Southwest Airlines Community

@Cmouton   Thank you so much! They said training will start at the end of 1st quarter or the beginning of the 2nd. So March or April of 2019! I'm so excited! I know that's like 5-6 months from now, but that gives me lots of time to prepare and study whatever I can find to learn. I really hope you go in there and kill it! Just remember, have fun. Enjoy the process and seriously just be yourself. They LUV you for you. It's a really big deal that you made it to the f2f. F2F Day was so much fun and the employees truly make Southwest what it is. I'm excited for you and hope we will be fellow co-hearts soon! Knock it out and let me know how it went!!!   Ian L. ... View more

@Lisaluvsswa1   Hello! If it helps, I received my CJO yesterday 10/20 and my training starts at the end of March 2019. So 4-5 months. DEFINITELY worth the wait though, so stay strong! You got this!!!!   Ian L. ... View more

Hi Kelby,   Thank you very much, that means a lot. This is the first time I've come back on the discussion thread page since a few days after I received the e-mail in August.   Ryan ... View more

@Bhaynes117 wrote: Do you offer insurance if we are unable to travel? We (members of this community) are mainly travelers the same as you are.   Southwest does not offer an insurance product, but you can get it from other sources. Southwest does offer the ability to cancel airfare on short notice and receive travel funds that can be used up to a year from the original purchase date, so in that regard depending on your flying habits, insurance may not be necessary, or at least provide as much value as for other carriers.   There are also refundable fares if you think the need to cancel may be more likely. ... View more

Bottom Line Up Front:  I was a "Fly Thru" from Indianapolis to Tucson, just the other day and after the 6 hour flight pass in San Diego: was told while the plane was being cleaned, feel free to go out and stretch your legs - it shall be a good 45 minutes.   Well shoot - I'm going to the lounge which was 30 feet from the gate - right. Ugh - I paid  extra for the stupid Southwest cattle call A flight Business A3 Seat    6 hour flight - as I went to get back on boarding call - I was instructed that the "Bartender? " (1 Beverage), had noticed that I was wobbling?   What?  I told the Southwest Woman that I was a pass thru passenger and was going to Tucson and she reiterated that I was not going onboard due to the Bartender seeing my wobbling? What?   I'm a disabled veteran with ironically Gait (gate). OMG. Seriously.   I knew not to argue or disrupt; however; of course with my Veteran issues I became overwhelmed and stressed out - anxiety. OMG.   Seriously.  I was actually taken to a hospital in San Diego not a VA Hospital - for what - I was not drunk or inebrieated? Tested?  Freaked Out! Anxiety without my meds yes!   OMG - what the Scripps hospital didn't know what to do with me? The Southwest Airlines said I couldn't fly unless a Doctor said in writing I was good to go to fly?  But they didn't say that in writing to anyone only the EMS and the Airport Cops.   Don't Argue right, be cool.   WTF. Who's paying this bill, I had to find a hotel, rebook my flight, put up with the embarassment and HELLO, what was my legal crime - document JUDAS PRIEST   Unbelievable - the Doctors at Scripps Hospital in San Diego, CA say they get travelers all the time - well what the heck!   What did I do!  Thanks for the expense  What did I do? ... View more

@Pepintrk wrote: Thank you for the information. I got a bit angry and wrote the post. I didn't have accurate info so I apologize for wasting people's time. Your frustration was very understandable, so don't worry about that. And you certainly were not alone. I was in line at Midway yesterday with a bunch of passengers whose flights had cancelled and there was lots of frustration to go around. Thanks for apologizing. Personally, I'm a big fan of Southwest and try to defend them when I feel that they are blamed for things out of their control. So many Customers have complained about the weather-related cancellations on the Community over the last few days and it's nice to see somebody who understands that some things can't be helped, no matter how frustrating they may be. ... View more

