Southwest Orders 108 More Boeing 737 MAX 7s

Lucky, you are correct. The order for the 737 MAX 7 makes sense- it seats 150 people and can serve both medium and large US cities, with just 3 FA's.

What is odd is Southwest's choice of the Max 8 vs the Max 9. The cost for the Max 9 is incremental and has the same number of FA's. This appears to be Southwest's real error when making their purchase mistake years ago

I wonder if they are looking at adding more destinations vs sending alot of flyers to major ones? Or even adding more Caribbean and nearby international locations?

The induction into service of the MAX 7 will be the turnaround that Southwest has been waiting for.
They have been forced to guess when the MAX 7 will enter service and convert orders to the MAX 8.
WN has used a hub and spoke system more and more to make up for having to use the MAX 8 but their route system needs a 150 seater.
Many of the 737-700s are very close to timing out so WN needs the MAX 7 in service. Like. Yesterday.
Trust we will see it in revenue service early in 2024

What would also be interesting is whether any airline will order MAX 200S and put in less seats. What disadvantage would that have vs having the same config on a standard MAX8?

IIRC, at full capacity the largest 737 variants (-9/-10) require longer runways for take-off (especially on hot days) than available at Chicago Midway, Burbank and Orange County.

Additionally, during inclement weather, the runways at these airports may be too short for landing for the largest 737 models.

While Southwest could exclude these airports for the -9/-10 models, it would seem that to date it does not see enough of a benefit to justify adding a larger and third variant beyond the -700/-7 and -800/-8 sizes it already has.

But, might the -8200 (Ryanair’s high capacity -8 variant) offer an opportunity to upgauge capacity while avoiding the runway length constraint that the -9/-10 models have?

Perhaps those with more precise knowledge can add more details regarding the take-off and landing performance at airports with shorter runways for the largest 737 variants and how that impacts fleet decisions at airlines like Southwest.

Great recap. WN need the smaller variant to navigate and compete effectively in the niche markets. I think AA should follow suit as they plan a future narrowbody order. There is a large gap between the Embraer regional jet AA employs through its subsidiaries/regional outfits and the 737-800. A Max 7, a far more capable plane than the older A319, would be a perfect replacement, and help AA compete in smaller markets and possibly allow routes to Europe from its small hub in Boston. Southwest has a lot to gain from the Max 7 - it seems very promising.

Would love to see SWA refurbish a Boeing 757 and fly it out of Chicago (ORD) for “blue light special” longer distance routes. Bet it would sell out all the time!

Larger variants mean additional FA’s, and the training of 20,000 FA’s on a new aircraft. There aren’t separate crew for separate aircraft. All aircraft become part of WN’s point-to-point network. A —9 or -10 might seem great for BWI-SEA; but the continuing flight to BOI doesn’t need that capacity. All aircraft flow into the same system. The MAX 7 will hold 150 pax, 7 more than the current 700. It will be efficient for developing longer routes perhaps to South America; or more frequencies to some of the HI Islands, from yet more existing WN cities. But 9s and 10s would require an additional FA and more crew training. That’s an expanse WN won’t find efficient for its plan.

why would they go with a 757 when that is a gas guzzler when they are going for efficiency?

The extra F/A argument is moot. Southwest could easily add a larger variant and add up to 200 seats maximum and still only have 4 F/A as they do now on the max8.

A MAX 10 with the same pitch as the MAX 8 enjoys would result in a 200 pax cabin and would still only need 4 FA's. Ideally with a 4th Lav.

Yet the reason the -800/8M significantly outsell the -7M, is because it doesn't weigh much more, or have that much less range/performance, but offers extra seats.

Same thing with A330-900 vs A330-800. And 777-300ER vs 777-200LR.

The slight extra weight or decreased performance is, for the overwhelming majority of carriers, completely outweighed by the extra seats and extra cargo space.

I think the MAX 7 variant is great for Southwest to compete in smaller markets and short runway airports (e.g. SNA) without sacrificing fleet commonality. I wonder why they don’t also go for the MAX 200, MAX 9, or MAX 10 though to hit higher trafficked routes.

they ordered more designed flawed crashing airplane is scary. why they won't order a350 and isn't designed to not do costly tests and approvals.