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No service

When-Pigs-Fly
Explorer C

My wife just had a flight from Nashville to Dallas.  Flight attendants said, "we will have a bumpy ride so no drink service."  Captain comes on and says, "we are going around it." No turbulence and yet still not service.  My wife said all they did is look at their phones the whole time.  My wife used to be a flight attendant and said they were clearly being lazy.  So frustrating.  

This is not a bash of flight attendants.  The vast majority are awesome because I fly every week and see it.  That's exactly why this situation frustrates me.  They make SWA look bad.

It was flight 2334 on Saturday the 14th if anyone at SWA cares.

11 REPLIES 11

Re: No service

bec102896
Aviator A

You can always share your feedback with Southwest directly by clicking on the contact us link at the bottom of this page. 

I know a lot of times they err on the side of caution because they do not want to be with Service and then have bumps the rest of the flight where it makes it hard for them to clean up the cabin. I know there was a nice weather System moving through yesterday so it was probably around on the 14th as well.

 

want a non alcoholic beverage on your flight you can always bring one onboard that way you don’t have to rely on inflight service. 

if you noticed there are no bumps for a while. You could also try asking the flight attendant for a drink. the worst they would say is no 

Re: No service

dfwskier
Aviator A

The pilot probably told the flight attendants to suspend service, and never rescinded that order.

Re: No service

floridaguy
Aviator C

If the pilot suspends beverage service due to turbulence, then that order stays in place until the pilot gives the all-clear.  End of discussion.

 

If the all clear comes too late in the flight, there is not enough time to complete the beverage service process and thus, it remains unserved.

 

On a two hour flight, I would imagine that they simply ran out of time after the turbulence was clear.

Re: No service

ScottMc101
Explorer C

I call BS. I am a A+ member with a companion pass and fly almost weekly on SWA.  Our beverage service has been canceled on probably 8 out of the last 10 flights I have been on.  And no I don't fly the same place so its not likely due to a specific route.

 

But - if you do the math - Southwest is lost a TON of money due to the Christmas Flight debacle last year - $220 million, according to ab article by the New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/26/business/southwest-airlines-fourth-quarter-earnings.html#:~:text=....

 

They also reported a loss of $163 million, according to https://www.southwestairlinesinvestorrelations.com/news-and-events/news-releases/2023/04-27-2023-114... 

 

An average soda costs about $0.75 - $1.00 for the airlines, once you factor in the cost of the drink itself (they purchase cans), the cup, and the ice (which isnt much).  Still - on average a flight has about 150 passengers - that's easily $112 - $150 they can put in their pocket when they "cancel" beverage service - and that's assuming each passenger only has one drink.

 

On a recent flight (the one I'm on as I write this) - we were once again denied this "freebie" service in the name of supposed "turbulence" despite a relatively smooth flight.  I've heard others mention that the captain is the one who makes that decision, so I asked.

 

When I asked about this, instead of simply answering my question, letting me know that the captain made the decision, etc. the flight attendant said something like "let me find out".   A few minutes later, the captain came on and "explained" why he felt it was important to cancel service - essentially providing an excuse for why they did this.  When I asked for the captain's name, so i could verify this with SWA customer service, I was met with another flight attendant who basically told me "were not going to do that" and refused to give me his name.

 

He also threatened that they would "divert the plane" ... although I was extremely calm and was seated in my seat, not yelling or anything.  I guess I was talking loud enough for other passengers to hear - can't have more than one passenger figure out the little secret.

Although I dont know what they are so worried about.  Most of the passengers on the plane will never even tell their friend or a significant other about the experience, let alone do anything that could actually make a difference (like report this on social media or via customer service).

 

But still ... you dont have to "hide" and refuse to provide your name if you aren't doing anything wrong.  So yea - this is all being done in the name of "safety" - lets go with that.

 

(Andy BTW, I can afford to buy everyone on the plane a drink if you're thinking I just want the free drinks; I could care less but it annoys me when companies lie to their customers and think we are stupid!)

Re: No service

floridaguy
Aviator C

For clarification, what has become known as the Holiday DISASTER was expected to cost nearly $1 BILLION.  

 

I doubt that Southwest is trying to recover the money $0.75 at a time but you are correct that after hundreds of flights a day, it does add up.

 

 

Re: No service

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

@ScottMc101 no need for the double post

 

As stated in my reply to your other post, you don't need to demand the pilot's name to contact Southwest. Send your flight info along with your question using the contact us link at the bottom of this page. 

 

Sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory to me, but go ahead and ask if you are convinced Southwest is really trying to save costs one can of side at a time. This theory also eliminates any potential revenue from liquor sales which can easily offset the expense of the free soda. 

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: No service

bec102896
Aviator A

If you can’t go on a flight without a drink you probably should drive. Nowhere is it stated they must serve you a drink other than on tarmac delays over a couple hours. You can bring your own non alcoholic beverage with you on the plane and drink it 

 

I am A List preferred (A+ is not a thing) I have been on several flights without beverage service I survived and so did the other 100+ other passengers. Safety is always first the pilots communicate with ATC and sometimes ATC gets reports of turbulence and you may be on that same route so they use safety as a reason to hold on service sure that turbulence could have improved but again it’s a lot easier to be seated than up and serving when that rough patch comes and the FA possibly falls on you then you want to sue. Seems the airline would never be right here. If they started to serve turbulence starts then they can’t secure the cabin for landing it creates issues or better yet if row 1 gets a drink but your in row 6 and they can’t get you one because of the bumps you would be upset because someone got something you didn’t. 

You can share your feedback with Southwest directly but again safety will always come over your drink. 

Re: No service

dfwskier
Aviator A

As a point of reference, I've had 21 flights so far this year, and only one had suspended beverage service - my flight yesterday - courtesy expected turbulence.- which did not happen - despite PIREPS to the contrary -- apparently.

Re: No service

DelayedAgain123
Explorer C

I always hear people say “just a two-hour flight.” However, recently numerous SW flights are delayed (unlike the past.) If my flight is delayed and no service was provided and I have to run to my connecting flight, then that’s no water for several hours. I have started carrying on three bottles of water for what turns into an 8-hour day—for flights that used to be direct. I have not been on a flight with service in six months. And I fly frequently. It’s not just two hours. I’m loyal to SW, but this criticism is well-deserved—combined with delays and reliance on connecting flights.