I can understand your frustration. I flew 2 weeks ago with my mother who is currently undergoing chemo and shouldn't walk much. We had requested wheelchair assistance for our departing airport, our connecting airport and our destination airport. Each airport we found a very different experience. I can say that there are two things they all had in common and that was EXTREMELY HEAVY FOOT TRAFFIC and AMAZINGLY CARING EMPLOYEES. The airports were PACKED but the Southwest employees were kind, generous and accomodating. Indianapolis had enough staff to accommodate our needs. Phoenix was packed in the peak of the busyness. The stewardess apologized for the delay but shared that the wheelchairs wouldn't be there for possibly up to an hour. My mother went ahead and walked off the plane but I went looking for a wheelchair to use as she went to the restroom. I found a closeby corral full of wheelchairs. I grabned one and my mom was settled back in the wheelchair to comfortably be transported to the connecting flight. When we arrived in Portland, we again were apologized to and told that it would be possibly a 30 minute delay. My mom walked off the plane but greeted in the gangway by an elderly gentleman/staff member who situated her into the chair. They wheeled her up the ramp but apologized and said they needed to help remove the rest of the passengers who needed wheelchair assistance. I let them know that we could push her and thanked him for his help. We headed for the restroom and I stood with the emoty wheelchair and waited outside the restrooms. Within mere minutes, we met Catherine. She was an angel. She came up, apologized and said that she could help pushing mom the rest of the way. She was extremely knowledgeable, thoughtful and kind. While we walked and Catherine pushed, we inquired about the wheelchairs and Catherine mentioned that during Covid's height of quarantine, staff members had to find new jobs. Now that Southwest can hire them back, they have either gotten new jobs or have been reluctant to return yet. So my reply is to share that each airport is attempting to provide their services the best that they can. I love that their employees care so much. So during COVID, please offer some patience. They are trying their hardest. But I completely understand your frustration. My mom REALLY needed to use the restroom and couldn't use their tiny one on the plane. So if she had to sit and wait for 30 mins or longer, it would have been nearly disastrous. So I understand the frustration you experienced. But just know that Southwest's employees are still hands-down the best airlines! If Southwest have this issue, I can guarantee that the others do in their corresponding cities as well. On a side note, it was really encouraging to see so many people out traveling again. Our economy is attempting to bounce back and that is wonderful. Have safe flights everyone!
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