Flying the New Southwest is Quite Good, But It’s Not Fully Rolled Out (Trip Report)

Apr 7, 2026

More Reading on This Topic: LAS – Las Vegas, Southwest, Trip Reports

It had to happen sometime. Eventually, I would fly on the new Southwest and have my assigned seat all ready to go. That time came when I did a trip to Las Vegas for an Embraer event. And you know what? I got the new experience on the way out and it was pretty, pretty good all around. The return, however, could have used an upgrade.

[Dislosure: Embraer paid for my flights and hotel for the event]

It was a strange sensation not having to check in 24 hours in advance. But sure enough, I didn’t bother until later on when getting my boarding pass was a non-event. I had already reserved seat 18A (a freebie when you’re on a standard Choice fare), so I threw it into my Google Wallet and forgot about it.

At the airport, I realized I hadn’t flown from Long Beach in awhile. The rental car counters have now fully moved into the historic terminal, so that’s a big upgrade.

But I just sailed through security, thanking the TSA workers for coming to work as I went. (You know, not a lot of people want to work when they aren’t actually getting paid.)

I was at gate 1 on this flight, so I walked down to the south end of the terminal to wait to board. Southwest has set this up with a sign for pre-boarding right in front of the counter. Then to the side, there are two lines, one for odd-numbered boarding groups and another for even.

They announced that group 1 should line up on the odd side with group 2 on the even side. I didn’t hear another announcement about later groups, but people all figured it out. Once the line emptied, the next group filled in.

There was some confusion from people who showed up too late for their boarding group, however. They got into the pre-board line and then just cut in front of whatever group was boarding. It was somewhat awkward.

Somehow I was in group 3. I don’t know why, because I have no status or credit card, but honestly I didn’t even care. I could squeeze my bag under my seat for the short flight if no bins were available, but it’s not like I was going to wait around.

While the line at the ramp at the front of the aircraft got full, I walked to the back where I walked up the empty stairs and swam forward to get to my seat.

Southwest 4039
March 18, 2026

From Long Beach
➤ Scheduled Departure: 240p
➤ Actual Departure: 235p
➤ From Gate: 1
➤ Wheels Up: 247p
➤ From Runway: 30

To Las Vegas
➤ Wheels Down: 331p
➤ On Runway: 1L
➤ Scheduled Arrival: 350p
➤ Actual Arrival: 337p
➤ At Gate: B19

Aircraft
➤ Type: Boeing 737-8 MAX
➤ Delivered: June 24, 2025
➤ Registered: N8962L, msn 68925
➤ Livery: Hot Dog on a Stick

Flight
➤ Cabin: Coach in Seat 18A
➤ Load: ~95% Full
➤ Flight Time: 44m

I stepped onboard the nearly-new B737-8 MAX and marveled at those big ole’ bins.

There would be no problem of bin space on this flight, even though it was nearly full. This was also my first flight on the airplane with the seats that have USB power built in. I found them comfortable.

Once boarded up, the flight attendants put the airplane into Christmas mode as we pushed back a few minutes early.

We got down to the runway, and then we took off into the sweltering summer-like day. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky as we soared over the port before circling back toward Las Vegas.

Once in the air, mood-lighting switched again to a cool blue, clearly reflecting the fact that the air conditioning was finally catching up and cooling us down.

I didn’t need to charge my phone, but I mean, why not? So I plugged it in, and I ended up with more charge than I had before I started despite constant usage.

I also logged into wifi which was humming along quite nicely. This is not the Southwest I know, but I think I can get used to it. It’ll be even better with Starlink onboard.

The flight attendants ran through with a quick water service, but they didn’t have time for anything else. Las Vegas was landing on the 1s which means we had a straight shot in. That’s always good for shaving a few minutes off the already-short flight, but it’s also a very pretty (and usually bumpy) approach.

After landing, our gate was ready, so we parked nice and early. Every time I fly Southwest out of a B gate, my mind immediately races back to the old America West hub. It is a wonderful and nostalgic feeling.

