@Wingo007 wrote:
I fly and lot and it is amazing the amount of people boarding pre board either in wheel chairs, crutches, very pregnant, (whatever it may be). People in wheel chairs have their entire family of 6 follow them onto the plane (all holding late B or C tickets) and when the flight lands 90+% of those people who needed wheel chairs to get on are now healed and wonder off never needing the wheel chair. If people need this extra time to board the plane I think all of the pre boarders should be asked to sit toward the back of the air craft in the last 10 rows because if they needed extra time to get on they SHOULD need extra time getting off and that holds up the entire plane.
I understand you cannot by law ask if somebody has the disability but moving them to the back of the plane would certainly weed out the fakers who are looking to sit up front of the plane. They can still get on early, they can get a window or aisle (whatever they are after) but they have to wait on everybody else to deplane and that would allow them all of the extra time they need again to get off the plane and not be rushed.
Even SW employees are gaming the system!!!!
I was on a flight recently where a dad, mom and two 15-17 year old children were checking in when the dad asks the agent for extra time so he and his kids can board and sit together (B57-60 tickets). Agent does it and the dad pulls his Southwest ID out and tells him good job.
I really hope SW looks into fixing the issue but keep the open seating as some times I need to sit up front due to a tight turnaround after a small delay to a connection or I have time and can head farther back on the plane
Greetings!
Pre-boarding is widely discussed on this forum. The truth is Southwest has to follow federal law. This includes all commercial carriers, not just Southwest.
Although a high-preboard or Those-Needing-Extra-Time count for any given flight could create an appearance of unfairness for the other travelers, especially those who paid extra for priority boarding or EBCI benefits, the fact is all airlines must follow the Air Carrier Access Act and permit any passenger who self-declare disabilities to the agent to accommodate them and their assistants via the pre-board or Those-Needing-Extra Time benefits.
Southwest cannot under federal law force those who are pre-boarding to sit in the back of the plane. However, SW is permitted to not allow those pre-boarding to sit in the Emergency Exit row which SW currently enforces.
Airlines may not keep anyone out of a specific seat on the basis of disability, or require anyone to sit in a particular seat on the basis of disability, except to comply with FAA or foreign-government safety requirements. FAA's rule on exit row seating says that airlines may place in exit rows only persons who can perform a series of functions necessary in an emergency evacuation.
https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/passengers-disabilities
Regarding the SW employee and his family boarding during Those-Needing-Extra-Time: It's possible there was a separate need or case that was declared to the agent that granted the family this benefit.
