I've flown and loved Southwest Airlines since 1992 — yes, that long. Even as other travelers raved about their favorite airlines where frequent flyer programs could unlock lie-flat seats and fancy upgrades, I favored Southwest. I might have even been the only TPG staffer who ranked Southwest first on their airline preference list when I started in 2019.
Southwest adds red-eye flights, seat assignments and extra legroom
25.07.2024 - 12:59 / thepointsguy.com / Andrew Watterson / Elliott Management
Southwest Airlines is flying somewhere it's never flown before: into the night.
The airline plans to operate overnight flights for the first time in its history, Southwest said Thursday. It's joining other major U.S. airlines that offer red-eye service on longer eastbound routes.
The airline also said on Thursday that it will begin assigning seats and will add extra-legroom premium seats to its cabins.
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Red-eye service will begin with five daily flights Feb. 13, 2025, the airline said. It then plans to ramp up through the rest of the year, with more routes to begin in March and June. For now, the initial routes are:
It was not immediately clear when the seating and cabin changes will take effect, although Southwest said it would share more details at its investor day in September. The airline said it expected bookings to open sometime in 2025.
The moves come as Southwest faces off with activist investor group Elliott Management, which recently disclosed it had accumulated an 11% stake in the airline via publicly traded shares. The group has pushed for Southwest to remove its top executives and make systematic changes to its business and operating model. The airline's board said it continues to stand by its current strategy and has adopted a "poison pill" plan — a move typically used by companies to resist hostile takeovers.
In an interview with TPG ahead of Thursday's announcement, Southwest's chief operating officer, Andrew Watterson, said that the addition of overnight flying is about more than the situation with Elliott. Instead, the move is about improving the company's overall operating efficiency as it waits for severely delayed aircraft orders to be fulfilled by Boeing.
"The world is short of aircraft, and we need to get more out of our [existing] aircraft," Watterson said. "By doing this, we get more flying."
Red-eye flights typically offer passengers slightly lower fares in addition to more flexibility; you can spend your last full day in Las Vegas having fun, fly home overnight and make it to work the next day (maybe after a quick shower). They also offer airlines more productive use of expensive aircraft, improving their overall cost efficiency.
"[Revenue averages], what we see from the industry, tends to be a bit below average," Watterson said of overnight flights. "But the aircraft is already paid for, so to speak."
"And if you're a little bit tight on aircraft, getting more flying out of the aircraft has a financial benefit," he added.
Southwest first hinted last fall that overnight flying was in the pipeline, and it confirmed in March that the service was coming soon. In the past, the airline was hampered by
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