Southwest Airlines Community

I have COPD with reduced airflow and O2 blood level to begin with.  I can't wear a mask for more than a half-hour before I start feeling the effects.  Therefore, it looks like I won't be flying for a while.   I just got back from a cross-country driving trip.  7,596 miles.  IAD-RNO-LAX-TUS-ELP-DEN-MCI-DAY-IAD, if I'd been flying.   ... View more

Not surprised in the least!  Southwest seems to be the Westjet of the U.S. ... View more

After seeing the FA's dressed in Halloween costumes for the IAD-DEN segment of my trip west back in October, I wouldn't put anything past SW team members!  (Within reason, of course!) ... View more

Trust me... (Yes, I know the "other meaning" of that phrase!) If SW were to make a "significant" order (say 50 airframes) with Airbus contingent on expedited delivery of, say the first dozen within a year of contract signing, I'm sure Airbus would offer "incentives" to current customers to "make it happen", and move SW ahead of the "line".  It's sort of like the auto business.  Ever buy a car from the dealer of a competing brand to your trade-in and get an additional "conquest" bonus on the Sales Order?  Same thing with airliner manufacturers.   Yes, it's essentially an oligopoly.  But, the competition between Boeing and Airbus is so fierce that Airbus would pull out all the stops to get a "presence" in the Southwest fleet.  If you don't believe me, Google the deal Airbus made with the long-ago Eastern Airlines to get 4 A300's into their fleet at essentially only the cost of fuel and crew salaries for a "try them" lease.  IIRC, maintenance, training, spares, etc., were all included free.   ... View more

Yes, I'm seeing the same thing.  SWA is still competitive when figuring-in the bag fees.  Not to mention the quality of the people.  As the saying goes, 'You get what you pay for'.  And, if SWA costs a few extra $ because of the people, it might be worth it... ... View more

Here's one for the books:  Recent flight I was on... I was in an aisle seat.  In my peripheral vision, I saw the passenger in the aisle seat across from me open their laptop and proceed to edit what turned out to be an adult video for a podcast!  SMH!!!  Fortunately, I didn't see any kids walking towards the forward lav.  When I went to the lav, I mentioned it to one of the FA's.  She told me I wasn't the first to mention it to her.  And, that she and the other FA's had made trips up the aisle trying to catch the passenger doing this.  But, she said unless she and another FA saw it for themselves, they couldn't even ask the person to close the laptop.     I mention this as one of SWA's competitors is now training their FA's on how to deal with passengers viewing X-rated videos on-board.  I'm not a prude.  Nor am I a voyeur.  But, as a retired TV engineer and long-time tech geet, I notice when people use electronics.  As I said before, this one had me SMH!  ... View more

The weird thing is, I can "assemble" an itnerary myself with separate SW flights going IAD-LAS and then LAS-RNO on the same day with rasonable connection time and seats available on both flights.  But, the SW website won't assemble a similar match.  Maybe they need a new IT system as tyhis seems very Wells Fargo!   Sad because SW has me soured on flying other sirlines..  ... View more

Think "Surliest In The Skies", instead of their slogan from decades ago...! ... View more

Perhaps I should explain that not all of my flying has been as a commercial passenger.  I have a logbook with my hours in, shall we say, Row 0 Seat A in a C-152.  It was something I enjoyed doing until I was rear-ended by a drunk driver while driving home from work one afternoon.  The injuries cost me my Medical...  Had my then 6-week-old daughter been with me that day, her injuries would've been fatal.    I hope that FA does get the recognition she deserves.  All I could provide was her description, as well as the flight info.   The cabin was too dark for me to discreetly read her name tag.   I also hope that SW recognizes that FA's are crewmembers as critical to safety as the men and women at the "front of the bus".           ... View more

TNX!  This was my first trip and second flight on Southwest.  Since the guy passed-out pretty quick, it wasn't worth bothering one of the FA's.   Besides... he slept through the erst of the trip, but also the landing and takeoff of our stop at LAS!  When we got to Reno, one of the FA's had to wake him up so the guy in the window seat and I could deplane.  The priceless part was when he asked the FA (with a slur in his voice), "Are we in Vegas yet?"  Seems he was supposed to get off there!  When the FA said, "We're in Reno, sir", the guy says "That'll do", grabs his bag out of the bin, and stumbles off the plane!  The FA, the guy in seat A, and I all shared a good laugh!    ... View more

