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Southwest Airlines Community

Q & A With Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly

lreynolds
Frequent Flyer A

With business travel plummeting, consumers demanding deep discounts and oil prices fluctuating wildly, the airline industry is facing one of its worst downturns ever. So when Southwest Airlines (LUV:  9.79*, +0.01, +0.10%) became one of the few carriers to eke out a profit in the second quarter, you'd think it was time for CEO Gary Kelly to celebrate by tapping that beer vending machine sitting in the corner of his second-floor office.

to read more, visit: http://www.smartmoney.com/Investing/Stocks/Q-A-With-Southwest-Airlines-CEO-Gary-Kelly/?hpadref=1

7 Comments
Lisa_Lohman
Explorer C
Dear Mr. Kelly, I have recently learned of a policy your airline has (of which is listed nowhere on your online policy sheet) regarding the application of a credit to a new reservation. Let me start out. I used a $12 credit balance from a previous ticket to a reservation I booked in July. Due to an ear infection, I was unable to to take my trip and had to cancel my plans for the weekend of Sept 19th. I was then told that my ENTIRE ticket credit would expire on October 15th of this year (3 weeks later) if it was not used since I applied my $12 credit to it. Where was this policy listed? IN A POP UP MESSAGE!!!! Seriously, doesn't your computer block pop ups? Most do. This is a ridiculous policy of which I have NEVER heard of. I have talked to 2 levels of supervisors and I get the "This has always been our policy BUT you can pay $50 to extend your ticket for another 6 months" - - I used $12! This is a horrible way to treat customers. If this is your policy, fine, then put it in your policies and not in a meer pop up that no one sees! I have spoken to MANY people about this and no one has heard of it. This type of treatment will DEFINTELY make me re-think travels in the future. Lisa Lohman
Albert_Fauber
Explorer C
I purchased a ticket last year for my wife and I to fly to Ft Meyers, Fl. The event was cancelled and rescheduled for this year....specifically, Oct 22. Unfortunately, the expiration date on the 2008 flight was the 17th of October, 2009. So because the event was scheduled 5 days later than the cancellation date, I am unable to use the tickets I purchased last year. So I'm out $598.00 . I hear how the economy is affecting businesses daily in the news....imagine what $598.00 could do for me and my family. I'm a retired Marine and that's all the income I have....which isn't much. I understand that rules are rules. However, to call Customer "service" and explain the situation...only to be told that if I wait until the 18th (the day after the cancellation date) to file an extension, a voucher would be issued for a six month extension......except the voucher takes 7-10 business days to be issued. I'm no mathematician, but that 7 days is past the flight date I needed. So, either way I d lose my money. Suffice it say that my belief in the "do the right thing" mentality that Southwest Airlines preaches is compromised. My rescheduled flight will be to Arizona instead of Florida for this year's event.....I sincerely doubt that Southwest will be on my itinerary. It's a shame because even throughout my military career, when traveling on leave or reporting to a new duty station, I always flew Southwest....nevermore, to quote a famous raven!
Anonymous4290
Explorer C
I live in San Juan Puerto Rico and have read in local business newspapers of a posibility of southwest operating flights out of San Juan, any truth to these articles? I beleive this would be a great travel option to the island.
Charles_Bryan
Explorer C
No where did I ever see that a change in my business select purchase would cost me to loose .75 RR credits. Instead of 2 RR credits, I recieved 1.25 each, after changing two flights recently. I will certainly reconsider the business select option before I purchase them again.
Brent_Miller
Explorer C
Greetings, My baggage was lost this past Tuesday and I was told that the bag was located on Wednesday evening. Also, that the bag would be delivered by Fed Ex by 12 noon on Thursday. Thursday afternoon, after not receiving the bag I called and was told that the Fed Ex person had an attitude and did not come and pick up the bag, would I like to come to the airport and pick up the bag - a 2 hour drive. Since I was ending one leg of my vacation and the next delivery time conficted with my travel plans I would be in transit, I thought it would be best that when I arrive home, arrangements could be made to have my bag delivered. My wife has just spent a half hour on hold and making arrangements to have the bag delivered and is now waiting for a phone call from Dulles baggage department to make arrangements to have the bag delivered. During this process, thursday afternoon, I asked the person from Dulles Airport -Troy - to provide me with the original FedEx documentation requesting that FedEx pick up my bag. I found it hard to believe that FedEx would not pick up a bag and one of your employees felt it would be convenient to fabricate a reason why my bag had not been delivered. I was told the information from FedEx could not be provided. Hopefully, some thing positive will come out of this process. We have learned that when we are told an item is being delivered to request a reference number or tracking number. I would hope that your staff would be more professional in there communications . Please advise me on your acceptable process to be reimbursed for the clothing items I purchased for the past few days, thank you. Sincerely, Brenton Miller
Dave_Ventress
Explorer C
It seems as though being an "A-List Member" isn't all it's cracked up to be! I routinely log on to print my boarding pass at the exact time 24 hours in advance only to find that I get "B" boarding passes instead! What does being an "A-List Member" really mean? It's because there are 60 other business customers who routinely fly your airline ahead of me? When I get to the airport and wait at the gate for my flight, I see kids, family's, etc. way ahead of my boarding position. Do they fly your airline 4-6 times a month....don't think so! Now when I get to the airport and go to reprint my boarding pass, I am directed to see if I want to pay the extra fee to board in "Business Select"! Nice way to make extra money off of your loyal customer base! You don't need to charge for bags...your making your money on the back end with so called Business Select upgrades for those who should be boarding A-List to begin with!!! I just recently paid $683 for a round trip flight from Phoenix to Indianapolis when the cheapest flight option was $257 for US Air all because of the fact of my so called "A-List Membership"! I see no benefit in spending this extra money then getting "hosed" in upgrade fees when I check in if this going to Southwest's policy towards business customers. I applied today for US Airways Membership in their business travelers program.
Barbara_Glenn
Explorer C
ABC Channel 15 News in Phoenix AZ ran a story on the 4 PM news today showing a Southwest airplane and saying that "the airlines" are adding a $10-per-trip surcharge to each flight on "busy travel days", and that those days are being expanded. Is Southwest doing this?