Southwest Airlines Community

I find this all very disappointing as a customer that falls somewhere in between the too big and too small. The blog post yesterday in response to Kevin Smith's Twitter updates was unprofessional. Using the excuse that his tweets were full of obscenities is not an acceptable excuse. He was angry, hurt, inconvenienced, and embarrassed. Having received the sort of treatment from the staff of ANY company in a service industry that both he AND the young lady on his eventual flight home received, I'm not sure I wouldn't have reacted in the same manner. Today's blog post is not much better, it barely contains an apology and the tone is patronizing and condescending. As has been posted numerous times already, just because a policy has been around for 25 years doesn't make it right. More to the point, though, it seems as though the enforcement of this 'policy' is completely subjective. It is worded as having a measurable metric for pass/fail and yet that is not being consistently followed. This is a failure on the side of SWA and its employees, NOT the customers. As for all the 'skinnies'' speaking for ALL in that group (or in the non-People of Size group, if you prefer), I ask that you please speak for yourself. I'm more than capable of speaking for myself and don't need your bigotry reflecting negatively upon me. If you are so inconvenienced by the people you are seated near (solely for their size), rather than humiliate them so that YOU can be comfortable might I suggest that YOU purchase two seats? Then you won't have anything to worry about when you travel (other than the effect your hate-mongering has on those subjected to your presence). I agree with other posters that I've been inconvenienced more frequently by sick children, ill-behaving children with inattentive parents who seem to think it acceptable for their child to kick the back of the seat in front of them repeatedly, heavily perfumed women, the hygienically challenged, the recliners who have tried to cut off the circulation in my legs (and at 5'7" it isn't like I'm statuesque), and other discourteous passengers than I have by someone being too large for their seat. I've never been a fan of SWA to begin with since I'm not a fan of being treated like cattle regardless of how little I paid for my flight's ticket. The contradictions I've seen here in response to this particular issue (and how it contrasts to your 'LUV' program~which now seems to pertain to only a select portion of your client base) have cemented my opinion of your airline. Customers are customers and ALL should be treated with dignity and respect. It does not appear to me that this is a policy that SWA values. That being the case, I won't be choosing to fly your airline in the future and will discourage any friends from making the mistake of flying with a company who shows such poor consideration for their customers. For those of you who cheer that those of us that are choosing not to continue to support such inequity of treatment towards customers by taking our money elsewhere leaves more room for you, I seriously hope that you (or one of your loved ones) never find yourself in a situation where you fall into a category that is belittled and mocked by others, it is not a good feeling, BUT maybe it would teach you the importance of the Golden Rule. We are all in this together and a little kindness and empathy go a long way. SWA, Linda, et al, I kindly request that you take this opportunity for some serious introspection and use it as a chance to improve your system rather than to blindly support it at the expense of your customers. ... View more

I find this all very disappointing as a customer that falls somewhere in between the too big and too small. The blog post yesterday in response to Kevin Smith's Twitter updates was unprofessional. Using the excuse that his tweets were full of obscenities is not an acceptable excuse. He was angry, hurt, inconvenienced, and embarrassed. Having received the sort of treatment from the staff of ANY company in a service industry that both he AND the young lady on his eventual flight home received, I'm not sure I wouldn't have reacted in the same manner. Today's blog post is not much better, it barely contains an apology and the tone is patronizing and condescending. As has been posted numerous times already, just because a policy has been around for 25 years doesn't make it right. More to the point, though, it seems as though the enforcement of this 'policy' is completely subjective. It is worded as having a measurable metric for pass/fail and yet that is not being consistently followed. This is a failure on the side of SWA and its employees, NOT the customers. As for all the 'skinnies'' speaking for ALL in that group (or in the non-People of Size group, if you prefer), I ask that you please speak for yourself. I'm more than capable of speaking for myself and don't need your bigotry reflecting negatively upon me. If you are so inconvenienced by the people you are seated near (solely for their size), rather than humiliate them so that YOU can be comfortable might I suggest that YOU purchase two seats? Then you won't have anything to worry about when you travel (other than the effect your hate-mongering has on those subjected to your presence). I agree with other posters that I've been inconvenienced more frequently by sick children, ill-behaving children with inattentive parents who seem to think it acceptable for their child to kick the back of the seat in front of them repeatedly, heavily perfumed women, the hygienically challenged, the recliners who have tried to cut off the circulation in my legs (and at 5'7" it isn't like I'm statuesque), and other discourteous passengers than I have by someone being too large for their seat. I've never been a fan of SWA to begin with since I'm not a fan of being treated like cattle regardless of how little I paid for my flight's ticket. The contradictions I've seen here in response to this particular issue (and how it contrasts to your 'LUV' program~which now seems to pertain to only a select portion of your client base) have cemented my opinion of your airline. Customers are customers and ALL should be treated with dignity and respect. It does not appear to me that this is a policy that SWA values. That being the case, I won't be choosing to fly your airline in the future and will discourage any friends from making the mistake of flying with a company who shows such poor consideration for their customers. For those of you who cheer that those of us that are choosing not to continue to support such inequity of treatment towards customers by taking our money elsewhere leaves more room for you, I seriously hope that you (or one of your loved ones) never find yourself in a situation where you fall into a category that is belittled and mocked by others, it is not a good feeling, BUT maybe it would teach you the importance of the Golden Rule. We are all in this together and a little kindness and empathy go a long way. SWA, Linda, et al, I kindly request that you take this opportunity for some serious introspection and use it as a chance to improve your system rather than to blindly support it at the expense of your customers. ... View more