Yesterday, Southwest Airlines announced some pretty big changes for the inside of some of their Boeing 737 aircraft, which they are calling “Evolve: The New Southwest Interior.”
For the average customer, the differences probably won’t be so obvious — hence why Southwest is calling this an evolution rather than a revolution. The tones of brown and blue will be familiar, but with a closer eye, one can see the changes. From Southwest directly, here they are:
The new Southwest interior with new seats and carpeting. Photo by Southwest Airlines.
Modern Cabin Design: The new design incorporates natural, earthy tones combined with Southwest’s iconic Canyon blue and clean, aluminum accents for a more modern, fresh appeal. The redesign is inspired by Southwest’s past with a nod to the future.
Lighter and More Comfortable Seat: The redesigned low-profile seat is more durable, made of eco-friendly products, is lighter, and more comfortable.
Increased Under-Seat Space: The new design allows for more under-seat room for carryon luggage and approved pet carriers.
Customer Living Space: Reducing the recline from three inches to two inches preserves onboard personal living space while still allowing for ample seat adjustment for Customer comfort.
Seatback pockets: The new netted seatback pockets are streamlined to provide more knee room.
Headrest: The fixed-wing headrest provides better neck and head alignment with side-to-side support for sleeping.
Improved Ergonomics: The combination of the low-profile cushion and fixed wing headrestimproves ergonomics by positioning Customers “down and back” into the seat, allowing for better lumbar support, armrest alignment, and increased personal living space.
There might be less seat pitch, but there is more space. Photo by Southwest Airlines.
The new interior means that there allows Southwest to put six additional seats on each aircraft. This is due to reducing the seat pitch from 32″ to 31″, using the skinnier seats and reducing the recline from 3″ to 2″. This will allow Southwest to increase their profit, without having to add fees.
The seats are made with eco-friendly materials and are designed to last longer, reducing replacement costs. Each seat weighs six pounds less than their predecessor, meaning real fuel savings for Southwest Airlines. The new carpet, which is made out of recycled materials, is put in by squares where a section can easily be replaced instead of taking out the whole carpet.
“We are preparing now for our next 40 years with a fleet modernization plan that includes the new interior, the Boeing 737-800 which is scheduled to come online beginning in March this year, and the 737 MAX, which is expected to join the Southwest fleet in 2017,” said Bob Jordan, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. “The evolutionary changes we’re making with the new interior uphold our low-cost roots and historic focus on Customer Service. The cabin upgrade also allows us to create significant revenue opportunities without adding unwanted fees.”
Southwest plans to update all their newer Boeing 737-700s and also AirTran’s 737s and 717s. They have not stated if they will update their older classic 737s, but my guess is that they will not. It would be unlikely, since they recently announced an order 150 new Boeing 737MAX aircraft.
ANA showed off their special Dreamliner Livery today. Photo by Boeing.
Today, All Nippon Airways (ANA) unveiled their special Boeing 787 Dreamliner livery.
The livery is the celebrate that ANA will be the first airline in the world to fly the 787 Dreamliner. The blue lines at the rear of the fuselage are designed to highlight how the three core elements of the airline’s service brand – innovation, uniqueness and the inspiration of modern Japan ’“ operate across the ANA network. Only two Dreamliners will be painted in the special livery, the rest will be in standard ANA livery.
ANA's new Business Class will have staggered seating. Click for bigger.
ANA also unveiled their new cabin layout that will premier on the 787 Dreamliner. Business Class seats will have full lay flat beds, 17″ monitors and staggered seating, allowing aisle access from every seat. For both long and short haul layouts in the 787 Dreamliner, there will be two classes: Business and Economy.
Economy class will feature seats that have fixed backs, where a passenger can recline, but it will not impede into the person’s space behind you. Every seat will have in seat entertainment and universal power and USB ports.
ANA has ordered 55 787 Dreamliners and the first should be delivered sometime in August or September.
The business class section of the Boeing 747-8 International mock-up has amazing lighting.
The orange exterior of the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental has been getting a lot of well deserved attention. But my mother always told me, “it is what’s inside that counts.” She’s right, so let’s take a close look at the interior of the Boeing 747-8I.
The plane seen at the 747-8I unveiling had no interior and Lufthansa’s first plane isn’t quite ready yet for a viewing. However, Boeing does have a full, two story interior mock up at the Customer Experience Center located in Renton, WA and I was lucky enough to be invited to check it out.
My first impression was, “wow.” I understand that the seating choices and a lot of the fanciness won’t be chosen by every airline, but just the lighting is a huge improvement. The full color spectrum LED lighting in the ceiling and along the walls makes the cabin feel bigger and the new overhead bins (also found on the 787 Dreamliner) actually make the cabin bigger.
