Skip to main content

Southwest Airlines Community

Disabled people cheating to board early – SOLUTION

Sweety_D
Explorer A

Second time I posted this .. SW deleted it!

 

I fly a lot. Every week. I usually have boarding pass A1 or A2. I always buy business select tickets, meaning I pay a fortune for my tickets. I’m 6’6’’ and it’s very important that I sit in a seat with leg room. So I always try to get a first row seat as they offer the most leg room. I hate the exit row because it takes a long time to get off the plane. Being that I travel for business so often I schedule flights just a little ahead of my meetings. This means I need to get off the plane quickly.

 

So now that I have set the stage, allow me to explain my frustration. The amount of people faking disabilities is ridiculous. Some flights I see 15 people pre-boarding with fake disabilities. Which means 20-30 people pre-board because their friends board with them! Of course, some are legit. I see a lot of seniors and Veterans, and I am glad to allow them to sit first. But the fake people are so frustrating. I usually fly out of SMF which is a tiny airport, I have seen people park next to me and walk, if not run, to the ticket counter. Then magically lose the use of their legs. I realize SW can’t control this. The FAA requires them to board the frauds early. But there is a way around this.

 

The solution:

 

First off, I am a Global First customer with United. But they don’t fly a lot out of my tiny airport so I use SW more and more. Anyway, United has these people board between boarding groups 1 and 2. SW should do this. 

 

Even if they don’t choose to do this, the simple solution is not allow any pre-board people to sit in the first few rows (maybe 3?). Problem solved!

 

I have seen so many post on this problem. When will SW address this growing problem? I realize in the grand scheme of things this is not the biggest problem in the world. But when you have multiple flights a week for year and years, it’s starts to become important. Saving time at the airport equals more time at home with my wife and kids.

7 REPLIES 7

Re: Disabled people cheating to board early – SOLUTION

chgoflyer
Aviator A

United has assigned seating, Southwest does not. Southwest must -- to be in compliance with the law -- preboard those presenting themselves as disabled. If they boarded them after other passengers have boarded, they would also have to make passengers give up their seats should a disabled passenger want or need it.

 

The only part of the preboarding process that Southwest can "change" would be to enforce the policy of allowing only a single companion for each disabled passenger.

 

If it truly is very important that you sit in a seat with leg room, you'd do better to fly a carrier that has assigned seating.

Re: Disabled people cheating to board early – SOLUTION

Sweety_D
Explorer A
Solution

The FAA Code of Federal Regulations 14 CFR 382.123 doesn’t say anything about which row pre-boarders must have access to. Furthermore section 382.67 explains the regulations for passengers that are stowing their wheelchairs in the cabin. This is very rare. I bet nearly 99% of wheelchair passengers are using the wheelchair provided by the airline. They are not stowing their own wheelchair in the cabin (this is because most are faking). If a wheelchair passenger legitimately needed the extra room of the bulkhead to get in and out of a seat, great it should be theirs. But as I said this is rare. Most the time, they get out of the chair before entering the plane. 2 reasons for this. First, they are faking. Second the chair doesn’t usually fit through the door.

 

So, the proposed solution still stands. Don’t allow pre-boarders to use the first few rows unless they are bringing a device (walker, wheelchair etc.) on the plane.

Re: Disabled people cheating to board early – SOLUTION

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

I love how it's "very important" that you are comfortable and that you are able to determine everyone preboarding is faking a disability and that only you are on a tight schedule. 

 

I like flying Southwest because they don't cater solely to those who feel entitled to something. As suggested earlier, maybe Southwest isn't the airline for you.

 

And I'm sure Southwest has considered various boarding options, including those you mentioned, and determined the current process is the simplest and best fit for them. 

Re: Disabled people cheating to board early – SOLUTION

Sweety_D
Explorer A

I'm glad you love it!

 

Fact check: I never said, "everyone pre-boarding is faking a disability". I said most people, which in my opinion is blatantly obvious if you read the many post about it on this very discussion board. If you’re going to come at me with your condescending tone, be correct in your statements.

Re: Disabled people cheating to board early – SOLUTION

LindseyD
Retired Community Manager

Hey Everyone,

 

Moderator here - the "Boarding" discussion board gets a lot of attention, because it's a topic that folks have a lot of opinions about. We love seeing the conversations take off in here, but please make sure your comments comply with the User Guidelines, which prohibit personal attacks. To review the User Guidelines, please visit the Welcome and Announcements Board. Thanks for helping us keep the Community an enjoyable, respectful place for everyone.

 

 

Re: Disabled people cheating to board early – SOLUTION

chgoflyer
Aviator A

I love how sometimes a random anonymous forum poster will think he/she has magically figured out the answer to their own perceived problem, and how their "solution" must be seriously considered by a multi-billion dollar company, who's obviously never thought about it before.

Re: Disabled people cheating to board early – SOLUTION

Sweety_D
Explorer A

Thank you! I love it too. Now let's hope that the multi-billion dollar company implements the solution!