Southwest Airlines Community

I travel, and have been traveling for 4 years, for a company all across the nation. Most the time I use Southwest to get where I need to go, as the ticketing, boarding and ability to select your own seat makes them superior, in my mind to other airlines. I am a overweight, but have maintained the same weight for the last 4 years and have never had any issues with flying until a similar situation occurred to me three weeks ago leaving Albany, NY. Upon reaching my gate for my early morning flight home, the gate agent came on the loud speaker and announced: "Welcome to Southwest airlines, thank you for flying with us, we will be boarding soon, we are looking at 73 passengers today and 154 seats plenty of room." Not to soon after while sitting waiting to line up for boarding, a gate agent asked me to step aside. He then had me walk over to the nearest Southwest ticket terminal where he proceeded to ask me whether or not I knew what southwest's extra seat policy was, I told him I did not. He then asked me how I normally road on the plain. Not being fully awake, nor being called out on my size in the last 4 years, I had not caught on yet that he was implying that I was to large to fit into one seat. I told him that I normally sit in a window seat somewhere close to the back of the plane. He then asked me if I kept the armrest up or down. I informed him that on full flights I keep the armrest down, but otherwise, as long as no one is sitting next to me, I spread out and enjoy the extra room. Who wouldn't? At this point the gate agent supplied no more rational conversation and informed me that he would be booking me an extra seat. At this moment, I realized that the gate agent had spent the last 5 minutes subtly calling me fat and telling me I couldn't fly home, and proceed to lose my cool. I argued that I had a history with the Airline and have never had a problem before, he apologized for the "lack of constancy" at other airports. I told him that my company would not purchase the additional seat and that I did not have the funds to purchase it on my own. This did not alter his actions. I told him that they just announced that the flight was half full, he stated that this could not guarantee that no one would be sitting next to me. Then finally I restated that this was my return flight and that no one at my home airport, or the airport I transferred through on the way up had made any fuss about my size prior. He finally broke and said that since this was my return flight he would make an exception. Never once did the gate agent ask if I could get my armrest down - which I can, comfortably. I took his full name and employee number, he took my boarding pass information, and I then proceeded to board my flight. Once on the flight, sitting at a window seat in a row all to myself, with my armrest down, I started to try and calm down. No sooner am I settled and trying to move on does yet another gate agent walk onto the aircraft, seeks me out and proceeds to speak with me further on the subject. "I heard about your confrontation out in the terminal." "I see you have your armrest down and that you have plenty of room here, good." "I wanted to give you this print out of Southwest's armrest policy." "I have also checked ahead for your connecting flight in Chicago, and It looks like you will have plenty of room on that flight as well." At this point I feel defeated and that I have nothing left to say. I kindly take the information from the gate agent, so that he will leave and so that I can put the whole ordeal behind me. It was bad enough to be hassled in the terminal. At least the terminal gate agent had enough sense to pull me aside to not humiliate me in public, but then sending another agent onto the plain to talk to me further, this time where there were people all around. Well, after a while it just started to feel like harassment. I came home from that trip with the intention of writing an angry letter to Southwest, complaining about the staff at the Albany Airport. But I didn't. I had to come home and go back to work. I took the approach that I was just one person to a huge corporation and what did it matter. I also assumed that since in the past 4 years it hadn't happened to me anywhere else that It was just the Albany Airport staff, it most likely was not going to happen anywhere else, and I wrote it off. Now I see was wrong in my assumption. Southwest say's that this policy is to help with Safety and Comfort, with this in mind I have the following questions: -Why does the person behind me, who talks for the entire flight, who causes me audible discomfort, not have to purchase an extra seat to distance themselves so that I can no longer hear them? -Why does the person who sits next to me, who has horrible body odor not have to purchase an extra seat so that I can no longer smell them. -Why don't those with long legs, which touch the the seat in front of them, have to purchase an extra seat, since there legs prohibit the person in front of them from laying their seat back fully. Outside of comfort and safety, do you train your employee's that work at the terminal to be able to spot who is capable of fitting into a seat and who is not? Do you have an inner office grading scale? Do you plan in the future to have a typical airline seat at every gate so that obese individuals can sit in and prove that they can get the armrest down before boarding the aircraft? To me the worst part is that within a minute of the announcement that my aircraft was only 50% full, being told I needed to purchase an extra seat. That just screams of greed, not comfort. Southwest, my future with your airline is indeterminate. I will say one thing, you calling me out on my weight was the best motivation I have ever had before, I came home and started dieting immediately, which is great, but not the place of an Airline. ... View more