SInce I'm an old man who doesn't do Fakebook or Twitter, is the Customer Service phone # the only way to compliment an SW employee? ... View more

Before 9/11 when GA aircraft were more or less normal at IAD, I had to do a "go around" one night while landing on 1R.  I caught movement to the right in my peripherial vision and it was a deer heading towards the runway at a gallop!  Fortunately, a C-152 accelrates pretty quickly!  While termiating the landing, I quickly notified Approach Control of my action and why.  The response was a quick "Roger, maintain heading.  Climb to one thousand four hundred" which was followed by the Air France A-340 behind me being told to break off their approach and go around as well.     Realize that there will always be situations that only one or perhaps two pairs of Mk I eyeballs are aware of.      And, at the first FAA Flight Safety symposium I attended Jim Jameson of the FAA said, "The three rules of flying are:  "Fly the airplane.  Fly the **bleep** airplane.  And, fly the g----n airplane!"  ... View more

Drunk guy next to me on a flight from MDW to RNO.  I was in the middle seat and he had the aisle seat.  After takeoff, the passenger in the row ahead of him reclined their seat.  He then proceeded to beat his fist against the rear of their seat loudly saying "B----" until thankfully the cabin altitude must've gotten to hem and he finally passed-out and snored all the way to Reno!       ... View more

TNX for the insight.  All-in-all, I will be back on SWA rather soon.  And, flying to Europe next yeare, as well.  The question will then come up of whether other airlines can meet their example?  The customer-facing people I encountered at SWA on this trip set a pretty high standard!   ... View more

Chgoflyer,   TNX for the input.  Yes, perhaps I'm a tough judge!  For 36 years, my job required me to be both an engineering and human relations perfectionist.  And, like I said, I started flying when it was pretty much a luxury for most people.  As far back as the mid-1960's, my parents and I were flying several times a year.  Men wore suits and women wore dresses.  And, yes times had to change as a result of 9/11.  But, when I attended a business meeting at the Virginia State Police Academy in Ruchmond a decade or so ago, there was a sign in the lecture hall that read, "You Can Be Tough As Nails And Courteous".   As for the Southwest part of the experience, except for the last flight, it was pretty good overall.  And yes, the FA on the second flight was specific about laptops.  And, yes I saw people using laptops on the ground.   I'm already looking at the SWA website trying to plan my next trip.  That's how satisfied I was with them.         ... View more