@Ronshan wrote: Thanks for allowing me to ask for a hotel room for the night, the idea which was properly squashed by your wonderful supervisory employee who stated " not for a weather event" and dismissed me and my audacity for even considering the possibility. Thank you so much for forcing me to pay the additional cost of a customer focused airline for my future travels. Getting stuck at an airport due to a weather event is frustrating, I agree. It's happened to me a few times. However, there's not a single U.S. airline with a policy to provide passengers a hotel room for a cancellation due to a weather event. I imagine that there are quite a few American, United, and Delta passengers who slept at the airport last night also. You honestly won't find a more customer-focused airline than Southwest. ... View more

@advlce I agree that the situation you were going through was frustrating, and I’ve experienced it as well. However, you are leaving out the details on what lead to the cancellations. Weather or mechanical? I don’t think the commitment is misleading because it actually makes sense if you look it from a business perspective. If the airline had to put out the cost of hotel rooms for all of their stranded passengers because of any unforeseen circumstance, they might as well park all of their jets and open hotel chains.    My advice to you is to alwaybe courteous and not demanding when frustrated at the gate. In my experience, being concerned, but understanding about my situation actually goes pretty far.      ... View more

I've never heard of a job bid marked "Withdrawn" without the person who submitted the bid doing it themselves. I wonder if the position itself was withdrawn by Southwest. Which airport was the CSA position at? ... View more

@DancingDavidE wrote: @     This is a tough one - I also don't expect that they would be canceling a flight early in the morning, especially if that plane would be planning to be somewhere else later in the day. At the same time, there must be some good statistics on when not to fly to Oakland in the morning, and perhaps this route is prone to cancelation.    Do you know if the plane is a "shuttle" that goes back and forth from LAX to OAK and back? I think that Southwest would have to plan ahead for this route to be subject to fog if that was actually the reason and if it occurs often.   Otherwise I'd have to take it at face value that there were storms in the area or between the cities that prevented a safe route.    I'd recommend to try and leave some time to talk to the staff at the LAX airport to get a better feel for this route if you are taking it once a week and having trouble.             Well, the flight does continue from O akland To Atlanta to Reagan National to Midway. So cancelling the flight puts Southwest in the position of having to find another plane to continue that route out of Oakland. So I doubt Southwest would cancel the flight if it really did not have to do so.   I can only access 2 months of flight details, and Southwest 1073 LAX/OAK has been cancelled twice in the last two months - June 19 and this morning.    Unfortunately, flights do get cancelled. My guess is that cancelling an early morning LAX/OAK flight due to low numbers of passengers is unlikely due to the disruption to the rest of the routing scheduled for the plane for the rest of the day. ... View more

@pie2eat wrote: Is this true and if so, why has it not obtained IOSA certification?   I imagine because IOSA certification is not mandatory and is expensive to obtain. Given stringent FAA oversight, U.S. airlines don't really need IOSA certification but choose to get it to avoid appearing unsafe relative to their peers. IOSA certification may be an indication that a certain level of safety has been achieved, but not having it does not mean that an airline is unsafe. ... View more

@bhangad wrote: Thanks @rtbarron for the proper reply. really appreciated. I'll put @rtbarron down for solution to the original poster's question - but I'm still not sure of the new question about changes to tickets with the new flight between 36-25 hours prior.   As far as I've ever heard, the EBCI and A-list position assignments aren't "re-run" after the 36 hour time and would have to check-in manually.   I don't know the technical obstacles that would keep them from re-running, obviously anyone with that EBCI would be at the end of the EBCI line with the others having already been checked in at 36 hours prior, but that would still be better than nothing.   At 25 hours prior you would also be behind connecting passengers who may have a 1-6 hour head start on you from checking in at their origination flight.   Having made a few last-minute changes before I believe I lost the A-list check-in, but now I don't remember if those were 25 hours prior changes, or less than 24 hour changes when I did that. I wouldn't have had EBCI either way.             ... View more

