Preview of Southwest Airlines’ new extra legroom seats and more

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Last week, Southwest Airlines made the huge announcement that they would be discontinuing their open seat policy and doing away with their quirky boarding process. They’re switching to the assigned seating model and will now offer extra legroom options with up to five additional inches of pitch (legroom) for approximately a third of its seats. Those are just among some of the changes; you can read more here.

The good news is that Southwest is keeping their bags fly free policy. It turns out Southwest gave some select media an invite to check out their new plane. Unfortunately, I wasn’t invited like I used to be and I’m guessing it’s because I rag on them when they deserve it, as I do with all the airlines when necessary.

CBS News’ Kris Van Cleave recorded this video (embedded below) so you can get a preview of Southwest Airlines’ new extra legroom seats that will begin appearing on planes next year.

@cbsnews Here’s a look at the new extra legroom seats that will begin appearing on Southwest planes next year. They give about three extra inches of space, but they may take away a little room from the rows of regular seats, CBS News’ Kris Van Cleave reports. #news #planes #travel #aviation #legroom #Southwest ♬ original sound – cbsnews

Here’s the transcript:
“These are the new extra legroom seats for Southwest. They are going to start making their appearance next year. You’ll notice because they look different. Light blue will signify the extra legroom. It’s about three extra inches so you do get a noticeable improvement on your legroom.

There is a new tray table with a place where you can put a device. You’re going to get bigger bins. Those Space Bins where you can put a bag on its side.

What’s interesting here is instead of just doing all of the extra legroom up front, they’re actually in two sections. Now, what they’re going to do is they’re going to change a couple of things. That Wanna Get Away fare, that discounted one, that won’t come with a seat assignment. Then there will be Wanna Get Away Plus, where you’ll be able to pick your seat. And then there will likely be another level for these extended legroom seats that you’ll be able to buy if you care about having a few extra inches.

You may be wondering: Do the regular rows get smaller. They’re going to lose a little bit of seat pitch, the airline says, but they’ll still be around the industry standard of 30 inches seat pitches (the space between seats). So when you get into one of the regular seats, like I’m going to do right here, see you got pretty much the same amount of room as you would if you flew basically any of the other legacy big-name carriers.”

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