Southwest Airlines evaluating A220

During its third-quarter earning call, the Chief Operating Officer of Southwest Airlines said that the airline is seriously considering and evaluating the possibility to add the A220 to its, currently all-Boeing fleet.

According to the COO, there is a clear need in their fleet for a 140-150 seat aircraft, next to a 175-seat plane. At this moment the airline has been very focused on the B737MAX8, a 175-seat aircraft and getting it back in the air and secure a good new delivery schedule with Boeing.

Southwest is evaluating both the B737MAX7 and the A220 and said in the same call that a possible addition to the fleet wouldn't be needed before 2025. The COO, however, also said that the time for thinking about a scenario of adding a new type to the fleet is now as the airline is not focused on growth due to the Corona-pandemic. As the airline has a surplus of aircraft they have the time to decide it without the pressure of expansion.

As a conclusion on this topic in the call, Southwest has said that they want to have the best 150-ish seat aircraft in the world in terms of performance, economics and fit.

The interest of Southwest in the A220 has been rumoured before, even as far back to April 2019 when it was said that Southwest-employees were in Europe to visit an airline operating the type and get first-hand information. This exploration was partly prompted by the grounding of the MAX, which made the airline reassessing their all-Boeing fleet-strategy.