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Southwest Debuts the 737-800: Warrior One!

blusk
Aviator C

Many of you have been following our updates as our new 737-800 moved through the construction process and through the first test flight on February 23. One of those steps was the “in-person” introduction today to members of the media, Southwest Employees, and guests at events hosted in Dallas.


The day kicked off with a media preview of the new aircraft, followed by an Employee celebration. At the media preview, Southwest Executives Mike Van de Ven and Brian Hirshman displayed the aircraft to reporters, showcasing the highlights of the -800’s features like the new Boeing Sky Interior, as well as discussing how the -800 will allow us to add overwater routes and more capacity to slot-restricted airports. Boeing Vice President and Program Manager for the 737 Program, Bev Wyse, closed out the media presentation with a recap of Southwest’s long association with the 737.

Sun Warrior

Then the aircraft taxied over to the Employee event, where it was dedicated and named  Warrior One in salute of the Southwest Employees’ Warrior Spirit. The 737-800 will take our airline to new places and allow us compete in highly competitive, but highly restricted markets like LaGuardia, so it’s only fitting that we name it Warrior One to reflect that “can do” attitude.

This is a beautiful aircraft, and I know our Customers will love it, but it also plays an important strategic role in our future. Warrior One and the other -800s carry 175 passengers, which is a whopping 28 percent increase over our current fleet configuration.  Besides improving our unit costs per flight, the -800 gives us opportunities for longer-haul flying and schedule flexibility by adding capacity in those high-demand, slot-controlled, or gate-restricted airports.

Sky Interior

The Boeing Sky Interior offers a quieter, more comfortable environment for Customers with taller ceilings and more overhead bin space, improved operational security features, and ambient LED reading and ceiling lighting. Besides being more effective, the new interior is energy efficient. Also, our great Flight Attendants can match the lighting to the mood onboard the aircraft—subdued at night or bright and festive for a Las Vegas flight.

After the formal part of the event, Employees were allowed to tour the aircraft and see firsthand the new Boeing Sky Interior with its improved sidewalls, larger overheads, and new ceiling with mood lighting. 

Confetti

After some final certifications, Warrior One and our second 737-800 will be set to enter scheduled service on April 11. I hope you all have a chance to fly on a brand new Southwest -800 very soon!

 