Boeing was able to show what “standard” lighting seen today looks like versus the new lighting and it makes a huge difference. Boeing suggests that an airline makes the ceiling lighting the same color as the sky (blues to oranges), but airlines can customize almost any color. The sky colors brings your eyes up and gives a feeling of a higher ceiling and a much more enjoyable environment.
This mini-suite on the upper deck looks pretty comfy.
Unlike the mood lighting seen on airlines like Virgin American (which is also awesome), the lighting in the new interior doesn’t cause the whole cabin to change colors. Airlines have the ability to create different lighting in the ceiling and side walls, but still keep the main lighting on the passengers white.
The stairs going up to the upper deck is much more welcoming on the 747-8I than the stairs I have seen on Boeing 747-400s.Showing what could be, the upper deck of the mock up had lounge and private suite seating. Who needs a seat that turns into a bed, when you can have a seat and a bed with a sitting area right outside?
Although the mock-up doesn’t have engines attached to it, I would imagine the real 747-8I will be much quieter inside. Seeing the 747-8F take off, it is obviously much more silent than the Boeing 747-400 and older models.
Boeing will have a consistent feel across all their airlines. Now, the Boeing 737, 777, 787 and 747-8I will have similar custom lighting and more modern interiors. These new interiors will keep passengers happy and help to make airlines more profit. Sounds like a winning combination to me.
Some of the Airbus A350 lavatory options. Click the link to RunwayGirl's blog for larger version.
Now that the Boeing 787 and Boeing 747-8 have taken their first flights, attention is starting to move towards watching the new Airbus A350. Mary Kirby, over on her blog RunwayGirl, is posting a glimpse of the interior of the new Airbus A350.
Airbus has been working on the Aircraft Description Document, defining what interior options will be available. With the A350, Airbus hopes to increase flexibility in cabin layout, without having to change the structure of the aircraft.
The Airbus A350 is Airbus’ answer to the Boeing 787 (and partially to the B777). Like the Boeing 787, it will be made primarily of carbon fiber and be more fuel efficient compared to previous aircraft types. Currently the A350-900XWB is expected to carry more passengers and fly farther than the Boeing 787-8. The first flight is currently scheduled for 2012, with delivery scheduled for 2013.
Check our RunwayGirl’s blog for more photos and information on the Airbus A350 interior.
And if you are on Twitter, we made #A350XWP the official hashtag for the Airbus A350 (if that makes no sense to you, don’t worry about it).
There has been so much excitement about seeing the first Boeing 787 take off and even the second. Now it is time for the third Dreamliner to get some attention. This morning I was invited to see the third Boeing 787 Dreamliner up close and personal. Besides Boeing staff and a few guest airlines, this was the first time outsiders have been allowed to see what’s so special on the inside. Boeing has never invited media on a test plane like this before and they made it clear that this was a still a testbed and wasn’t the final product.
Passengers are able to tint the windows using the button below them. This is a middle level tint.
It was exciting walking up the stairs of the third Dreamliner. The first thing I noticed when walking in was space. Yes, many of the seats were missing, but it seemed tall and roomy. I was quick to move over to the windows and try the electronic dimmers. Instead of shades, you are able to push a button and dim the window from clear to very dark. This is something that will likely entertain children (and aviation nerds) for a few hours on a flight. Getting up to see the flight deck was awesome. The display screens were much larger than I thought and the heads up display was an exciting addition. They even had a 787 Dreamliner emblem on the ceiling, which was a nice touch.
Notice how little room the overhead bins take. The white lighting can be programmed with different color options.
This Boeing 787 test plane only had a few economy seats for us to preview, no Business or First class ones. Boeing will provide a catalog of seats for airlines to choose from. Airlines must choose out of the Boeing catalog for economy seats, but do not for Business Class.
Most of the plane was lit in white, although the front had a nice blue glow to it. Boeing will suggest to airlines that they have the lights on blue when passengers load, since studies show it gives the feeling of space . They also suggest airlines go brighter for meal services, since food looks better when well lit (not sure if peanuts do though).
In the front and rear of the aircraft are crew bunk areas. The bunk areas are located above in the ceiling and have some narrow stairs to get access. They make me think of summer camp, but they at least provide an area away from the passengers where the crew can rest.
It was amazing being able to get so close to this Dreamliner. She looked great in her Boeing "light" livery.
One surprisingly neat part of the Boeing 787 was the lavatories. If you wave your hand in front of the sensor, they will flush and the seat will close. They also have a very spacious feel with the ability to customize the lighting.
The Dreamliner is an amazing aircraft. Even non-aviation nerds should feel a stark difference flying on this aircraft versus others. I think most people were impressed even with this pre-production model. I can’t wait to see her fully decked out.