I travel, and have been traveling for 4 years, for a company all across the nation. Most the time I use Southwest to get where I need to go, as the ticketing, boarding and ability to select your own seat makes them superior, in my mind to other airlines. I am a overweight, but have maintained the same weight for the last 4 years and have never had any issues with flying until a similar situation occurred to me three weeks ago leaving Albany, NY. Upon reaching my gate for my early morning flight home, the gate agent came on the loud speaker and announced: "Welcome to Southwest airlines, thank you for flying with us, we will be boarding soon, we are looking at 73 passengers today and 154 seats plenty of room." Not to soon after, while sitting waiting to line up for boarding, a gate agent asked me to step aside. He then had me walk over to the nearest Southwest ticket terminal where he proceeded to ask me whether or not I knew what southwest's extra seat policy was, I told him I did not. He then asked me how I normally road on the plain. Not being fully awake, nor being called out on my size in the last 4 years, I had not caught on yet that he was implying that I was to large to fit into one seat. I told him that I normally sit in a window seat somewhere close to the back of the plane. He then asked me if I kept the armrest up or down. I informed him that on full flights I keep the armrest down, but otherwise, as long as no one is sitting next to me, I spread out and enjoy the extra room. Who wouldn't? At this point the gate agent supplied no more rational conversation and informed me that he would be booking me an extra seat. At this moment, I realized that the gate agent had spent the last 5 minutes subtly calling me fat and telling me I couldn't fly home, and proceed to lose my cool. I argued that I had a history with the Airline and have never had a problem before, he apologized for the "lack of constancy" at other airports. I told him that my company would not purchase the additional seat and that I did not have the funds to purchase it on my own. This did not alter his actions. I told him that they just announced that the flight was half full, he stated that this could not guarantee that no one would be sitting next to me. Then finally I restated that this was my return flight and that no one at my home airport, or the airport I transferred through on the way up had made any fuss about my size prior. He finally broke and said that since this was my return flight he would make an exception. Never once did the gate agent ask if I could get my armrest down - which I can, comfortably. I took his full name and employee number, he took my boarding pass information, and I then proceeded to board my flight. Once on the flight, sitting at a window seat in a row all to myself, with my armrest down, I started to try and calm down. No sooner am I settled and trying to move on does yet another gate agent walk onto the aircraft, seeks me out and proceeds to speak with me further on the subject. "I heard about your confrontation out in the terminal." "I see you have your armrest down and that you have plenty of room here, good." "I wanted to give you this print out of Southwest's armrest policy." "I have also checked ahead for your connecting flight in Chicago, and It looks like you will have plenty of room on that flight as well." At this point I feel defeated and that I have nothing left to say. I kindly take the information from the gate agent, so that he will leave and so that I can put the whole ordeal behind me. It was bad enough to be hassled in the terminal. At least the terminal gate agent had enough sense to pull me aside to not humiliate me in public, but then sending another agent onto the plain to talk to me further, this time where there were people all around. Well, after a while it just started to feel like harassment. I came home from that trip with the intention of writing an angry letter to Southwest, complaining about the staff at the Albany Airport. But I didn't. I had to come home and go back to work. I took the approach that I was just one person to a huge corporation and what did it matter. I also assumed that since in the past 4 years it hadn't happened to me anywhere else that It was just the Albany Airport staff, it most likely was not going to happen anywhere else, and I wrote it off. Now I see was wrong in my assumption. Southwest say's that this policy is to help with Safety and Comfort, with this in mind I have the following questions: -Why does the person behind me, who talks for the entire flight, who causes me audible discomfort, not have to purchase an extra seat to distance themselves so that I can no longer hear them? -Why does the person who sits next to me, who has horrible body odor not have to purchase an extra seat so that I can no longer smell them. -Why don't those with long legs, which touch the the seat in front of them, have to purchase an extra seat, since there legs prohibit the person in front of them from laying their seat back fully. Outside of comfort and safety, do you train your employee's that work at the terminal to be able to spot who is capable of fitting into a seat and who is not? Do you have an inner office grading scale? Do you plan in the future to have a typical airline seat at every gate so that obese individuals can sit in and prove that they can get the armrest down before boarding the aircraft? To me the worst part is that within a minute of the announcement that my aircraft was only 50% full, being told I needed to purchase an extra seat. That just screams of greed, not comfort. Southwest, my future with your airline is indeterminate. I will say one thing, you calling me out on my weight was the best motivation I have ever had before, I came home and started dieting immediately, which is great, but not the place of an Airline. ... View more