Southwest and the MAX 7 – Two failures resonate

Southwest Airlines is in the midst of radical change.  It has already changed its “bags fly free” policy to an incremental charge, becoming the last holdout for free bags.  It has also changed its strategy.  The once small-market, low-cost, quick turnaround operations that the carrier employed for many years can no longer be accomplished with larger aircraft at major airports.

The Boeing 737 is the aircraft that made Southwest Airlines, and the carrier employed every major generation of that aircraft in its lifetime, including the 737-200, 737-300, 737-500, 737-700, and later the 737-800 and 737 MAX 8.  What is noticeably missing is the MAX 7, for which Southwest is the major customer.