Southwest Airlines will carry out a brand refresh with new uniforms and redesigned aircraft interiors for all new deliveries as part of its ongoing five-year plan of investment and evolution.
The new look for the US airlines’ planes was developed with British design company Tangerine and will include specially designed seats from “premium aircraft seats” supplier Recaro.
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Tony Roach, senior vice president and chief customer officer at Southwest, said: “Our redesigned cabin interior significantly enhances our inflight customer experience and will complement the amazing service that our crews provide.”
In addition to the interior designs, Southwest is currently working on redesigning its uniforms with a team of 75 employees forming a “Uniform Inspiration Team” to work alongside apparel vendor Design Collective by Cintas and fashion stylist Bonnie Markel to create the new look.
The designs will include uniforms for employees across Southwest’s operations, including cabin crew, ground operations staff, and cargo and technical operations workers.
Both redesigns are part of the airline’s five-year plan to improve customer experience that was launched in May 2022 and has already seen the installation of improved WiFi onboard its aircraft, larger overhead bins for its existing 737 MAX 8 and 737-800s, and new power ports for each seat across its fleet.
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By GlobalDataThe five-year plan also sits alongside the airline’s ongoing fleet renewal programme which includes an order backlog of more than 700 aircraft with Boeing after it upgraded an existing order of around 200 737-7s by more than 100 in October 2023.
Southwest’s focus on improving customer experience is also particularly notable after the airline was fined $140m by the US Department of Transportation for failing to properly care for its passengers during mass flight delays amid storms in December 2022.
