Roomier seats will be available to customers with early boarding positions at first

Southwest Airlines’ first planes retrofitted for extra-legroom seats will begin service on May 1, according to the carrier. Aircraft reconfigured with extra-legroom seats will be added steadily through the end of the year as Southwest prepares to begin selling assigned and extra-legroom seats.

A seat map for retrofitted Boeing 737-800 and 737 Max aircraft shows that five rows at the front of planes will have extra legroom. Behind those, seven-and-a-half rows will be merchandised as preferred seats, e.g., standard seats that are closer to the front of the plane. Behind those, three more rows, including the exit rows, will also have extra legroom. The remaining 14 rows will be categorized as standard seats. 

Although Southwest is refitting its planes now, it won’t start offering the extra-legroom seats for sale until the end of September, for flights beginning in the first quarter of 2026. Until then, customers with early boarding positions will enjoy  first chance at getting the roomier seats.

The addition of assigned seating and the extra-legroom option are part of Southwest’s ongoing transformation, which will end with a business model similar to legacy competitors United, Delta and American. Other changes include the end of  Southwest’s two-bags-fly-free policy and the addition of basic economy fares.