Southwest Airlines Community

I doubt that Southwest has volunteer opportunities for non-employees, but I did find information on the "Navigators" volunteer program at Sky Harbor. Perhaps this program will interest you. Click the link below for more information: https://www.skyharbor.com/volunteer ... View more

According to the "offer details" for the card: "Please allow up to 8 weeks for bonus points to post to your Rapid Rewards® account." https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/southwest/40KPlus?CELL=6PLX&clk=1662003 ... View more

@DanMartin Racism is an unfortunate reality in America, there is no denying it. But Southwest does an outstanding job of hiring People of all races and backgrounds. As Lindsay Gottlieb (the mother of the biracial child) said, the incident that occured today in Denver was reflective of one insensitive employee, not the entire airline. ... View more

@khussman The passenger who would not sit by your friend because of her race was truly despicable, there is no question about that. How would you suggest Southwest handle situations like this? ... View more

Thanks for the information. I don't have an explanation for why they haven't called you back yet after five weeks. I once had a job interview with a company in mid-January and was told I would hear something back before the end of the month. I didn't hear back, and after a few unanswered calls and e-mails to enquire what my status was, quit worrying about the position and moved on. The following June, they called me out of the blue and offered me the job. Hiring companies sometimes act in strange ways. I would suggest moving on but not giving up hope. ... View more

@Jennie0395 Here's my timeline for the Customer Service Rep job at MDW: 4/9: Applied for position 4/24: Received a call from Southwest to schedule a telephone interview 4/26: Telephone interview. Told that I would hear back in a week 4/27: Advised that I had been selected for a face-to-face interview 5/7: Face-to-face interview. Told that I would hear back in two weeks 5/29: Have not heard back from Southwest but my application status is "under review" I hope this helps. ... View more

Sorry to hear about your things being damaged. You can contact Southwest Customer Relations by calling 855-234-4654 or email them by clicking the "Contact Us" link on the bottom of the Southwest home page. Soaked bags are certainly not limited to Southwest. I've worked on the ramp for two different airlines and speak from experience when I tell you that most ramp agents try to ensure that your bags are taken care of. Unfortunately, during periods of heavy rain it is impossible to keep bags dry. Even if bags are left in a baggage cart, rain can get past the cart's curtain and soak the bags inside. And, in the event of lightning, ramp agents are directed to immediately stop what they are doing and seek shelter which means bags may sit on the belt loader or ground in the rain for extended periods of time. Once again, I am sorry for what happened to your bags and agree that it is frustrating. I hope you will continue to fly Southwest despite this experience. ... View more

Thanks Blake! I’m new to the community but have been a Southwest flyer and fan for over 40 years. I hope my insight is helpful to the other members.   In regard to my question about statuses, I’m wondering specifically what all the different ones mean. For example, do “In Progress” and “Under Review” mean the same thing or is one a further step than the other? Does “Closed/Complete” always mean that you didn’t get the job or can it mean that you did get the job and will be notified shortly?   I’ve noticed lots of questions like these in the discussions and thought I’d try to get answers. ... View more

@gcox08 Did you ever hear from the recruiter? ... View more

@DancingDavidE wrote: I don't believe it to be very common occurence, but the luggage could also have been stolen at the destination when it went on the carousel.   Unfortunately, it is more common than most passengers know. There have been entire gangs of luggage thieves caught at many airports...Pensacola is one airport that comes to mind. Hopefully this is not the case with your bag. ... View more

I would recommend looking into an accredited aeronautical university such as Embry-Riddle (https://erau.edu/), Lewis University (www.lewisu.edu/academics/aviation/flight-management/index.htm), or any other university with an aeronautical program in your area. Of course, the U.S. service academies are also an option. I'm certain that the Air Force and Naval Academies have flight programs, and I think that West Point has a flight program for helicopters (somebody correct me if I'm wrong). Good luck to your daughter! One of my best friends started out flying Cessnas when she was a teenager, later moved on to flying turboprops for a regional airline,  and is now a 757/767 First Officer for a major airline. If your daughter has the desire, she will succeed! ... View more

I recall that the Customer Service Representative opportunity in Atlanta was posted earlier this week (Thursday, maybe?), but it no longer appears among the open positions. In the past I've noticed that some jobs postings are only up for a day or two before they are removed. I assume this happens because Southwest gets so many applicants when a job is initially posted that their quota is quickly met and they no longer need to keep the position posted. My advice is to check the Southwest careers page often...as in multiple times a day...and if you see a position you're interested in and meet the qualifications for, submit an application IMMEDIATELY without delay. If you change your mind, you can always withdraw from consideration later. Good luck to you! I hope you find a good opportunity in ATL soon! ... View more

@nutsoverSWA 12 legs a day!?! Wow!!! I don't think I could stand more than 4 or 5 legs a day...and I LOVE to fly!!! Out of curiosity, why do you fly so many legs? I have a friend who jumps on random flights with his son and flies to wherever the loads will allow for the sole purpose of visiting as many airports as possible. Is that what you're doing, or is it strictly business? ... View more

