Southwest Boeing 737-800 (new) Seat Map

Picking a seat on Southwest's new 737-800

The trade on this jet is legroom against recline, and you rarely get both. The roomy rows sit at the very front (1–2) and around the midcabin exits (14–16), and three of those rows give up recline completely. Everything else is the same 3-3 seat — 17 inches wide, 31–36 inches of pitch, USB-A and USB-C power, free streaming entertainment to your own device, and paid Wi-Fi that in practice runs slow.

Economy

Rows worth targeting. 16A and 16F have the most usable space on the airplane: they sit behind the second exit row with nothing in front of your feet. Both pay for it with the tray table in the armrest, which narrows the seat, and no underseat bag during takeoff and landing. 16B, 16C, 16D and 16E get the same stretch with a normal tray and normal storage — the cleanest four seats in the cabin. Row 14 is the other strong block: exit-row legroom across all six seats, and the row ahead can't recline into you. Row 14 doesn't recline either, and 14A and 14F may be short an armrest and sit on a noticeably firmer cushion.

Up front, 2A, 2B and 2C get bulkhead legroom because row 1 has no A, B or C — that side of the cabin is closet and galley. 1D is the best of the bulkhead: no seat ahead, real floor room, but no underseat bag, fixed armrests and a narrower seat. 1E and 1F are the same deal with middle-seat and window compromises, plus galley traffic right at the door.

If you just want a quiet, ordinary seat, rows 4–8 are the calmest stretch — forward of the wing and the engines, and off the airplane first. They also have clean, unobstructed views; rows 11–18 look out at the wing.

Seats to skip. Row 30 is the worst row on the aircraft: only B, C, D and E exist (there is no 30A or 30F), recline is minimal, and the rear lavatory and galley are immediately behind. 29C and 29D sit in the lavatory queue and catch the standing traffic. 15B, 15C, 15D and 15E look tempting because of the legroom, but the exit behind them means zero recline — tolerable on a short hop, rough on a five-hour flight in a seat this firm. 15A and 15F don't even get that legroom; they're standard seats with a possible missing armrest and a hard cushion. All of row 13 is pinned against the exit row and reclines barely at all.

Window hunters: 10A has no window — solid fuselage wall — and 11A and 11F have windows that sit off-center from the seat, so you crane to see out.

What the seat is actually like. These are true slimline seats, with the cushion suspended on a springy hammock structure and the seatback pocket moved up high to free the space by your shins. The headrest wings bend in to hold your head and the tray table slides toward you a few inches, which makes a laptop workable even in a standard row. Two flaws show up fast: the armrests are toothpick-thin, and there's almost no underseat storage in front of aisle seats — C and D passengers should plan on the overhead bin, which is smaller here than on the newest 737s. On flights over three hours the cushions get hard, so a padded layer helps more than a better row does.