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\n Southwest Airlines\u2019 newest jets are now flying with a barrier that can protect the cockpit when pilots need to open the door during flight, according to the airline.\n <\/p>\n
\n The company\u2019s first Boeing 737 equipped with the retractable barrier entered service in time for the Labor Day weekend, making it one of the first US air carriers to use it.\n <\/p>\n
\n The \u201csecondary barrier,\u201d which looks more like a gate than a solid door, was originally required to be installed on all new aircraft starting this summer by a 2023<\/a> Federal Aviation Administration rule<\/a>, however the airline agreed to push back the implementation of the rule by a year.\n <\/p>\n \n Aviation labor unions have long argued following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that secondary barriers were needed to protect the flight deck when pilots had to open the door \u2013 such as to access the lavatory.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cFor Southwest, this was the right decision,\u201d the airline said in a statement. \u201cWe have a robust safety management system that takes a proactive approach when it comes to enhancing safety wherever possible.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Southwest said \u201cevery new aircraft\u201d it takes delivery of will come with the barrier installed. There is currently not a certified method of adding the barriers to existing planes, however Southwest says it remains in communication with Boeing and the FAA.\n <\/p>\n \n Airlines currently use procedures like blocking the aisle at the front of the plane with a beverage cart when pilots need to open the door and exit the cockpit.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Facebook Tweet Email Link Washington \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 Southwest Airlines\u2019 newest jets are now flying with a barrier that can…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":193649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-193648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115133763188902551","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Southwest](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img-2393.jpeg\")
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