Although I'm sure Southwest is genuinely sorry for the situation, Linda Rutherford's response seems more an attempt to recover from the public relations nightmare this incident has become. Despite Southwest's dire wishes, this matter simply will not go away. It is now spreading to blog after blog, being talked about in social media circles, and being saved and pointed to as an object lesson in the role of social media in the modern age.
The fundamental fact is that Southwest does not apply their policy with any consistency. While their size policy may be 25 years old, it has only been actively enforced within the past decade. I was a frequent flyer with Southwest for over a decade, and when this rule started being enforced from out of obscurity, I stopped patronizing Southwest. I'm a big guy, I admit it. But, I have no problem sitting in a seat with the armrests down and the seatbelt buckled. Nevertheless, I was not going to expose myself to ridicule and embarassment by the clearly appalling inconsistency that Southwest continues to display in applying their size policy.
While Southwest seats are no smaller or larger than any other US domestic carriers on similar aircraft type, Southwest has been consistently challenged in finding a way to apply this policy without embarrassing its larger customers.
I am encouraged that Southwest might actually be conducting a serious review of teh policy and its application, however I would caution their public relations department to be a bit more forthright in posting blogs of this nature and address the matter in a more open and honest manner. A blatant attempt at CYA ultimately does more damage than admitting that perhaps a fundamental mistake might have been made on their part.
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