The flight on Southwest, however? It was anything but nostalgic. It was pretty damn good. Was there anything bad? Well, I mentioned some of the boarding kinks that could be worked out, but other than that, I just wish I had a different seatmate who wasn’t stinking up the entire cabin constantly. Not cool, bro. But hey, Southwest can’t control everything.

Now, on the return, things were different. Instead of a flashy new MAX, we had an ancient B737-700 as our chariot. And that has a much worse feel.

Again I had checked in on my phone, but I decided to go a little early to the airport. With all the noise about TSA wait times being a problem and no way that I could find to get real-time details at LAS, I decided to get to the airport about 1h30m before departure.

That was completely unnecessary. There were no lines at all. I thanked the ID checker for coming to work and said something like “I don’t know how you do it.” His response? “I’m also a male stripper.” Well done, sir.

On the other side, I slowly ambled along the C concourse. It really is amazing what you see in Vegas. You wouldn’t see anything like this in any other airport:

I made it over to C7 and had time to kill despite the long walk. I sat down and worked. After a lengthy deboarding process, the gate agents were ready to board us quickly. Unlike in Long Beach, Vegas has screens that flash your boarding group so it was much more intuitive. Again I had group 3, and after a clearing a long line in a hot jet bridge, I trudged back to my seat in row 19.

Southwest 1211
March 20, 2026

From Las Vegas
➤ Scheduled Departure: 1015a
➤ Actual Departure: 1017a
➤ From Gate: C7
➤ Wheels Up: 1032a
➤ From Runway: 1R

To Long Beach
➤ Wheels Down: 1115a
➤ On Runway: 30
➤ Scheduled Arrival: 1130a
➤ Actual Arrival: 1119a
➤ At Gate: 1

Aircraft
➤ Type: Boeing 737-7H4
➤ Delivered: April 13, 2005
➤ Registered: N210WN, msn 34162
➤ Livery: Hot Dog on a Stick

Flight
➤ Cabin: Coach in Seat 19F
➤ Load: ~85% Full
➤ Flight Time: 43m

This airplane looked like… well, it looked more like what you’d expect from the old Southwest. There were extra legroom seats, but they were all the same color. They didn’t stand out the way they do on the new aircraft.

I sat down in my window, and waited as the airplane filled up. We pushed back only a couple minutes late, but after a short taxi we were airborne quickly. Like the MAX, this airplane also had mood lighting.

Or not. But hey, this lighting did scream a yellowed “meh,” which absolutely matched my mood after two days in Vegas. That fast internet I had on the way out was non-functioning on this aircraft. (Thanks, Anuvu.) Technically I could connect, and I did have one text come in. I also was able to load a speed test page on Google, but then it errored. I gave up after a few tries to get anything useful.

Instead, I pulled up live TV to try to watch some March Madness basketball, but even that was buffering. They can’t get rid of this crap legacy system soon enough.

We cruised at a lofty 30,000 feet for our short trip. The flight attendants came through with water and coffee, but that was it. It wasn’t long before we were descending into a warm/smoggy/hazy LA Basin.

After an early landing, I got off into the blazing sun and quickly headed inside. This was certainly a real contrast to the new Southwest. Those -700s need to go before the airline can truly feel like something modern, but when you get a new ride, it is a very nice way to fly.

Brett

29 responses to “Flying the New Southwest is Quite Good, But It’s Not Fully Rolled Out (Trip Report)”

Mike (dontflymuch)

Apr 7, 2026 at 4:18 am

As someone who is currently in a mid southwest business trip I generally agree. Boarding was surprisingly smooth for a very full flight. Even though ive never sat that far back on Southwest (always paid for early check in) they airplanes seem well staffed and the flight crew seems well equipped to handle confusion. The only annoying part is Southwest way overestimated the number of rollers they needed to check. I gave mine up because I wasnt on a tight schedule and believe in paying it forward, but they took up through group 5, so it was annoying a bit to see the flight door close and have a lot of empty overheads.