From Strong Detractor to Neutral   As asked/promised, here’s my evaluation of my recent Southwest flights:   Outbound   10/29 WN 1163 IAD-DEN Grade: A+  Several of the cabin crew were wearing some form of Halloween costume with their uniform.  They seemed cheerful and enjoyed their work.  Seemed to go out of their way to make people happy.  Flight was on-time   10/29 WN 2454 DEN-LAS Grade: C- Despite announcements about powering down and stowing personal electronics until reaching 10,000’ altitude, the male FA walked past several passengers in my immediate vicinity who were still using laptops, tablets, cellphones, etc., while at the gate, taxing, during climb, etc., without at least admonishing them to power down and put away the stuff.  If this is an FAR, why weren’t the FA’s enforcing it?  Perhaps the comment of “Thank you for not paying attention to this announcement” at the end of his safety briefing was not in humor as much as it was in truth?  Flight was on-time...   Airport experiences:  The security check at IAD reminded me of going through customs and immigration into and out of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and Hungarian Peoples Republic back in 1980.  Having the palms of my hands swabbed with an unknown chemical which the TSA agent wouldn’t identify has me wondering if I’ve been exposed to a potential HAZMAT.  And, I got a “pat down”.  Also, if your have an early flight out of IAD, be prepared with your own food as there is very little open early in the AM in terminal C.   Denver International Airport is uncomfortable at best and dangerous at worst as the design allows the outside temperature to become the inside temperature in the waiting areas.  It was freezing cold in there!  This is third-world at best.  Passengers shouldn’t have to accept this and neither should airport tenants like Southwest.  The use of “air doors” like those used at supermarket entrances might help.  The moving sidewalks at LAS were all kaput causing a lot of hiking.  Also, honesty/truthfulness at LAS on baggage carousel assignments would help.  The display at the entrance to baggage claim read for a carousel different from the one where the bags actually arrived.  Truthfulness/honesty would no doubt be appreciated by your customers.   Return   11/5 WN 2286 LAS-SJC  Grade: A  Nothing remarkable or unremarkable about the flight.  Everything clicked perfectly including being on-time...   11/5 WN 1465 SJC-DEN-IAD Grade: F-/A+ The SJC-DEN part was OK.  However, the notation on my itinerary provided by WN of “Stop: Denver no plane change” was Bull---t at best and an outright lie at worst as it wasn’t announced until after we’d been at the gate in DEN for a while before the FA’s notified the dozen or so of us IAD-bound passengers that we’d need to deplane and go to gate C41 as that was where the plane going to IAD was boarding!  So, we had to hike a considerable distance (especially for this senior citizen with some mobility problems) to the new gate.  However, to the credit of WN, those of on the inbound flight were allowed to board after those needed pre-boarding, but before those already lined-up for the flight.  However, I had to find that out from a fellow passenger, and not from any WN announcement.  Unacceptable.  Yes, there were already passengers lined-up for this different aircraft.  So, this didn’t look like a last-minute change.  Or, was it?  If you’re going to have a change of planes, be honest about it!  If it’s planned in advance, say so at the beginning!  If it’s a last-minute change, tell all your passengers ASAP!  And, not at the last minute!  There was no mention of this change when I checked my phone before leaving for the LAS airport.  And, there was also no apology for the change of planes made to us inbound passengers.  Also, this new flight was 21 minutes late in pushback from the gate at DEN (At least it wasn’t 9F degrees and snowing this time!), making us late into IAD.  The A+ on this evaluation is for the DEN-IAD cabin crew.  While both of the forward FA’s were the cheerful and friendly as usually expected on WN, one of them had to “protect/defend” the area of the forward lav/cockpit door while the captain was in that area (restroom break)  when a possibly inebriated passenger (He was swaying quite a bit!) made his way towards the area while one FA was blocking his path.  He (much larger male) kept approaching and she had to get quite demonstrative that she was prepared to “deal” with him if he continued his approach. At about row three (I was in 5C), he finally got the message and turned around.  In the 45 years since my first commercial flight (9/17/65 IAD-LHR on a TWA B707-331), this was the first time I’d seen an FA have to do what they’re supposed to do in the first place: Ensure the safety of the passengers!  When I complemented her later on what I’d observed, she initially brushed it off as if it happened every day.  If that’s the case, I pity the FA’s for a task more thankless than I’d previously thought.  I’m contacting WN about her performance.    Airport experiences:  If you’re renting a car at LAS, allow at least an extra hour besides your drive to “the airport” for the return.  The car rental facility at LAS is located a considerable distance off-site from the airport itself and after you get your car checked-in, you’ll still have to hike through the building, stand outside, wait, and endure a long bus ride to the terminal through local (non-airport) traffic.  The TSA experience at LAS was slightly less intimidating than that at IAD.  The layover at SJC allowed me to have a leisurely lunch.  However, when I used to fly regularly (3-4 times a year before 9/11), some airports made a point of their concessions having prices comparable to the locality.  Either SJC isn’t one of these or restaurants in the area are expensive!  (Maybe that's why Chick-Fil-A had such a long line?)   Overall evaluation: C- /D+  The professionalism of the FA on the DEN-IAD flight in her readiness to defend the cockpit area of flight 1465 is what kept this from being an F+ evaluation.  Had it not been for the CF at DEN on what was supposed to be a no change of plane trip, this would’ve been an A-/B+.  Like too many businesses, WN needs to learn the benefits of prompt and honest communication with customers when SHTF.  Reasonable customers know things occasionally go wrong.  And, reasonable businesses realize that they need to communicate quickly and honestky with customers.  And, make amends.  Having the inbound (from SJC) passengers on this flight board ahead of the DEN origin passengers went a long way with me on this.  The cheerfulness/friendliness of the cabin crews on the IAD-DEN, SJC-DEN, and DEN-IAD also brought up the score.  As a result, despite the lessons I’ve had in trust and forgiveness (courtesy of my ex-wife) and the honesty/forthrightness of WN (see above about flight 1465 on 11/5), I plan to give WN another try.  And, sooner than the 11 years since my last flight!  ... 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I flew JB once R/T IAD-LGB, a service no longer available, alas.  In some aspects, it reminded me of SWA... ... View more

