Southwest Airlines Places Huge Boeing 737 MAX Order

Users on Airliners(.)net report that Southwest pays around 40m per frame.

This is absolutely no surprise.

Ryanair and Southwest are wholehearted loyal to Boeing just as Spirit and Easyjet are Airbus

I’m sure southwest got the best deal possible from Boeing

Rode on a max before they grounding on Southwest, it was amazing, passengers were in awe stepping onto the planes and seeing the massive overhead space the fancy lights and windows. Obviously its all differnt now but it was a great experience on SW maybe not AA but which i think you rode an "Oasis" plane but you need to review a SW max flight.

It will be interesting to see how "comfortable" the A220 will remain as other airlines start flying it. I know DL decked out their A220s, but I wonder how one would feel in an "Oasis" A220 flown by American.

I'm not knocking the A220, but airlines aren't in it for passenger comfort. I could see reduced legroom in exchange for adding a row or two. I think a better gauge of A220 comfort will be when it's flown by a variety of airlines in a variety of configurations.

Would it be surprising if other airlines crams 3-3 layout on A220? DL has some fairly wide seats for coach in theirs, I’m sure others are thinking about Oasis-ing it

Good thing because SW and American's staunch opposition are the reason Boeing did the Max instead of staying with its previous plans to do a clean-sheet narrowbody. Boeing would be in so much better shape today competing against Airbus if it had a new airframe instead of working off a 60-year-old fuselage design. You gotta listen to your customers but....

Secondly, the 220 is wildly successful and production capacity is limited, so probably the 220 wasn't ever really in the cards for Southwest. They need these planes on a schedule and they can't wait in line for them.

"the A220 is a more pleasant ride as a passenger than the 737 MAX."

You know that doesn't really mean anything, right? The comfort is entirely dependent on the individual airline and their seating plan.

@ AW -- Yes and no. While seat pitch, cabin finishes, entertainment, etc., come down to the individual airline, a 2-3 configuration is almost unarguably better than a 3-3 configuration, and then on top of that the seats are able to be wider on the A220 than the 737.

For WN, this is a logical move. A no brainer. For one thing, I'm sure that they got a heck of a great deal. So, it's a fresh fleet on the cheap. And, the common fleet type does save them a lot of money on maintenance, pilot training/certifications, etc.

As to what Ben said about the comfort of WN's interior configuration on these jets: that was exactly right. I actually flew on a WN MAX8 just before the type were grounded and it was relatively comfortable. WN has a humane seat pitch, decently padded/upholstered seats, and a sufficient seat width as economy seats go. This is no AA Oasis torture chamber.

Given that this is likely the last 737 variant, an A220 would have helped Southwest for a post-737 future. However, that future is still at least 10-15 years away, maybe more, so it doesn't make sense to shift their fleet now.

I also would have loved the A220 on Southwest. I'm sure they would have done a great job. But their economy cabin still offers decent legroom, better than the Big 3's narrowbodies, so it won't be as cramped in these new Max7 planes. May offer slightly more legroom to keep it at 150 or lower just so they don't have to have a 4th flight attendant.

The Airbus order was never going to happen. Let's just hope Southwest MAX's are nicer than AA's, with their cramped seats and miniscule micro-closet restrooms. I've only ever flown the MAX on AC and I was quite impressed.

Not defending or criticizing anyone, but the lavs on the Max are Boeing's doing. They (as well as Airbus) are eliminating customization anywhere they can.
As for the 7 "beating out" the 220... there was a better chance of the sun rising in the west than WN ordering anything that doesn't start with a 7.

I don't really think the MAX 8s are "replacing" the 738s because WN's 738s aren't that old.