Southwest Airlines is in the midst of a drastic rebrand that has seen the airline end some longstanding policies and even change its overall strategy. As the airline moves forward with one of those changes, however, it sounds like Southwest faces a bit of a challenge.
While Southwest has long prioritized domestic routes with limited international options, the airline has recently indicated that it plans to expand its international offerings in the future, including long-haul flights to Europe.
While this might be a welcome change for some customers, the truth is that Southwest isn’t exactly set up to pull it off just yet.
Recent Southwest Airlines Changes
- Ended its “bags fly free” policy back in May
- Will move to an assigned seating model in January
- Moving away from its point-to-point model
- Changed its credit card rewards and annual fee
- Offers complimentary WiFi for Rapid Rewards members
- More international routes
Southwest Prioritizes Domestic Flights
Currently, Southwest Airlines prioritizes domestic flights, offering a limited number of international routes, usually to short-haul vacation destinations like Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Southwest’s fleet is currently very much in line with this strategy as the airline exclusively flies Boeing 737 aircraft, all of which share the same basic layout and seating arrangement with no first class or business class, though the airline is in the process of adding a few seats with extra legroom.
Embracing International Travel
Though the entire airline is currently strategically set up to prioritize domestic travel and short-haul flights, Southwest has recently confirmed that it does intend to expand its international offerings.
Initially, Southwest indicated that it planned to simply expand to new international destinations that could be reached by its 737 aircraft.
“Southwest Airlines is continuing to consider ways to grow our business as we evolve to meet the needs of our current and future customers,” Southwest said in a statement earlier this year. “One of the things we are exploring is the potential to expand our network to new international destinations on our Boeing 737 aircraft.”
However, in some recent comments, Southwest CEO Bob Jordan confirmed that the airline is looking to add long-haul flights to Europe and other overseas destinations, as well.
Southwest Faces a Problem
While the addition of long-haul flights might excite customers and help Southwest compete with the likes of Delta, United, and American, the airline has a pretty obvious problem with this plan: it doesn’t exactly have the planes to do it.
Typically, long-haul flights like those between the United States and Europe are completed using widebody aircraft like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner or the Airbus A350. This is due to their greater range, an increased capacity for passengers and cargo, and extra room, which allows for improved passenger comfort.
The problem is that Southwest, as previously mentioned, does not have any of those widebody aircraft in its fleet. If it’s going to fly to Europe and other long-haul international destinations, it’s going to need new planes.
“Should we choose to fly to Europe, that’s not a mission the 737 Max will do, so we need a different aircraft,” Jordan said last week, via View From the Wing.
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Southwest is planning to immediately purchase some widebody aircraft, either. That would be a significant investment, as those aircraft typically cost well over $200 million per plane, according to data from Axon Aviation Group.
What Will Southwest Do?
While Southwest might eventually build out its own fleet of widebody aircraft if it has success with long-haul, international routes, Jordan suggested that the airline might take a “more risk-tolerant” approach at first.
During his recent comments, Jordan suggested that Southwest could initially use narrowbody aircraft for these trips rather than immediately building out a fleet of widebody aircraft.
“It could be that a widebody is just too much, at least for a start,” Jordan said.
Regardless, it’s pretty clear that Southwest has a challenge ahead if it is indeed planning to adopt long-haul flights.