All in all none of the predictable whining Ive seen about the new system online seems to have actually been a problem irl

Reply
Matt D

Apr 7, 2026 at 5:10 am

Something deliciously ironic about accepting a trip from EMBRAER to attend an event by them and taking a Boeing to get there……

Reply
1. 1990
  
  Apr 7, 2026 at 5:57 am
  
  Bah! How deliciously absurd!
  
  Reply
2. David M
  
  Apr 7, 2026 at 12:02 pm
  
  He’d have to go down to Orange County for that, both Delta Connection and JSX use Embraers on SNA-LAS flights. But the drive from Long Beach would be almost as long as the flight (possible longer if he had to deal with traffic).
  
  Reply
NedsKid

Apr 7, 2026 at 5:34 am

I like the “new” Southwest. Assigned seating has made them an option for me again especially when the itinerary involves a connection (which with their growth/realignment of routes to BNA, the growing DEN, etc, is quite likely).

I’ve had a half dozen assigned seating flights in the last month (including the inaugural into TYS with the Governor of Tennessee in the next row) and generally have gone well though one delay from a seating snafu since the people supposed to be in row 1 somehow planted themselves in row 20 or something and were disabled (and those seats were needed to keep a family together). The flight attendants did a great job with their tablets – which now apparently have a lot of very useful information for them – and resolved it by the time the Ops agent came down onto the airplane since the jetway had backed up and the line hadn’t moved in several minutes. I know it’s a union problem but it’s ridiculous the Customer Service Agent as the 2nd person at the gate can’t come down to the plane – that is why most airlines have 2 people at the gate. But not at WN….. have to have two people in different unions who can’t help each other.

I had same experience as you at LAS but flying out of the other terminal during the height of the shutdown – next to no line and sailed through then had nothing to do.

I achieved some sort of Southwest nearly out of body experience flying LAX-PHX where I had 2D, I purposely boarded late because I went to grab a coffee (unsure if they’d serve any on the short flight), and was second to last to board, sat in row 2 where I had 3 seats to myself. I thought back to the time I had A1 once and was the 27th person to board a flight that already had a dozen thrus on board. And the time with a Business Select fare due to buying that morning and like A4, but my inbound connection was late, and I boarded the OAK-BWI flight (which they were holding for connections) to find only a middle seat between two large people available and I got back off the airplane to getting a dressing down by the CS Supervisor (“We waited and you didn’t even take the flight???”).

When waiting for the door to open at PHX, I told the flight attendants that I loved the assigned seats and it will make me book WN more. One who told me she had been with WN nearly 30 years gave me a hug and thanked me – they’ve been getting a lot of hate but the crews love it.

Reply
SEAN

Apr 7, 2026 at 5:35 am

“Again I had checked in on my phone, but I decided to go a little early to the airport. With all the noise about TSA wait times being a problem and no way that I could find to get real-time details at LAS, I decided to get to the airport about 1h30m before departure.

That was completely unnecessary. There were no lines at all. I thanked the ID checker for coming to work and said something like “I don’t know how you do it.” His response? “I’m also a male stripper.” Well done, sir.”

That’s an “only in Las Vegas” response. LOL

Reply
1. Kilroy
  
  Apr 7, 2026 at 5:57 am
  
  That is a great line. Bonus points if the TSA agent were well into middle age and not very attractive.
  
  At least the TSA agent can joke about getting groped himself instead of groping pax in the name of security (laugh), though I’m sure that the TSA agents dislike patdowns as much as pax do.
  
  Back before I had PreCheck, I would always opt out of the scanners and get the patdown instead, and make bad jokes to pass the time during the patdown. One of the TSA agents patting me down said in all seriousness that he and his wife joined the TSA at the same time, and (in their off hours) would practice patting down each other in the correct manner (back of the hands until you meet resistance, etc) so that they could pass the test after their training period. He didn’t mean it in a sexual way, just a common sense matter-of-fact way, and upon reflection it made sense as a smart thing to do. (shrug)
  
  Reply
  1. Brett
    
    Apr 7, 2026 at 7:57 am
    
    Kilroy – Let’s just say that I’m pretty confident he was not, in fact, a male stripper!
    
