2 weeks ago
2 weeks ago
Actually, after re-reading Aviator A's post, he did mean the 10th was Southwest's third busiest day at AUS. I wonder where the 11th ranked.
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2 weeks ago
2 weeks ago
Arrgh, it seems that you had a worse experience than I did. I'm sorry to hear that.
I'm not sure that Southwest learned from the experiences on 10 April and applied them to 11 April. I suspect that there were many more people flying the previous day than the day I flew.
On the other hand, a person who seemed to know, commented that the 11th was the third busiest day at AUS. Perhaps he meant the 10th was the third busiest day.
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Twelve million, three hundred and forty-five thousand, six hundred and seventy-eight passengers (more but likely less 😉 flew out of Austin yesterday. They had been there for the eclipse. What could have been a GIANT CLUSTERF*CK, and I mean a truly GIANT one, was instead a well-corralled, reasonably fast moving operation.
Kudos to Southwest!
Give all those who worked out yesterday a bonus, a meaningful bonus!
I don't know how many passengers Southwest handled yesterday, but in front of the check-in counters there were 5 possibly 6 lines of people: two TSA lines, at least 2 check-in lines, and one double width line just for people wanting to go past the Southwest counters. It was wall-to-wall people, all with luggage, of course. The Southwest check-in lines stretched twice as long as the width of the Southwest check-in counters, over into the next building. And, next to the terminal doors, all the lines had to break periodically to allow people to get into or out of the terminal. There were probably 30 people with flags answering questions, starting and stopping lines, pointing people to the right lane, etc. And they all knew what they were doing, knew what the other employees were doing, and were pleasant beyond reason.
Kudos to Southwest!
There were so many flights that Southwest had to hold planes on the tarmac until a gate became available. I suspect that American, Alaska and Delta had as many extra planes as did Southwest. You know how planes stop at the end of the runway before taking off? Well, not yesterday. They blew around that last corner, one set of wheels off the runway and applied full power even before the turn was complete! OK, OK, I exaggerate 😉 The taxiing, the takeoff, the flight, and the landing were exactly as I like them to be: boring.
Kudos to Southwest!
P.S. When I suggested that Southwest give a bonus to the employees who worked yesterday, I meant it. Had things gone south (southwest?) I would probably not have flown Southwest until the memory of that disaster had faded. Years, probably.
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