The first Alaska Airlines 737-800 completed its interior retrofit and is once again ready to carry passengers. Gone are the carpet-art cabin dividers and forward bulkhead wall. Replacing them are muted tones of blue, beige, and grey.
The new Recaro seats include an integrated PED holder in economy class. And the power outlet remains just under the tray table, easily visible and accessible to passengers.
LED mood lighting is also part of the cabin now, but the planes did not convert fully to the newer Boeing Sky Interior design; new deliveries do have the updated design. This also means the same overhead bins as before.
The old interiors absolutely needed a refresh. But Alaska Airlines has never really been about bringing a flashy product to the market. Indeed, these planes are arguably even less flashy than the other retrofits and new deliveries the carrier has taken; the seats are monochrome rather than showing off a bit of variation in the fabrics.
But with the potentially limited remaining lifespan of the 737-800 fleet – the carrier is aggressively growing into the 737 MAX family now – the long-term value of a more unique or customized interior might not be worth the investment.
And, in the end, the boring solution still gets passengers where they’re going.
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I wonder what they will do with their newer (on average) 737-900ERs
Wow, how exceptionally bland.
Yup…keeping in line with the airline’s norms.