Southwest flies only Boeing instead of Airbus because when it was founded, to keep costs down, they decided to have not only one brand, but one model of airplane — the 737.
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Southwest Airlines - the largest operatorCorrespondingly, it also operates the world's largest fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft. According to Planespotters.net, it presently consists of 728 examples of aircraft from the popular narrowbody family, with an average age of 12.5 years.
“If you could book a 737 500, and you find out it's a 737 MAX, technically they don't have to honor your request. … So you don't have a right to specify you are not going to go on a 737 MAX.”
No refusals to travelAs such, many airlines prepared for nervous passengers to refuse to fly on the aircraft. Ryanair was one of these, with CEO Michael O'Leary stating in 2020 that passengers could have their tickets refunded if they refused to travel on the type.
According to the requirements specified in the FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet (pertinent excerpts shown below) the B737-800 requires a minimum flightcrew of 2 - a Pilot and Copilot.