Southwest Airlines Community

HERE'S A SIMPLE AND EASY SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM:  When a passenger asks for a pre-boarding pass, the agent should ask him or her if they need physical assistance getting down the jetway?   If not, then simply ask them to go ahead and board with their group.  Interestingly, I experienced this being done in Denver several months ago.  I was not well at the time and asked the agent at the gate for a pre-boarding pass just to test it to see how easily this could be done.  The agent asked me this question which I thought was courteous but also direct and to the point.  I had to admit that, no, I would not have any trouble making my way down the jetway.  I honestly thought that Southwest must be training their gate agents to ask this question.  However, subsequently I have seen the same long lineup of people pre-boarding who look like the picture of health.  There will always be people who are not truthful when asked this question.  But most will respond like I did and board with their group.  ... View more

I read the The Air Carrier Access Act and I cannot find anything that REQUIRES an airline to offer preboarding.  They have to accommodate those with disabilities but nothing says they have to give them seating priority over passengers who have paid for it.  Maybe a solution to this is that pre-boarders should NOT be allowed to sit in the first ten rows and the exit rows (with the one exception of those whose disability requires them to sit in the bulkhead row).  This might help to stem the tide of faux pre-boarders.   What do you think Southwest? ... View more

An earlier post by the airline said that the law they were abiding by was not the ADA but the  Air Carrier Access Act.  Maybe I am wrong about this, but I assume that it is the airline's choice to offer preboarding.  There is no law that REQUIRES the airline to offer preboarding to passengers,  and certainly it doesn't require them to let someone accompany the person who has a disability.  When a privilege is abused in life, it usually gets taken away.  It would be unfortunate for the airline to have to rescind this gracious privilege that Southwest offers, but it has gotten out of hand.  No one begrudges early boarding for people who are TRULY disabled.  But any frequent flier will tell you the same tales of obvious abuse that you've heard on this blog.  And again, I can guarantee you that passengers will vote with their feet and go to other airlines.   ... View more

It’s almost too easy to say “we care” isn’t it?   If SW really cares about what every frequent flyer recognizes as the abuse of the preboarding privilege, then you should do something about it.  I've haven't read the law you sight which says you cannot question a person about why they need to preboard, but I do know that I cannot park in a handicap parking spot just because I want to be close to the store entrance.  I can only park there if I have a handicap sticker (which I don't).  If I abuse this privilege, the local police are very happy to award me with a $500 parking violation.  If I rent a vacation home months in advance and for health reasons have to later cancel it, I have to show a doctor’s excuse or something similar.  It’s a little bit hard for me to imagine that you cannot have some requirement like proof of a handicap or a doctor’s excuse in order to gain the privilege of boarding ahead of people who have actually paid for that privilege.  Like others have said, at some point your good customers (A-list and A-list Preferred) are going to start opting for other airlines.  ... View more