1 plane (B737 MAX), two airlines (American, Southwest), and also a question of identity (which airline is actually no-frills?) .
The airplane in question is Boeing’s B737, the workhorse of the airline industry since 1968. It’s the most popular aircraft ever produced, and will remain so for the foreseeable future, from the Airbus A320 line of jets notwithstanding competition.
You have probably flown on one of many variants of this B737 produced over the years if you’ve ever flown. While the airplane’s fuselage diameter has stayed steady over the past 50 years, times have been lengthened. The cockpit and the wing’s design are modernized. The engines are updated to more versions. Seating and the cottages have been periodically refreshed.
As of August, 9,659 B737s were delivered, and orders for B737s were on the books. Among the buyers of these newest-generation airplanes, the 737 MAX, are Southwest and American.
The Seat-of-the-Pants Difference
While nominally for the airplane, the American and Southwest orders differ in a means that’s profoundly significant to flyers. And that difference plays havoc with all our increasingly tenuous notions of these gaps between so-called “full service” and “low fare” airlines.
American has ordered 100 737 MAXs, four of which will be in service at the end of 2017. Contrary to American’s present B737s, which feature 31 inches of pitch (the space between seats, a step of legroom), the seat pitch in their new MAXs will be just 30 inches. (American had considered fitting the new planes with three rows of seats with only 29 inches of pitch, but jettisoned that aim in response to ferocious blowback from travelers and the press.)
For its part, 150 737 MAXs, 17 of which will be functioning by the end of this season have been ordered by Southwest. In stark contrast to the chairs on the MAXs of American, Southwest’s MAX seating will comprise 32-inch pitch.
So, is 32- versus seat pitch a distinction without a difference? Hardly. From a comfort standpoint, it’s a true difference-maker. And the longer the flight, the bigger the difference. If legroom things, then you are better off booking Southwest on some other flights where American operates the same plane, assuming airfares.
That calls for a reassessment of travelers’ long-held assumptions. Southwest is supposed to be cheaper than American (although it’s not necessarily). And the so called low-cost carrier is justly lauded for its policies. But since when is Southwest comfortable than American? The answer: At least since the two airlines bought the same plane, using comfortable and more seats.
Reader Reality Check
When you think about American and Southwest, which do you suppose offers the seating?