I've never written a comment on a blog, and I've never written a letter (negative or positive) about how I felt treated or mistreated by a company. I just saw the Nightline segment about the Southwest SNAFU, and I immediately went to their website to find out who I could contact about it. I was surprised and delighted to find a blog link! Awesome...I can say what I want w/o doing so elequently.
I can't fly Southwest anymore....so sad....I live in Hawaii, on Maui. Thank God they finally have a partner here now. I thought I could tell immediately when they partnered....there was an airline in HI w/ aloha spirit. And no, it wasn't "Aloha Airlines." Love ya, GO! Airlines. Way to make it fun flying inter-island. I don't know if, in fact, they partnered w/ GO!, but I feel like it's in the SouthWest spirit. They did, I hear, partner w/ ATA. Now that's a lot of work ahead of Southwest. I can't stand ATA. But that's what I end up flying out of HI, mostly.
When I go to the mainland, and I have to book another flight somewhere (b/c my family is on the East Coast), I pray that it'll end up being a Southwest flight. I hope that it's the least expensive, b/c I know that's what I'll be looking for. I know if it's Southwest, I'll sit down in the chairs and let the donkeys stand in line to be the first on the plane....or the 10th or the 40th. I know that no matter where I get to sit, I'll be smiled at (genuinely) by the flight attendants and won't be smirked or glared at if I ask for water when they're not in the middle of beverage service. I know if I walk to the back of the plane to stretch my legs, I won't be stink-eyed, like I've interrupted some oh-so-important conversation. I'll be included in the gossip of the lives of people in the most recent airport. I've been flying and traveling for over 20 years, and this is my favorite airline by far.
That said, safety concerns.....call me naive, but I can't imagine a company that puts such care & concern into its culture....that makes me love them even though there's not a chance I can rest on their flights (b/c there's always too much fun in the back......or they've found out that SOMEBODY's having a birthday or something)....that has such a GREAT safety record previously.....is really going to RISK IT ALL w/ oversights that are potentially fatal. I just don't buy it. I wonder what motivated "exposers" are hiding in the background. IT'S A FLIPPING PLANE! Can you IMAGINE what nuts & bolts, etc, aren't being checked on a regular basis with ALL of the planes, or trains, or cars or bikes? I'm not being sarcastic. Seriously! Planes are scary by their nature....if there's a crash, just think about how many minutes you have to think about your potential death. But that doesn't mean that they're more likely to cause deaths! When's the last time you checked the air pressure on your tires? When's the last time you put a helmet on when you ride your bike? (OK that's not fair, I live in Hawaii, and you probably don't, and it's "weird" if you wear a helmet here...even on a motorcycle.)
OK, I'm done.....this is probably not the point of "blogging", b/c "blog" makes it sound like it should be short...like "BLAHHOG"--- a quick vomit or something. Anyway, I won't be back to check to see any sort of hateful responses from the bored or overzealous, but if you feel super strongly about anything I've written in my novella, you can e-mail me at jenkru@juno.com.
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