Airliner World – May 2018

92 AIRLINER WORLD JUNE 2018

costs through aircraft utilisation. So,
the less time on the ground, the more
time in the air, and the larger the jets
get, the more time they need to sit on
the ground to allow connections and to
fill the aeroplanes.”
The scale of its operation is huge.
Southwest flies more than 4,000 flights
a day during peak travel seasons and
last year its aircraft averaged 15.6 hours
per day with a utilisation (block hours)
of 12.25.
“We’d like to expand our network in all
of North America,” the COO
continues. “We feel like we’ve got
opportunities with the MAX 7 and MAX
8 to add up to 50 more destinations over
maybe a 20-year period. That may take
500 more aeroplanes. We believe we
have a long runway with both the
MAX 7 and the MAX 8, and we’ll just
keep inside a business model that will
be less complex than if we were to get
larger aeroplanes.”
Complexity, however, does not just
come from larger aircraft and longer
turnarounds, as van de Ven
remembers: “We brought in the 737-800

• same kind of type rating for the pilots,
  very similar maintenance programme


• but the jet needed four flight
  attendants instead of three used on the
  small jets, this added significant

complexity in terms of crew

scheduling, aeroplane routings and so

on. When I was thinking: ‘Oh, it’s the

same fleet type, how hard can that be?’,

it was harder than I thought.”

The MAX Offers More

On board its 737 MAX aircraft,

Southwest will continue to differ from

other low-fare carriers. While many use

slim seats to reduce pitch and add extra

rows, Southwest is maintaining its 32in

(81cm) pitch.

“I really like the interiors of our MAX

aeroplanes,” van de Ven enthuses. “It

starts with the Boeing Sky Interior.

When you walk on the aeroplane it’s

got the mood lighting and big over-

head bins. It just feels spacious. We

also have music on the MAXs, which

we play during boarding and deplaning.

Again, it gives an atmosphere with a

little bit of excitement and a little bit

of energy. The seats, which are the

Meridian model from Rockwell Collins

[formerly B/E Aerospace] are about

Southwest operates more

than 4,000 flights per day

during peak season and

here one of its 737-8H4s lifts

off from Fort Lauderdale/

Hollywood International

Airport on another rotation.

AVIATION IMAGE NETWORK /

BAILEY

The carrier’s plans to fly to

Hawaii are on track, but

whether services will begin

at the end of 2018 or in early

2019 is dependent on FAA

approvals.