes it will add June 5: Baltimore/Washington International and Denver International airports with three dailies apiece, and Houston Hobby and Phoenix Sky Harbor with two.
Regarding the 737-800, Southwest says it remains in discussions with Boeing on configuration and equipage options. But it says the current plan is to get all of the new aircraft in full Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards configuration. The current plan also calls for the configuration to include Boeing’s Sky Interior, which features a quieter cabin, larger overhead storage bins, brighter and more adjustable reading and ceiling lighting.
Southwest is not saying what price differential it negotiated for substituting a larger aircraft in its order.
The airline currently operates 737-300, -500 and -700 series aircraft with 122 to 137 seats. It has talked about configuring the -800 for about 175.
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