    Reply
    1. Kilroy
      
      Apr 7, 2026 at 10:52 am
      
      That’s awesome. Given the immediate deadpan delivery, I’m sure that guy would be the first to admit the fact that he isn’t an Adonis archetype, and I trust he has half a dozen similar lines to switch things up.
      
      People with that kind of good humor and attitude are great to be around and make everyone’s day a lot more fun.
      
      Reply
      1. SEAN
        
        Apr 7, 2026 at 12:15 pm
        
        I always try to look for humor in things as long as the situation calls for it & I think this TSA agent is the same way.
        
        Reply
2. Anthony
  
  Apr 7, 2026 at 9:03 am
  
  I can’t believe that worker would do such a degrading job with such unsteady income, when he probably makes enough money as a male stripper.
  
  Reply
  1. DrewinDEN
    
    Apr 7, 2026 at 11:39 am
    
    Just a silly little anecdote, but:
    
    My dad was forced into retirement many years back due to downsizing at his employer. While he had done well for himself and had no need to keep working, he was instantly restless and needed something to do. Given he had travelled the world for his job, he ended up becoming a TSA agent. He was already deeply familiar with the “job” from a customer-facing standpoint, he got to be busy and interact with lots of people which his extrovert self craved, and he got to go to the airport several times a week, an experience he enjoyed and that reminded him of his travels. He honestly *loved* the job, and it kept him from driving mom nuts. He stuck with it for several years before declining health and “real” retirement finally kicked in. At the end, I honestly think he missed it more than his “real” career.
    
    I doubt that many people grow up thinking, “I want to be a TSA agent,” so I always assume the motivations for why someone would choose that job are as varied as the destinations people fly to. My dad was lucky enough to not really need the paycheck; I know most agents probably desperately do, and not getting paid for weeks on end is grossly unfair.
    
    So yeah, long way of saying: I always try to be pleasant, attentive, and say “thank you” too.
    
    Reply
Mookie

Apr 7, 2026 at 5:47 am

Brett, why the confusion about people using the Preboard line if they missed their earlier group. Why should they wait in the back of the line? I do it at DL and AA and it’s no big deal. Also, I suggest that you fly SW a few more times. Their attitudes have really hit the skids, from the GA to the FA’s. Not like the old SW, that’s for sure. I refuse to fly them anymore.

Reply
1. Brett
  
  Apr 7, 2026 at 7:57 am
  
  Mookie – Nobody said they should wait at the back of the line. Other airlines usually still have an open lane for priority boarders to use. Southwest doesn’t, so they didn’t know where to go and just kind of poked their way into the boarding lines. There should be a more clear way for them to board if they come after their group is called.
  
  Reply
Darin

Apr 7, 2026 at 6:44 am

Were the old seats more comfortable?

Reply
1. Brett
  
  Apr 7, 2026 at 7:57 am
  
  Darin – Oh, no. I hate those old evolve seats on the -700.
  
  Reply
  1. phllax
    
    Apr 7, 2026 at 8:27 am
    
    I think they actually sit lower to the floor than the newer seats.
    
    Reply
Tim Dunn

Apr 7, 2026 at 7:03 am

There will be a whole lot of 737-700s retired when the MAX 7 finally gets certified and deliveries ramp up.

I have done some WN flights since the cutover including since the FA bags were moved back and thought it went smoothly. They could drop the “line up 10 minutes early” routine but some things die hard.

WN employees consistently do a good job and the company does appear to be managing capacity very conservatively so they will be fine. They are likely gaining as many new customers that wouldn’t fly them as they are losing people that say they won’t fly them now.

Someone(s) has got to be telling Elliott how much they screwed up by making WN drop their fuel hedges.

Reply
Alan

Apr 7, 2026 at 7:43 am

As good as it sounds, I cannot in good conscience fly with and give my money to an airline ravaged by greedy, corporate investors who care little about us passengers and want nothing more than to line their pockets with even more money than they already have.

