{"id":368209,"date":"2026-02-13T16:00:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T06:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simpleflying.com\/why-southwest-airlines-reversed-60-million-decision-14-years-ago\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T16:00:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T06:00:17","slug":"less-capacity-why-southwest-airlines-reversed-a-60-million-decision-made-14-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209","title":{"rendered":"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 2012, <span class=\"display-card-hyperlink display-card-hyperlink-no-vignette\" data-id=\"44355\"style=\";  ;\" class=\"display-card-hyperlink display-card-hyperlink-no-vignette\"><a href=\"https:\/\/simpleflying.com\/tag\/southwest-airlines\/\"  >Southwest Airlines<\/a><\/span> made a very airline-industry choice to cram another row into its aircraft. The airline moved to thinner, lighter seats and gave up quite a bit of comfort as a result, with recline being trimmed and pitch being tightened slightly. This, however, allowed the airline to boost its <span class=\"display-card-hyperlink display-card-hyperlink-no-vignette\" data-id=\"739416\"style=\";  ;\" class=\"display-card-hyperlink display-card-hyperlink-no-vignette\"><a href=\"https:\/\/simpleflying.com\/tag\/737-700\/\"  >Boeing 737-700s<\/a><\/span> from having 137 seats to 143. Southwest put a price tag on that project back in the day as well, with the airline choosing to invest $60 million in these seats, a figure that was offset by an estimated $10 million a year in extra ticket revenue from those added seats. 14 years later, the carrier is choosing to undo this decision on purpose. As Southwest is now assigning seats and introducing an extra-legroom product, it has modified its 737-700 fleet by removing a row of seats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A small decision with big consequences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,476,1003,645,423],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-368209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aircraft","category-airlines","category-legacy-carriers","category-southwest-airlines","category-united-states"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 4.9.9 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A small decision with big consequences.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest authors\"\/>\n\t<meta name=\"google-site-verification\" content=\"1EIWGZ5FoylKQrO3pqls-2hXlDXKIP1lffdWZCVV0V4\" \/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO Pro (AIOSEO) 4.9.9\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"VibeWire Magazine - Your Alternate News Source for Transport, Politics, UFO, Paranormal, Anything\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago - VibeWire Magazine\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A small decision with big consequences.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-13T06:00:17+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-13T06:00:17+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@VibewireCentral\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago - VibeWire Magazine\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"A small decision with big consequences.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@VibewireCentral\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BlogPosting\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=368209#blogposting\",\"name\":\"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago - VibeWire Magazine\",\"headline\":\"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?author=13#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Screenshot-2024-01-07-at-2.32.21\\u202fpm.png\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/#articleImage\",\"width\":1028,\"height\":930},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-13T16:00:17+10:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-13T16:00:17+10:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=368209#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=368209#webpage\"},\"articleSection\":\"aircraft, Airlines, legacy carriers, Southwest Airlines, United States\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=368209#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?cat=396#listItem\",\"name\":\"aircraft\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?cat=396#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"aircraft\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?cat=396\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=368209#listItem\",\"name\":\"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=368209#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?cat=396#listItem\",\"name\":\"aircraft\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"VibreWire Online\",\"description\":\"Your Alternate News Source for Transport, Politics, UFO, Paranormal, Anything\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Screenshot-2024-01-07-at-2.32.21\\u202fpm.png\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=368209\\\/#organizationLogo\",\"width\":1028,\"height\":930},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=368209\\\/#organizationLogo\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/VibewireCentral\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?author=13#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?author=13\",\"name\":\"Guest authors\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=368209#authorImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/764687183b9d2913837d7b543a5b43684d46e7eef4e1a9af4821624eb2bebbc0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Guest authors\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=368209#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=368209\",\"name\":\"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago - VibeWire Magazine\",\"description\":\"A small decision with big consequences.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=368209#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?author=13#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?author=13#author\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-13T16:00:17+10:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-13T16:00:17+10:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/\",\"name\":\"VibreWire Online\",\"description\":\"Your Alternate News Source for Transport, Politics, UFO, Paranormal, Anything\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/#organization\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro -->\r\n\t\t<title>Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago - VibeWire Magazine<\/title>\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago - VibeWire Magazine","description":"A small decision with big consequences.","canonical_url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"google-site-verification":"1EIWGZ5FoylKQrO3pqls-2hXlDXKIP1lffdWZCVV0V4","miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209#blogposting","name":"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago - VibeWire Magazine","headline":"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?author=13#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/#organization"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-01-07-at-2.32.21\u202fpm.png","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/#articleImage","width":1028,"height":930},"datePublished":"2026-02-13T16:00:17+10:00","dateModified":"2026-02-13T16:00:17+10:00","inLanguage":"en-AU","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209#webpage"},"articleSection":"aircraft, Airlines, legacy carriers, Southwest Airlines, United States"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?cat=396#listItem","name":"aircraft"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?cat=396#listItem","position":2,"name":"aircraft","item":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?cat=396","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209#listItem","name":"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209#listItem","position":3,"name":"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?cat=396#listItem","name":"aircraft"}}]},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/#organization","name":"VibreWire Online","description":"Your Alternate News Source for Transport, Politics, UFO, Paranormal, Anything","url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-01-07-at-2.32.21\u202fpm.png","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209\/#organizationLogo","width":1028,"height":930},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209\/#organizationLogo"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/VibewireCentral"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?author=13#author","url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?author=13","name":"Guest authors","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/764687183b9d2913837d7b543a5b43684d46e7eef4e1a9af4821624eb2bebbc0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Guest authors"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209","name":"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago - VibeWire Magazine","description":"A small decision with big consequences.","inLanguage":"en-AU","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?author=13#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?author=13#author"},"datePublished":"2026-02-13T16:00:17+10:00","dateModified":"2026-02-13T16:00:17+10:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/","name":"VibreWire Online","description":"Your Alternate News Source for Transport, Politics, UFO, Paranormal, Anything","inLanguage":"en-AU","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/#organization"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"VibeWire Magazine - Your Alternate News Source for Transport, Politics, UFO, Paranormal, Anything","og:type":"article","og:title":"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago - VibeWire Magazine","og:description":"A small decision with big consequences.","og:url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209","article:published_time":"2026-02-13T06:00:17+00:00","article:modified_time":"2026-02-13T06:00:17+00:00","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:site":"@VibewireCentral","twitter:title":"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago - VibeWire Magazine","twitter:description":"A small decision with big consequences.","twitter:creator":"@VibewireCentral"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"368209","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":null,"og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"BlogPosting","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"seo_analyzer_scan_date":"2026-02-13 06:03:12","breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"open_ai":null,"ai":null,"created":"2026-02-13 06:01:47","updated":"2026-02-13 06:03:12"},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?cat=396\" title=\"aircraft\">aircraft<\/a>\n<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\tLess Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago\n<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au"},{"label":"aircraft","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?cat=396"},{"label":"Less Capacity: Why Southwest Airlines Reversed A $60 Million Decision Made 14 Years Ago","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=368209"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=368209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":368210,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368209\/revisions\/368210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=368209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=368209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=368209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}