These are my personal observations of the hiring process. Your experience may be different. If you receive a conditional offer on Tuesday, you can expect to receive your notice of pre-employment drug screening within a week. You have 48 hours after notification to complete your drug test. Your employment screening should take about a week depending on whether any "adverse" items are found that require followup on your part. Once you successfully complete your employment screening and drug test, you'll be sent your official Offer of Employment from Southwest. After you electronically sign and send back your employment offer, you'll get an e-mail from your Recruiting Coordinator explaining what to expect going forward and what to expect on your first day of class in Dallas. Approximately a week later, you'll receive an e-mail with your Southwest employee ID number and pre-employment paperwork to complete before your first day of training. You'll be enrolled in the next available new hire class in Dallas which I'm guessing will be in early September. There is an August 6th new hire class but, since that's less than a week after your face-to-face interview, I doubt you would be placed in that class. Your "seniority date" will be the day you begin training in Dallas. While you're waiting for class to start, you can go here: www.swathestore.com and start loading up on Southwest shirts, hats, etc. to give to your familiy and loved ones. Good luck on your interview on Tuesday. Let us know how you do. ... View more

@gamemasterdls68,  I am sorry that this delay happened to you.  Having been a frequent traveler for work for decades, I have been frustrated with many different incidents and airlines.  I was very relieved when the Department of Transportation passed rules and penalties in 2010 which discouraged airlines from loading passengers on a plane and making them sit for 4-5 hours waiting for take-off because I had that happen to me more than once (but my two incidents were on other airlines).  It feels better to endure the delays in the terminal than on the tarmac.   As a tax geek, I have to point out that Mr. Kelly’s income level puts him in a tax bracket that means he is more likely to be audited by the IRS than the average person, and the 1998 IRS Restructuring and Reform Act Section 1203 protects taxpayers from acts of retaliation from IRS employees.   Air travel can be rough and it seems like you had one of those trips.  I hope future travels are smoother for you. ... View more

Thank you for sharing your story. It's always great to hear about Southwest People demonstrating their Servant's Hearts to Customers. In today's world, genuine kindness is truly refreshing. Are you familiar with the Wings for Autism program? It's a program that holds "rehearsals" at airports to help alleviate stress for airline passengers with autism spectrum disorders. Since your 12-year-old did so well, he probably does not need it, but I felt that it might still be a good resource for you in future travels. You can read all about the program by clicking here: https://www.thearc.org/wingsforautism   Best of luck to you! And please thank your husband for his service to our country. ... View more

Yes, it is very possible that he was carrying for someone else and completely legitimate. It is those instances when some people think to themselves, "well if it is just me doing this it won't be an issue" that tend to boil the blood.  A) thinking they are special & above everyone else and B) if everyone thought that way, things don't work. Unfortunately, it seems more and more people are thinking they are entitled to "special treatment".  I blame the Kardashians : ) Anyway, this is a minor infraction compared with the "I'm saving this seat" SWA passengers. ... View more

@Smhemstreet I agree with everything @rtbarron@CareforNOLA said, but remember that employees for SWA are human and sometimes make the wrong decision based off of mis-communication, lack of details, etc.  With that being said, I would contact Customer Relations and voice your concern. What do you have to lose?    Good luck!    ... View more

@rtbarron wrote: @DaijP wrote: should I call back and ask someone else You can try but it may not make a difference. The exception that I noted in my first reply was a Customer who cancelled his reservation in error. If the cancellation was a mistake on your part, explain that to the representative who answers the phone. If you cancelled the reservation and then changed your mind a few hours later, you will probably have to pay the fare difference to rebook your reservation. For example, one of the cases where it was re-instated was where someone had three similar reservations and canceled the wrong one.    We don't need to know the details, it isn't up to us. but let the customer service rep know what happened and maybe they can restore it.     ... View more