262 Comments
Virginia_Chandl
Explorer C
I am looking for the "flying over water" specifics! Hope we can someday go to Hawaii???
FRANCO_MACALUSS
Explorer C
SWA THE OFFICIAL AIRLINES FOR ME AND MY EMPLOYEES...KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK
JeffS
Explorer C
ETOPS.......does that mean Cabo? SJD soon!
margaret_gieck
Explorer C
BET THE "HATER OF SOUTHWEST" IS A UNITED EMPLOYEE....
Sergio_Cabrera
Explorer C
All, please stop paying attention to Jason's comment. Maybe he is an employee of another airline or just a rare, unlucky customer that had a bad experience on SWA. In El Paso, we all LUV this airline. SDC
Charlene_Tinkha
Explorer C
I love Southwest. The only way I fly.
Jaime_Medina
Explorer C
Hate Southwest for low fares ? Because it showed the industry how low cost is done? Texas had Southwest caged for many years, because it feared it. Now it shows the rest how low cost is done. If you like spending more for fares and bags, then you need therapy. We, the customers of little airline that could, forgive you !
Joe_Onufrak
Explorer C
During my working days I flew over a million miles, and in the last 15 years all of my miles are on Southwest. REASONS: Reasonable fares, tell the truth generally, excellent service on the ground and in the air, and friendly employees in all of my experiences. I rate Southwest at 5 stars. THANK YOU
Carolyn_Walter
Explorer C
Thank you Dr X for your kind and truthful words. I myself work for Southwest and not only do they treat there loyal customer right, they treat there employees just as good. Im proud to Say I WORK FOR SOUTHWEST AND I WOULDNT HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY....WE ARE ARE HE LUVVVVVVVVVVVV AIRLINE.
Jerry_Janci
Explorer C
Southwest is the best airline.
Karen_Lindsey
Explorer C
I LOVE YOUR AIRLINE!!! I hope that someday very soon you will add a round trip flight to HAWAII. Everyone I talk to here in the islands, loves your airline! You would be supported big time from the islanders. PLEASE TALK TO YOUR CEO'S ABOUT THIS. Congradulations on your new plane. MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL! MUCH ALOHA, Karen
Carolyn_W1
Explorer C
What a cool video. I love Southwest.
Alfredo_Torres
Explorer C
Will Southwest ever fly to the caribbean..like Puerto Rico?
PeteA
Explorer C
So Sexy.
Brett_Sebree
Explorer C
Southwest has an upbeat sprit, thats what makes them the most attractive airline to work for. Most companies you work for these days have micro-managers, who are complete jerks, and only after the almighty dollar. Flying with them is organized and actually fun. Other airlines make you stress out not knowing if the flight will be delayed or cancelled for unknown reasons. Kinda like Microsoft Windows messages "windows explorer is closing for unknown reasons". Keep up the good work Southwest, hopefully your will be adding more citi's to your roster. Thank You
John_F
Explorer C
I love Southwest! Is a great company, great prices and nice big planes. Frequent flights, no charge for trip changes, easy cancelations and they are usually on time. Few issue with flight cancelations but was able to get on an earlier or latter flight everytime. I can't wait for Southwest to expand their market so I can use their services more often, I fly with them usually twice a month. Thank you Southwest and keep up the Great Work!
Deborah_G
Explorer C
Our family loves Southwest! The employees are awesome and the commitment to safety is wonderful! Congrats on the new planes Southwest!! We are hopeful that one day assigned seating becomes the norm for Southwest. It is always a little stressful hoping we get high enough in the seating queue for the family to sit together. Again...Southwest you're doing a GREAT Job!!
Jacqueline_Ray-
Explorer C
This is such a positive thing...Employee Owned..Employee Recognized...S.W. gets the "motivation" concept. Now...let's see the Employee casted commercial about this aircraft...Looking forward to to the in-flight experience.
LClark
Explorer C
I also love SW Airlines and appreciate what they do to make flying fun, low-cost, and efficient. Congrats on the new plane!
CommAve
Explorer C
Cool looking plane. I wish SWA the best with it and its coming sister aircraft. I still won't fly them because I won't play the game necessary to secure a decent seat and because they have the least legroom in the sky (I'm tall and have very long legs), but those are their business decisions and they are free to make them. The airline is a tremendous success story and has a real can-do attitude and these new planes will only help them to grow. For me, I'll stick with jetBlue, get only one bag free but get plenty of glorious legroom, an assigned aisle seat and an environment just as fun as SWA's.
dick_dantonio
Explorer C
The new 800 series plane features 3 bathrooms (as does the existing Air Tran 737s). This is the most important feature for this senior citezen when flying on five hour flights such as BWI/PHX. The present fleet has but one usable bathroom for 135 people, since the forward one is severly restricted by the paranoid rule of "no waiting" area, making it only useful for the most nimble. Suggest replacing the aft galley on the older 737s with an additional bathroom. Dick
Chris_Gaines
Explorer C
Wow, I am so happy there will be one more seat available since what's their name won't be flying on South West! Can't wait for the big bird to make it here to Hawaii, I have been dreaming of this for years and now it will be REAL!! Great customer care, terrific rates and perhaps best of all .... comfy seats! Hurray!
Stephen_Stich
Explorer C
Please bring back the N/S OAK-BWI route! Thanks
Tom1111
Explorer C
My Sister flew S.W. Columbus, OH to Tulsa & back. On her flight to Tulsa (through St. Louis), because of weather (very bad weather, not just an excuse to cancel a less than full flight), everything got screwed-up. S. W. -vs- all the others. The difference: She said S.W. did EVERYTHING possible to "ease the pain." She actually said, "They treated me as an adult (she's 51), not some idiot that couldn't understand the possibility of a re-route that finally got her to Tulsa. She said, what S.W. did, didn't cost S.W. anything. It was just their "consumer friendly sprit" (one of the many things I also like about S.W.). An attitude that reflected a "we're in this situation WITH YOU. Not one of, "it's weather. What do you want me to do about it." THANK YOU SOUTHWEST for taking care of my sister. She's very important to me. TOM
