Wow. Listening to all the negative comments really dissappoints me. I am a longtime flight attendant for Southwest, and I love my job, I love the people I work with and I love the opportunity to meet and get to know all our "loyal" Southwest customers. While I have worked here (18 years)I have watched our company work hard to listen and respond to not only our customers but its dedicated employees also. Yes, our " everyone on the same playing field 24 hour in advance" was a great system, but it didnt always serve everyone as equally as you may think.You have no idea how often I hear customers ask for an alternative to the 24 hour checkin option. There was the same apprehension prior to the Business Select program and I have not witnessed the displacement I hear bloggers speak of here. Many of our longtime customers love the idea. Yes this is also a revenue generating opportunity, and can you really begrudge it in this current economical environment? Gouging? really? Its 10 dollars . (and the bag charge is for the THIRD bag. )I understand that everyone else is trying to make ends meet, but is your other option really another airline? REALLY? have you flown them lately? I have, and I think after one flight youd remember why you do fly SWA.As much as I appreciate my flight attendent sisters and brothers at other airlines- We are special.I suppose my disappointment is that as employees on the front line we work very hard to give you the best experience possible and Im confident that your choices for a carrier take that in consideration. Are you forgetting that? We're just trying to remain viable like everyone else and provide choices as well. There will ALWAYS be people checking in at the gate that will remain in the C group, and as flight attendants we always do all we can to help families stay together. It is also not our policy to prevent one from saving a seat for a family member that got stuck in a later boarding group. I look forward to continue to meet our loyal customers , and invite you to wait this program through to see how you like it before you form an opinion- I trust my company will do the right thing. PLease remember this in only my opinion based on my experience and I dont speak for SWA, but I also consistantly watch 95% of our passengers leave our aircraft satisfied- (in spite of some of the lavs 😉
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