Hi @Mariahslamby,   Thanks for your interest in a career at Southwest Airlines! As @rtbarron posted, the “base” schedule for Part-time Customer Service Agents is 5 days/wk, 4-6 hour shifts each day.  However, they can be assigned mandatory overtime on top of that schedule.  They must be able to work mornings, evenings, weekends, and holidays. Best of luck!   ... View more

@Ontheroad247 wrote: Most recently, I was on a Southwest flight where the teenager behind me (boarding position ~A15) decided that she was going to save 4  entire rows in the front of the plane for her teammates. I could see the frustration as the girl told passenger after passenger that she had reserved those seats, just like she were on a school bus. By the time the whole team was seated we were all wishing that we were sitting in the back of the plane - at least it was quiet back there! I know these encounters are few and far between, but it's frustrating to encounter such blatant disregard for other travelers. Oh boy! That's a tough one, obviously a teenager on a sports team may not have the experience as to what they are doing, or awareness of the needs of others. When Southwest is invovled in similar travels in the past on my flights, I have seen the FA and gate agents work to get them to take a block towards the back to alleviate the saving of seats, but still get them together. That was probably a missed opportunity on your flight!         ... View more

@unhappyatswa wrote: chg   Yes, I've used that contact link twice.  The two submissions were acknowledged, but then no follow up.   Even though SWA has subcontracted out the rapidrewards program, SWA is ultimately responsible for the program.   I'll post any followups from SWA. Southwest will only do what Cartera tells Southwest to do -- add or subtract points. Southwest has no information other than what Catera gives it.   I'd suggest that you e-mail SW customer service with a subject something like "Complaint about Cartera's administration of the SW shopping program."  Give details  of where Cartera is not performing as promised. Ask SW to intervene and ask Cartera to get it's act together. ... View more

@Seabergh, please post links and show us where you found the conflicting information - we definitely need to get that corrected.    ... View more

Best Boarding Experience In A Lifetime On the 7/19/18 flight #2363, the 1st Officer came out of the cockpit and helped me get  my wife out of her wheelchair at the plane door. I've flown for over 50 years and have never had this experience. Unfortunately, I was unable to get his name. Please let him know my apperciation ... View more

@Debbiedean wrote: Are you employed by the airline industry? @Passenger1C @bec102896 @elijahbrantley Nope. Every one of them is a Southwest Customer. Why do you ask? ... View more

I totally agree with you; excuse after excuse and constant neglect or concern for the passengers. However, don’t be surprised with the gooey responses from people who don’t speak up regarding lack of customer service from a company, and offer some shallow advice. ... View more

@franktravel wrote:     Looks like 6 months! Yep. It's 6 months for most positions although there are a few positions (crew scheduling, I believe) that require at least a one year commitment. ... View more

@elijahbrantley wrote: Hey hey! What @chgoflyer said. I actually had to read the family boarding policy, and it’s rather vague. It says “An adult traveling with a child six years old or younger may board during Family Boarding.” This caught me off guard because (as stated), I see whole families get on together all the time, and it seems to be largely allowed. It’s not uncommon to see one youngster, the parents, and their grandparents board during family boarding.    Personal opinion moment: as much as I like SW boarding, this is one area that is not that great. If the policy were enforced as it reads, it could make family boarding difficult, even if sitting together is not important.    A while back, there was a brief period of strict enforcement re: not allowing adults in addition to parents to board with the family, following an incident where a gay couple were denied Family Boarding (the couple wanted to board with a grandparent as well). I still frequently see social media posts from someone upset that their grandparents (aunt, uncle, etc.) couldn't board with the family at Family Boarding. Which is how it should be, IMHO. Much like Preboarding, Family Boarding has become somewhat of a free-for-all. If you're the unlucky one who -- despite purchasing EarlyBird Check-In -- has a B or later boarding position, you suffer. Admittedly, since seat-saving is allowed, it's ultimately not that different really whether the OPS agent enforces policy strictly or loosely, but I do think that consistency would help avoid customer anger and stress.   Southwest's boarding system certainly has it's challenges. ... View more