Reply
1. Al
  
  Apr 7, 2026 at 8:03 am
  
  That’s all corporations whether they explicitly say it or not. SW isn’t that much different than DL or UA…etc. Do you think UA is going to really “care” about you? They care about your money more than they care about you as a person.
  
  Reply
2. Southside Emil
  
  Apr 7, 2026 at 8:59 am
  
  It’s called business. Business needs to make money.
  
  Reply
Martin Sample

Apr 7, 2026 at 8:31 am

Has the new asssigned seating cut down on on what used to be an insane number of preboarders ? I’d assume so.

Reply
1. Brett
  
  Apr 7, 2026 at 9:13 am
  
  Martin – Anecdotally I’ve heard that’s the case. Didn’t even bother paying attention on my flights.
  
  Reply
2. MRY-SMF
  
  Apr 7, 2026 at 10:30 am
  
  I never really saw these fabled lines of 30 preboarders in the past
  
  Reply
  1. Martin Sample
    
    Apr 7, 2026 at 12:54 pm
    
    It varied on the route. When I used to visit FL or AZ, areas with high amounts of older passengers, the pre board line up could be epic. I don’t know if I ever saw 30, but easily double digits on some flights. Besides taking up prime front of the plane seats, it really slowed the boarding process. Glad to see the scammers disappear.
    
    Reply
3. John
  
  Apr 7, 2026 at 12:28 pm
  
  It has definitely cut down on the wheel chair preboarders. I have flown when there were ten to fifteen wheelchairs. Flew a month ago with the assigned seating. On the flight out there was one person in a wheelchair. On the flight home there were two
  
  Reply
SandyCreek

Apr 7, 2026 at 12:53 pm

I flew LGA – STL – SFO (on a 6am departure, gasp) on Southwest in February, just a bit after they started assigned seating. I find the experience to be not bad at all – WiFi could always be a bit more reliable over the mountains, and a second service before descending into SFO would have been appropriate too given the 4.5 hour flight time. Considering I somehow paid <$100 for that trip, however, I really have nothing to complain especially with WiFi, power (those 60W USB-C ports are good enough to power my work laptop, which is all I need), snacks, and reasonably comfortable seating. It certainly wasn't the Texas Triangle shuttle I used to fly for breaks when they throw flash sales, but it's still doing things for me.

Reply
John G

Apr 7, 2026 at 1:16 pm

I flew on a 73G about a month ago. I mean, it’s a much different experience from the new MAX-8 that Brett flew on. The plane was terrible, no chargers, wifi was basically an extension cord with a DSL dial-up line trailing from the tail of the aircraft. Seats dirty and old, no bin space.

Basically Avelo with drink service.

But since I was a last minute flier, they charged me FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS to fly from Kansas City to Denver. One way. On a crap plane. And that’s not even Business Select.

I fly almost 200,000 miles a year, primarily on AA, but I live in the Dallas area. This was a chance for them to pry me away from American. And you charge me five hundred bucks for a one-hour flight on a POS plane with no wifi. Nope. I don’t care how animated the flight attendants are with their demos.

As a late flier, paying high last minute fares is part of my business. I get it. But to pay that on that route, with that plane? I mean, if I pay Delta/American walkup fares, I better not get Avelo service, but I did.

Not again.

Brett makes it sound like these planes are going away soon. No, no they are not. SW still has well over 300 73Gs, and they also have 200 more 738NGs. That’s about 2/3 of the fleet…that’s 500 old planes that have to be traded out, and Boeing won’t even start delivering the 7s until next spring. We are going to have these 73Gs for probably at least five more years, maybe more.

Reply
E175 Respecter

Apr 7, 2026 at 1:39 pm

I think the Group 3 might have something to do with your window seat selection. A coworker and I both flew Southwest for the first time in a few years: she was in Group 3 and I was Group 5 despite booking the same ticket (and no status, card, etc.).

I put it together later that it might have been because she was in the window and I was in the aisle, so I think Southwest might still be doing a bit of boarding optimization despite the assigned seating.

Reply