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Southwest Airlines Community

Forced Missed Flight?!?

vlvtmbrwn
Explorer C

Very upset. Need discussion with The Community. 

 

Facts:  I arrived at the gate before the time of departure.

I was taken out of system before I presented.

 

Perspective:  I was forced to miss my connecting flight by an anxious gate agent.

 

Facts:  I am made to wait in the airport for seven hours, for another flight.

No real effort of customer recovery.  Customer service failure.

 

So, I'm stuck with no recourse.  Saddened.  Confused.

 

Question:  Shouldn't a customer be allowed to board a plane while the gate doors are still open - after paging?  If a flight time is say, 1:25 p.m. and customer arrives at 1:15 p.m. - what would be the real reason as to why they wouldn't be allowed to board?  

  

6 REPLIES 6

Re: Forced Missed Flight?!?

dfwskier
Aviator A

Sorry to hear that this happened to you. 

 

When did you get to the gate.? Did you get to the gate late?

 

If you are not at the gate ready to board at least 10 minutes before flight time, the airline assumes you are a "no show" and gives your space to a passenger waiting for a standby seat

 

So even though the door was open, there may not have been any open seats on the plane

 

Is that what happened to you?

Re: Forced Missed Flight?!?

bec102896
Aviator A

So with your example of a flight at 1:25pm and you arriving at 1:15pm the gate closes 10min before departure so my guess is as soon as it hit 1:15pm they marked you a no show and they were probably closing the door once they get the paperwork to finish printing. 

 

Forced missed flight? No I don't think so because you should show up to the gate more than 10min before your flight unless you were late on your first flight then you have no choice. If you had a true emergency (flat tire or major traffic as a couple examples) you can show up and be covered by the flat tire rule which is what it looks like you were covered by. 

Re: Forced Missed Flight?!?

5280Av8r
Frequent Flyer C

There's a reason tickets say the time that boarding starts and usually say that the doors close 10 minutes before departure because the jetway needs to be pulled away and the aircraft pushed back after clearance from the tower. Plus, with Southwest, idk why you'd want to board later, so your arriving flight must have been really late with an already tight connection.

 

Now usually airlines know if they have connecting passengers arriving on a delayed arrival, so depending on how late it is, they'll usually hold the plane for you. It also depends on how many people they're waiting for. If they're just waiting for one person, they usually give the seat to a standby because it's easier to rebook 1 person than it is to rebook 10 people. If you're concerned about missing a connection, tell the flight attendant and they'll let the pilots know who will contact the gate agents at the arriving airport. 

 

-Andrew

DEN based | Southwest Passenger


DEN (CLT) Based | Aviation Enthusiast | Full of Passion for Southwest

Re: Forced Missed Flight?!?

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Customer service failure or customer failure?  From what I can tell, and please correct me if I'm wrong, this was the first flight of your trip, not the connection.  You chose to show up at the very last minute, so late in fact that you missed the cutoff to board of 10 minutes prior to departure.  I understand it sucks, I've missed flights too, but I don't blame the airline for my late arrival.  Chalk it up as a painful way to learn a lesson and move on.

 

Here's Southwest's policy:

  • 10 minutes prior to scheduled departure time: All passengers must obtain their boarding passes and be in the gate area available for boarding at least 10 minutes prior to your flight's scheduled departure time. If not, Southwest may cancel your reserved space and you will not be eligible for denied boarding compensation.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

 

 

Re: Forced Missed Flight?!?

dfwskier
Aviator A

@vlvtmbrwn wrote:

 

 

Perspective:  I was forced to miss my connecting flight by an anxious gate agent.

 

 Wait a second.  I think I missed a  very important point: you were trying to catch a connecting flight??

 

As said earlier, they maybe thought you would not get to the plane,so they gave away

your seat. I wouldn't think they would do that if there was  chance you could get to your connecting close to departure time. Very strange.

 

Sounds to me like you should contact customer relations to file a

complaint and seek restitution in the form of  voucher.
https://community.southwest.com/t5/Knowledge-Base/Submitting-a-Suggestion-and-or-Complaint/ta-p/8724...

Re: Forced Missed Flight?!?

parpitt1
Frequent Flyer A

I feel your frustration. Having been late to the gate myself, (boarding starts 30 minutes before departure), I have had to own and take personal responsibility for my tardiness. It appears you cut it too close since you reference the 10 minute time frame.