Southwest Airlines Community

Anotherview: You insist on a reliance upon facts, but you state flatly that 99% of FAA-mandated inspections were performed properly. How do you know? Please explain why 8% (44 of 525, give or take) of the fleet was grounded, if SWA was 99% compliant. ... View more

The issue is clearly transparency. I praised y'all for sponsoring robust threads. It proves y'all are intelligent. It does not prove your interest in safety. It does not prove your intent. There really is no, single, way of proving intent. The only way is to be as fully transparent as humanly possible. This is shown over a series of releases. I previously asked about the maintenance logs. Why can't they be produced for full public viewing? If there is no "there" there, what is the problem? Failure to produce the logs necessarily casts doubt upon your actions before and after the disclosure that the FAA fined y'all. Why can't you, Brian, take some of the direct questions posted on your site to those with direct responsibility? I already know the answer....liability concerns. Well, my friend, too bad. If your story/answer is legitimate and tends to exonerate y'all, you need to shout it loud and proud with full authority. Show us the nitty gritty details. Do not be a gatekeeper and describe them for us. Others have mentioned that you have had your defenders in the media. One gentleman from Denver, MIchael Boyd, was steadfast in his defense of y'all. He acknowledged that he didn't have the specific data, but that your record is excellent. Why not make ALL the relevant data available so that he can declare with authority that Southwest has acted properly throughout? By your own accounts, you have declared that all remedial inspections have been performed. There is no longer any pressing imperative. Y'all can devote a ton of energy explaining all of this. The actual operational "crisis" has passed. I honestly don't know the full truth. No fair-minded outsider can possibly know. But it is on y'all, Brian, to show us your clean hands. ... View more

The good doctor's post above answered one of my concerns - Southwest is going to make the pax pay for their malfeasance. No compensation for mechanical cancellations? Seriously? I have since wondered how senior management failed its division managers, particularly the maintenance division. What was it about the executive leadership that caused those responsible for the equipment to cut corners and to withold reports? These people just decided to be lazy and treacherous? My money says undue pressure was brought to bear and that communication was deliberately obfuscated. From where does a culture like this emanate? The CEO. You may be personally committed to the values so many espouse, Mr. Kelly, but you failed to impart this commitment to your people. The failure here is simply too great for you to remain in your position. If you really do walk the Southwest values, and not just talk them, you'll take ownership. ... View more

Would you, Paula, care to retract these words from your previous post: "We assure you that this issue never compromised the safety of our fleet. " As much as I would like to believe your CEO as to the commitment to safety, it seems to me an at least equal consideration is PR management. At this point, you have zero choice but to be proactive. If you aren't, and a whistle blower goes public about a negative finding internally, you know full well that you'll lose tens of millions. It is sad that your pax will now be made to more than they would have had your company acted more responsibly in the first place. I would be most interested in hearing how your company plans to eat the greater costs instead of passing them on to the most loyal clientele in the industry. ... View more

First, kudos for publishing the negative posts in this thread. Good on ya. Now, it seems to me a simple matter to pull the maintenance logs of the equipment cited in the NYT and other articles. Were there cracks? If there were, were they signed off by FAA inspectors? You do not cite any specific violations in your post, other than "missed inspection areas." Well, Paula, if the cracks were detected, these areas weren't "missed," were they? Have there been instances where found cracks were ignored as the article(s) allege, or is all of this bookeeping/administrative insufficiencies? Finally, would you kindly outline the procedures in place that prevent(ed) any further problems for which you are paying a multi-million dollar fine? Perhaps an anecdote or three as to how these new protocols prevented sub-nominal equipment from flying could be included? Thank you. ... View more

Why on earth should a free companion ticket ever merit an A pass? You want to fly free, you fly in steerage. As I read the horror stories of those who board with all manner of baby/kid apparatus, I was struck by something - where are the vaunted bestest FA crews as these people struggle and smack their fellow pax? Why aren't the FAs assisting these folks by carrying some of the bulky items? Don't you dare cite safety - the plane ain't going nowhere, nohow, until the door is closed. Question for whomever - was guaranteed overhead space considered as a perk? I can live with some indignities, but if I can't place my regulation carry-on in the overhead compartment near my seat, the airline cannot carry me on a future flight. ... View more

If the families are heck bent on "staying together" and are up in arms over potential A-/B+ boarding status, perhaps you could accommodate them and keep the rest of us happy. I propose that any family who wants to pre-board MUST go to the very back of the plane, and MUST cluster themselves so that no seats are wasted. Also, ZERO use of ANY overhead bin excepting those immediately above the families. One benefit is closer access to the lavatory. If this is truly about being together, a family would take this deal in a heartbeat. I can't imagine that the folks who have objected to the family pre-boarding would be anything but pleased. ... View more

Thank you, Capt. Ray. This was the best response I have ever received on any corporate travel communications entity. Kudos to Southwest, as well! I would have bet at least the cost of a round trip to a destination of choice that my post would never see the light of day, let alone that I would receive a response from you. Without a question of any doubt, I will choose Southwest if y'all offer service to whatever destination(s) my travels necessitate. Cheers! ... View more

So, Capt. Ray, could you please tell us of any occasion where you pulled away from a gate and were stuck on a tarmac because WN wouldn't give you a gate to disembark your pax? To anyone at WN: what is corporate policy as to maximum wait times after pulling away from a gate and delayed departure? What is the longest time allowed on a tarmac? ... View more