I started flying Southwest Airlines about 3 years ago out of Midway for business when SWA began targeting business flyers. I fly just about every week of the year and 95% of it is on SWA flights-I spend over $16,000/year on airfares. I have many choices of carriers flying out Chicago, but I choose SWA because of its customer service levels and on time arrival history and have been recommending it to friends and co-workers, but at this point I don't think I can do that anymore. Over the past year, SWA on time departures and arrivals have been horrendous on my regular flights between MDW and PHL. I'm writing this blog as I sit at MDW while my flight is over 3 hours delayed (flt 1073). The worst part is that I get no impression that anyone within SWA seems to care that this flight is delayed over 3 hours. As a business flyer, on time performance is the most critical metric I care about, especially if it causes more time away from my family and friends. Because this is my third correspondence within 12 months with SWA about poor flight time performance I have to consider looking for another carrier that can get in and out of both Chicago and Philadelphia on more consistent basis. I would advise you look into this issue before you lose additional business travelers.
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