i'm impressed!  Kudos to the FA!   However, I'm very surprised at a business booking >1 employee on the same flight.  A former employer of mine had a strict rule forbidding more than one employee flying on the same flight.  They also had a "No DCA" rule.  Once, to get back early from a meeting, our Chief Engineer of the era and I both got written-up for busting both of these rules! ... View more

Rick,   With all due respect, if either I or the company I just retired from after almost 36 years of service, expected our customers to "roll with the punches", it's improbable that we would've celebrated our 120th anniversary last year.   The U.S. domestic airline business has changed much since "deregulation".  And, not much for the better from either the customer (passenger) or employee perspective.  For one thing, the tarmac is littered with the cremains of not just legacy carriers unwilling/unable to adapt; but the memories of "post deregulation knockouts"..  Carriers that tried entry but for a variety of factors, didn't survive.  And, there are the carriers which fell victim to the business dictum of "if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em".  As a result, there are fewer long-haul carriers now than perhaps the 1950's.  The absence of competition on too many routes has increased fares (except where "The Southwest Effect" applies) , lowered service standards, and depressed compensation for employees.      That is why when I travel overseas, it'll likely be on a foreign flag carrier.  And, what I liked about Virgin America.  The employees seemed to value the customer.  It was probably the closest we'll ever see to a foreign flag carrier flying domestic U.S. routes.   Maybe I was Blessed where I worked because we had a customer-centric culture.  What was best for the customer was at the heart of our decision-making.  Our organizational charts were "hub and spoke", with the customer at the center.  Then again, our competitors referred to us as "the asylum designed and operated by the inmates"!                    ... View more

Hi,   I want to thank everyone for their answers and encouragement.   I've willingly flown only once since then, in 2010.  Had a great trip.  But, that airline was acquired not too long ago by another airline.  Their customer service was outstanding.  But, their corporate existence was fought by competitors from its founding because of ownership and management.  Perhaps they feared the customer service one of its owners is renowned for?  The trip in 2013 was compelled due to a family situation.   As for the incident in 2008, I got to see the door being shut on what was supposed to be my LAS-IAD flight!  This was a RNO-LAS-IAD routing which ended-up being  RNO-LAS-BWI instead.  With the original routing, I would've been at home by 10:30 PM that night.  Instead, I got home at 3:00 AM as I live 70+ miles from BWI.  Imagine trying to get a taxi at almost 1 AM at BWI with a driver willing to take a fare to Northern Virginia!   BTW, I live under the downwind of 19L at IAD.  Between the way I was treated by that airline's representatives at LAS and BWI (and at IAD where I had to go to pickup my suitcase after putting in a day at work  (There was room on the original plane for my suitcase.  But, not for me!  I guess either the ramp people at LAS cared more about customers than customer service in the terminal did.  Or, freight was more important than people.), and being sent 70+ miles away when I live about 8 miles from IAD, it left quite an impression.  But, as we say in the business I just retired from, 'Customers give you one chance to make a bad impression.  Don't make it.'  As for the airline, while they are supposedly "legendary" for customer service, I didn't see it that day.  So, I'm taking a chance.  Perhaps it's not "fair" to judge an industry by one horrific experience with one business.  But, it happens in cable all the time!  If this flight goes well, I'll might try flying again.  There are a couple of places in Europe I'd like to go to next year.  I realize much has changed for the airline passenger "experience" since my first trip in 1965.  So, I'll see what happens and share with this forum how this trip with Southwest goes.   Thanks for letting me share. ... View more