I disagree with any policy that penalizes our service members. Moreover, being known as military-unfriendly could quickly become a marketing nightmare for Southwest if left unchecked. @FlemingUSCG, you are doing the right thing by encouraging other service members to make formal complaints. I hope that the situation will be resolved to your satisfaction and hopefully Southwest will regain your favor. @chgoflyer, the Southwest policy changes you mention seem to be endemic of the industry as a whole. While it's a shame that loyal Customers feel that the Southwest they knew and love has gone away, in the bigger picture, they are still better off flying Southwest than the Big Three, Spirit, Allegiant, or Frontier (speaking of an airline that has completely forsaken its loyal customers). I say this as somebody who comes from within the airline industry and has seen both customer service and employee satisfaction plummet in the last 20 years, EXCEPT at Southwest. Have you discussed your concerns with somebody at Southwest? As an A-Lister (I'm assuming) and community ambassador, it seems that Southwest would be very open to your opinions. ... View more

Taking advantage of any Customers, military or civilian, is very UN-Southwest like. I honestly don't know what Southwest's reason for not allowing military passengers to check in on-line is and would be interested to find out. Hopefully the issue will be fixed somehow so that our service members are treated at least as well as other Customers. Good luck to you. I hope this problem will be satisfied to your satisfaction. ... View more

Your frustration is understandable, as is your concern for you personal momentos. By the way, thank you for your service. I'm the son of a combat veteran (Viet Nam) and can appreciate what you have done for the rest of us. An unfortunate reality of airline travel is that bags sometimes get lost and they are not always easy to find. Bags are lost for many different reasons (loaded on the wrong aircraft, destination tag torn off, fell off a belt within the bag delivery system, etc.). And, given that many bags look similar, once a bag is reported lost, it's not always easy to distinguish it from all the other lost bags at the airport where it ended up. Long story, short, the representatives at Southwest are giving you a "real answer." They honestly don't know where your bag is...yet. If it's only been five days since the bag was lost, I would not give up hope on it being found. Try your best to remain patient (it's not easy, I know) and continue to call Southwest every day. I hope that it is found soon. ... View more

The similar job titles are confusing. AGENT is at the airport, REP is at the call center. BTW, I'm originally from Texas and have lived in Houston twice! Maybe you can FedEx a Whataburger to me so I'm not so homesick? (lol) Good luck to you! ... View more

@Traceyastin @BrandyMarie Did you guys interview for the Customer Service Rep positions at MDW? ... View more

Sorry to hear about your delay. I know it's frustrating. I don't know if this explains the entire 6 hour delay but, according to the FAA website, SFO is experiencing significant Air Traffic Control delays due to Weather and Low Ceilings. SFO is currently on a ground delay program which means that inbound flights are being held on the ground at the airports they're departing from. Speaking from 20+ years experience in the airline industry (NOT at Southwest), delays happen at every airline and it's not always possible to predict the duration of the delay because the situation is fluid and can change from minute to minute. I hope that you will give Southwest another chance despite this frustrating experience. To be honest, if the delay is due to Air Traffic Control, you'll almost certainly experience the same level of frustration on any other airline. ... View more

Out of curiosity, what sort of assistance are you seeking? Have you contacted anybody at Southwest besides the Customer Service person that you initially spoke with? ... View more

I've flown United quite a bit and can tell you that their wifi is just as unreliable. Based on my own personal experience, inflight wifi seems to be hit-or-miss regardless of airline. You are obviously free to choose who you fly with, but personally, I'd stick with Southwest. ... View more

That’s unfortunate.   I’m sure Southwest has a reason for this policy and I still wonder if it has something to do with the terms of the DOD contract. I can’t imagine Southwest intentionally denying military personnel the opportunity to get a good boarding position.   At least there’s a policy in place to allow them to board between the As and Bs. ... View more

You can start here: https://careers-southwest.icims.com/ ... View more

Oh, I have lots of stories of Southwest from back in the olden days. I started flying them in 1976 and used them exclusively until 1997 when I went to work for a different (LUV-less) airline. I'll have to see if I can find any pictures of me and the other kiddies driving Pinka crazy in the "play pen" (the lounge area on the original airplanes where all the kids had to sit.) ... View more

You should e-mail them a picture of the terms as written on the gift card. If the gift card specifically allows four forms of payments and does not have an expiration date for those terms, I don't see how they can deny you. As I said before, Southwest generally bends over backwards to satisfy the Customer. In this case you are clearly right and I'd be honestly surprised if somebody in the Customer Service chain of command won't fix this problem for you. ... View more

Well, nobody reponded, so here's the answer. The ex-Frontier 737s had eight first class seats in the forward cabin. They were deep red velvet from what I recall. According to some of the flight attendants that I spoke to at the time, most of the passengers would ignore these first class seats and continue back to the aft cabin. As a result, if the first class seats were used at all, it was by the passengers in the later boarding groups (the 61-90, and 91-122 groups) who had no choice but to sit there because the back was filling up. I managed to sit in a first class seat twice on flights between DAL and AUS and must say that my peanuts and soda seemed much nicer in those seats. ... View more

Has anybody at Southwest told you that the airline will not honor the four-payment-type terms on the gift card? Southwest generally bends over backwards to please their Customers and it seems to me that they would honor the terms of agreement on the store-bought gift card. ... View more

Southwest only allows unaccompanied minors ("UM"s) to travel on non-stop or direct flights...NO LAYOVERS. However, since your daughter is 13, she is considered old enough to travel on her own. I suppose you can ask Southwest to treat her as a UM, but then you have to pay a UM fee and will have to rebook her flight without a layover. My advice is to give your daughter a cell phone to use during the trip and have her call you when she reaches her layover airport. That way you can talk to her until she reaches her departure gate and boards her next flight. Here is Southwest's UM policy: https://www.southwest.com/html/generated/help/faqs/unaccompanied_minors_terms_and_conditions_faq.html ... View more