Southwest has finally decided it’s time to invest in its onboard product again. Yesterday, the airline announced it would spend more than $2 billion on a whole bunch of different projects. This is long overdue since Southwest’s product has lagged for years. It’s arguably not enough, but it’s not easy to get everything done when you fall behind the way Southwest has, so this is unquestionably a good step forward. It’s also a solid sign that the new CEO is going to lead the team to make some different decisions.
The list of improvements is long, though some are obviously more important than others.
- Upgrading wifi equipment on existing aircraft to get up to 10x the current bandwidth with 50 aircraft ready by the end of this month and 350 by the end of October.
- Start installing new ViaSat wifi systems on new deliveries beginning this fall.
- Install USB-A and USB-C power outlets in each seat on all MAX aircraft.
- Adding larger overhead bins on new aircraft deliveries…
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