RON_GRABOWSKI
Explorer C
i'm not an employee but it is in my best intrest because i fly sowthwest whenever i fly for your pleple to find out how much the paint weigh's on these planes and you will find out the elimination of this paint will ad up to be more than you think paint be gone better fuel effecency
H__Kyu
Explorer C
I have been flying Southwest since 2002. Lately, I have been having to do multiple flights a week for my work-related commutes; with my unpredictable, yet tight timelines, I need an air-transportation service that I could depend on, and Southwest Airlines has not disappointed me once. The cute little bags of peanuts are not only delicious with the cup of the Southwest Airlines' coffee, they also seem to represent a principle that the Airline has not given up on the wonderful and magical experiences of air-traveling from decades ago. By the way, the coffee is also excellent. Since my very first flight in 2002, there has not been a single lost and/or misrouted baggage - this is really important for me as I travel for work. And my bags have not arrived abused, not a single time. I still use the bag today, but now it has a beautiful metal A-list Preferred name-tag on it. The flight teams, on the grounds and on the planes, have been super-duper courteous, friendly, professional, extremely efficient, and personable. In contrast to the competition, it's a pleasure to ALWAYS see normal, outgoing, and customer-oriented people at Southwest Airlines, where the staff-members have ALWAYS been a pleasure to work with, everywhere I have flown in the country, from the West-coast to the Midwest, to the South, to the East-coast, about twenty-one destinations so far. The no-change fees work very well for my not-so-predictable schedules at work, and the two free bags policy is perfect, as I almost always have to carry the work-related baggage (no, not my boss, 🙂 ) in addition to my personal. These two features alone could keep me from flying other then Southwest. At times, I have taken connecting flights with Southwest Airlines instead of the non-stops offerrings from the competition to a destination simply because of the peace-of-mind traveling that the airline offers. I know I can count of Southwest to get me to the destination on time, and my bags would also get there at the same time, or even earlier (like once, a while ago). Even the delays from Southwest Airlines are preferable to the regular services that some of the competitors provide. I guess similar attracts similar, because it is not just the Southwest Staff that have been totally human and wonderful, I find that the Southwest passengers also tend to be the same way - outgoing, alert, totally human, friendly, and ready to help out without hesitation. I guess that also explains the anti-social and grumpy passengers on the competitors' airlines. ha ha! It's also a pleasure to see that neither Southwest, their Staff, nor their passengers have changed, and the wonderful air-traveling atmosphere has remained as wonderful and as magical as it has been since my first experience with Southwest Airlines a decade ago, but perhaps even better now, even though the airline has grown so much. To Southwest teams (on the phones, on the grounds, and on the planes) - Keep up the good work! Perhaps in the near future we could fly to true-overseas destinations like Asia, Australia, and/or Europe. It would be a pleasure to see the yellow, orange, red, and blue, Southwest counters all over the world. I also love the little red-heart on the logo. To my fellow Southwest passengers - Let's keep up being the wonderful travelers that we are, as we are also key in shaping the traveling experience, not only on Southwest Airlines, but also on any other airlines we fly or anywhere we travel. Safe and happy travels to everyone!
Elisabeth_Meier
Explorer C
I love Southwest and if at all possible that's all I fly. I go to Oakland a lot to see my daughter and grandson. And I will have the opportunity to fly to Hartford near the end of June. You guys have the very best customer service, EVER!! Over a year ago when my daughter's son was just over a year she was supposed to fly to Denver. He had been up all night with a tummy ache and she really didn't want to fly with him because he was cranky. She called Southwest in tears and they put her on a flight much later. We picked her up and he was just fine. Thanks to Southwest. That's why I said you are the best. I can hardly wait to be able to fly to Hawaii with Southwest. And I can hardly wait to fly on the new 800.
Tony_Martinico
Explorer C
Southwest is by far the best airline going. They Know how to do it. I travel 49 weeks a year and only once a year I don't fly SW. Not that I don't want to, they just don't fly to Hawaii (YET). I love you guys and thanks for all the great flights and look forward to the new planes. I'm excited. Thank You.
dmp
Explorer C
It looks like not every row has a window on this plane... hmmm
Dennis_Wolter
Explorer C
REALLY enjoy Southwest service and fare prices. Looking forward to flying your new plane.
JASON_SCOTT
Explorer C
I'm an entertainer. I fly EVERYWHERE I can via Southwest. Congratulations Southwest on the new aircraft. Can't wait to fly her, or any of the other new 737-800's on the way ! I LOVE Southwest ! Cheers !
FrankGivan
Explorer C
I love to fly SWA! Jason...... he must be the competition. Would love to work for them too........
Jessica_Sideway
Explorer C
I've always talked about how I'd like Southwest to be offering transpacific flight options. With this step, and the international barrier broken by the merger with AirTran, that might be closer than we think.
GoWSUCougs
Explorer C
We LUV SWA. Its the only way to go - their reputation of customer caring is impeccable. Thank you, SWA, and we look forward to flying on your new 800 series. Laura & Scotty
wealthyinlove
