Southwest Airlines

Southwest is one of the largest carriers in the United States and the originator of the low-cost, point-to-point model that much of the industry later copied. It flies almost entirely within the US, plus a handful of near-international leisure routes to Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America, and runs a dense web of connections through focus cities such as Chicago Midway, Dallas Love Field, Denver, Las Vegas, Baltimore/Washington and Phoenix rather than a single classic hub. It sits in no global alliance, so its network stands largely on its own.

Flying Southwest is a single-class, no-frills proposition done at scale: a deep domestic map, frequent departures and a fare structure built around flexibility rather than cabin tiers. The big recent change is seating. After decades of open boarding, Southwest moved to assigned seats from 27 January 2026, so a seat number now comes with the booking and the old scramble down the jet bridge is gone.

Southwest flies a single-type fleet, and the configurations published here reflect that: the Boeing 737-700, the larger 737-800 and the newer 737 MAX 8. There is no business or premium cabin to map. Each is laid out as a single economy cabin in the standard narrowbody 3-3, so the published layouts differ mainly in length, with the 737-700 the shortest and the MAX 8 and 737-800 the larger of the three.

What varies within that one cabin is seat tier rather than seat class. Under the assigned-seating model, Southwest splits the same economy cabin into Extra Legroom seats at the front and around the exit rows, Preferred standard-legroom seats further forward, and standard seats towards the rear. The published cabin layouts flag the extra-legroom rows, which is where most of the choosing happens.

The cabin is honest single-class economy. Seats are the usual domestic-narrowbody recliners at a fairly standard pitch, with the Extra Legroom rows carrying roughly three to five inches more than the rest. There are no lie-flat seats, no separate premium cabin and no seat-back screens; entertainment is streamed to your own device over the aircraft wifi, and power varies by airframe, so a charged phone and headphones are the sensible plan.

Service keeps the friendly, informal tone Southwest is known for, with complimentary soft drinks and snacks and, on the Extra Legroom seats, an extra snack and an extra premium drink where offered. Two checked bags have long been part of the fare, a genuine point of difference from most US rivals. It is a calm, predictable short-to-medium-haul experience rather than a luxurious one.

For the most room, target the Extra Legroom rows at the very front of the cabin and around the exit rows; the front seats also get you off first on a tight connection, while the exit-row seats trade that quick exit for the extra space. If you are paying up, weigh it against the leg: the premium is modest on a short hop and climbs steeply on the longer transcontinental routes, where the extra inches earn their keep.

In standard seating, the front Preferred rows are quieter and quicker to deplane than the rear, which sits closer to the aft galley and lavatories and to the noise and queue that come with them. Window lovers should check the published layout before committing, as the 737 has a couple of rows where the window is misaligned or missing against the fuselage. Travelling as a group now means selecting seats together at booking rather than relying on early boarding to sit side by side.