Southwest Airlines is the first to use a "second cockpit door"
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Southwest Airlines officially launched its first passenger flight equipped with a "secondary cockpit door" on Friday. This safety feature will become a mandatory Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirement for all newly delivered commercial aircraft starting in August 2026.
The first aircraft, a recently delivered Boeing 737 MAX 8, entered commercial service Friday afternoon on a Phoenix (PHX)-Denver (DEN) flight. Southwest Airlines stated that all future aircraft will be delivered pre-installed with the device; existing aircraft will not require retroactive modification, as FAA regulations do not require it and no certified retrofit solution is currently available.
The "second cockpit door" was first proposed after the September 11th attacks, intended to provide an additional barrier when crews briefly open the main cockpit door. The FAA originally set a compliance deadline of August 2025, but the Airlines for America (A4A) requested an extension, citing delays in certification and incomplete crew training. The extension was ultimately granted a one-year extension. The pilots' union, ALPA, publicly criticized A4A and the FAA for the extension.
Southwest Airlines chose to complete the installation a year before the deadline, aiming to ensure safety for passengers and crew members.