DALLAS - Dallas-based Southwest Airlines announced Tuesday it will retrofit the interior of its 372 Boeing 737-700s beginning in March as it starts receiving new aircraft with redesigned interiors.
Passengers will notice new carpet, upgraded partitions, a brighter interior on the majority of its existing aircraft and all new seats.
The materials used are "green" and lighter, Southwest said, reducing each aircraft's weight by several hundred pounds per plane, thereby saving fuel and costs.
Southwest calls the retrofit its "Evolve" interior and plans to swap out carpets, components and seats on one aircraft a day at a Dallas hangar beginning in March.
The new seats will have slimmer seat-backs, allowing Southwest to add an additional row and increasing the total number of seats from 137 to 143.
But the new seats only recline two-inches rather than three.
Plus, the airline said the seat sits more than an inch lower to the ground because the bottom is no longer used as a flotation device since life vests have been added.
"You're sitting deeper and the way the seat is configured your posture is better. Basically we're doing what your mother always said which is 'Sit up, son,'" said Dave Ridley, Southwest Airlines.
In addition, Southwest said its new seats are manufactured from synthetic leather rather than the real material it used to use.
It has been a decade since Southwest last redesigned the interior of its aircraft.
The 737-700s make up the majority of Southwest's fleet 372 of the 550 aircraft it uses. The airline said it has not decided what to do with the interiors of its almost 200 737-300 and 500 series aircraft.
Retrofitting of the AirTran fleet will happen in the next few years, Southwest said.
In March, Southwest begins receiving new 737-800s with Boeing's Sky Interior. Those aircraft will have similar interior features, along with others from Boeing, including larger overhead bins, bigger window reveals and LED lighting.
Southwest's first retrofitted interior begins flying by the end of the week.
E-mail jwhitely@wfaa.com