Explorer C
I miss Southwest flights from Philly to Providence. Now my 80 year old parents have to drive 8 hours to see their grandchildren and family. When I drive to see them, I dread going over the GWB and tolls. It can be exhausting! SOUTHWEST! I am begging you please bring back this route. P.S. We love your service and are willing to fly in an older plane. P.S.S. Is it true that your new plane has smaller seats?
Dee_Hamilton
Explorer C
I love Southwest! I could not afford to fly anywhere if not for them!!
Alan_K
Explorer C
Cool. There are so many times where there are lots of standby customers for flights. 1/4 more seats will help clear some of that out. And I mean certain flights certain days of the week will usually have lots of standbys while the same flight two hours later will not. So even a few of these planes will do a lot. And the larger overhead bins are really needed. They still fly many older planes where the roller bags will not fit long way in and those planes also have smaller under seat storage so are only ok for short hop business routes where many people only carry on laptop bags.
Dan_JM
Explorer C
I Love Southwest, they are a awesome airline and have a great corporate philosophy. I fly this airline whenever possible and have always had a great experience!
EHC
Explorer C
I like SW. I wouldn't call it love, though. I often find better flight deals for domestic travel through a little research. However, as I often make travel arrangements at my office, SW is the only airline that you can purchase same-day r/t airfare online. Other airlines require some sneaky purchasing on the part of the customer in one-way airfare purchasing. As well, I often find that several r/t flights cost anywhere from $50-$100 more per segment than on other airlines. Even if I check a bag, I fall below the weight restrictions and cost factor. I also agree with a previous poster that SW employees aren't as lively and fun as they used to be, and that their service and on-time stats have drastically fallen. I also wish the Rapid Rewards system was liken to their original rewards program. The points are hard to work with if you aren't using all, and frequent, travel with SW. That's not logical for me or my company, especially when SW doesn't fly everywhere. I hope the new fleet of airplanes (depending on how many there will be) does some good for the service and rewards program. New toys always bring some joy. And though some of our fine military personnel have commented, SW chose a name for the new air-fleet that directly represented THEEE SOUTHWEST, along with their employees spirit, and not in relation to US veterans. I honestly do not think it was named with the idea of offending anyone. Of course, a little name testing with a few focus groups may have prevented any offense to anyone in that regard.
Jane_McGuire
Explorer C
Southwest is not the organization it use to be as far as customer satisfaction is concerned. I have flown since the days when if you had a free ticket, you had a seat and they did not control the number of free seats they had per flight....so you know I"ve been a loyal customer for years. The new point system is confusing and has made be rethink using their credit card for "points", think I'll do better with the AmEx card that gives % back in cash. As I've compared flight costs, often they are not as competitive as United in the Houston market. Needless to say, I miss the old Southwest.
Jim_Whitfill
Explorer C
TO EVERYONE AT SOUTHWEST, HOW PROUD I AM OF EACH AND EVERYONE ONE OF YOU! MOST CERTAINLY "WARRIOR ONE' EXEMPLIFIES EVERYTHING THAT SWA STANDS FOR. WHEN ONE IMAGINES THE POSSIBILTIES THAT THIS NEW EXPERIENCE HAS TO OFFER, ONE CAN ONLY THINK ONE THING; AN ENDLESS CELEBRATION OF "POSITIVELY OUTRAGEOUS SERVICE" CONVEYED TOWARDS SOUTHWESTS' LOYAL CUSTOMER BASE. MAY "WARRIOR ONE" BLAZE A NEW TRAIL TOWARDS A CLASSIC LEGACY REPRESENTED BY AN ARRAY OF WONDERFUL AND LOYAL EMPLOYEES! CONTINUE TO FLIGH HIGH!!! LOL, JIM WHITFILL
Steph1
Explorer C
yeah, my favorite airline will be serving more places.....i won't have to travel with anyone else if i am lucky!
MaryF
Explorer C
I love you Southwest! You are the only airline I consider flying. Your pilots are great and your flight attendants are wonderful. Keep up the good work! ❤️
jose_seanez_rod
Explorer C
just waiting for southwest to strat their service to and from hawaii.
Dan_Delaney1
Explorer C
I love SWA, and used to fly them often. I'm working right by dca and being is too far for my needs. Now what Southwest should be looking towards is a comprehensive arrangement with Lynchburg, Va. (lyh). That would open up a great new market..as long as you gotta few dailies into dca, bos, pvd, mco, lga! Then you could have a great Mini Hub. Lynchburg, Va, would welcome this type of venture... Guaranteed.
Bob_Shaw
Explorer C
I love Southwest for the leather seats, great fares. Every flight I've been on was great. Hope to fly again real soon on Southwest. I to wish the awards program use to be instead of having to have enough points to earn free flights.
Carl_Holbrook
Explorer C
I fly every other weekend between my job assignment and home. I fly Southwest whenever possible and am so glad that they have expanded their routes and cities served. I have flown other air carriers and Southwest is by far the best ever. I agree with the idea that the old system for free flights was far better for the customer than the new system but that has not changed my opinion of the carrier in the least. The flight crews are the best!!!! Keep it up Southwest, you have made my very difficult travel much more pleasant and tolerable. Keep us laughing!!!!
Kathy_king
Explorer C
For those who "hate Southwest" , Good! Stay off my Airline! That leaves more seats for those of us who LOVE South West!
Tom1111
Explorer C
What is the range of this new 737-800? Will S.W. be flying to Hawaii from somewhere in the "48", "mainland."? I sure hope so. I don't fly much. But, when I do, I go out of my way to fly S.W. They (S.W.) always goes out of their way for me. Thank you S.W. Tom Bamberger
Guru
Explorer C
Congratulations Southwest on this great achievement, milestone and recognition.