A quick note to Southwest

[Hootie9750]

Okay first off, this is not flame, go back and read my my other posts over the years at flightinfo, This is not brown-nosing any Southwest pilots (I fly freight and I don't have an hour of TPIC), there is plenty of spelling errors, I just had to get this off my chest.


Southwest Airlines,

I love you. I wish Southwest Airlines flew into every city in the entire country. Every time I, or a friend or family member fly on anybody else I am reminded how much better Southwest Airlines is than everybody else. After myself and a friend flew on another airline yesterday it seems as if they were trying to do everything opposite of Southwest. Lost bags, crotchety ticket counter agents, lost my friends e-ticket (for an hour, how is that even possible) having us miss the flight, then the rebook was late, then more crotchety employees, and then the lost bags, waiting for 30 minutes to talk to customer service on the phone, etc, etc. Southwest has ALWAYS gotten me where I need to go on the same day. Everybody is friendly. From the pilots to the gate agents to the ticket counter. Flying Southwest I have never lost a bag, I am able to print a boarding pass at home, and when I call, I talk to a REAL person right away. Anyway I just wanted to say how much I appreciate the lack of headaches when I fly Southwest. I plan on writing a better written letter to the actual company, and instead of flying other airlines direct to where I need to go, I will just do what works the fastest and easiest, flying Southwest, then renting a car and driving the remaining 1-4 hours.

Thanks!

 

[TurboS7]

That is what LUV is all about........

 

[chase]

Hootie,

Thanks for the kind words....Southwest isn't perfect, we do lose bags, have to involuntarily bump folks & we have the occasional employee who may not give the type service we're known for....hopefully those continue to be rare events & your experiences continue to be the norm. We're all fortunate who work here to realize the market place is changing dramatically & Southwest needs to continue to do the things you described even more consistently or else folks like yourself will go other places. We're working on making the experience even better but your words of encouragement are greatly appreciated. Cheers,

 

[puddlejumper101]

i can share this...I am not quite to Southwest yet...waiting on a class date...but what little I do know is I have never witnessed a place where everyone from the chief pilot to the most junior ramper absolutely loves and respects their company. I have talked to everyone I could and have yet to find anyone that did not, at least, respect their company. In today's environment...that means everything. The People Dept. of Southwest should be modeled by all companies...it's all about attitude...and the job they have done is awesome. I am not even there yet and already believe that what they do works. Nothing in life is perfect...but everything in life is what you make of it.

 

[TheBaron]

Okay first off, this is not flame, go back and read my my other posts over the years at flightinfo, This is not brown-nosing any Southwest pilots (I fly freight and I don't have an hour of TPIC), there is plenty of spelling errors, I just had to get this off my chest.


Southwest Airlines,

I love you. I wish Southwest Airlines flew into every city in the entire country. Every time I, or a friend or family member fly on anybody else I am reminded how much better Southwest Airlines is than everybody else. After myself and a friend flew on another airline yesterday it seems as if they were trying to do everything opposite of Southwest. Lost bags, crotchety ticket counter agents, lost my friends e-ticket (for an hour, how is that even possible) having us miss the flight, then the rebook was late, then more crotchety employees, and then the lost bags, waiting for 30 minutes to talk to customer service on the phone, etc, etc. Southwest has ALWAYS gotten me where I need to go on the same day. Everybody is friendly. From the pilots to the gate agents to the ticket counter. Flying Southwest I have never lost a bag, I am able to print a boarding pass at home, and when I call, I talk to a REAL person right away. Anyway I just wanted to say how much I appreciate the lack of headaches when I fly Southwest. I plan on writing a better written letter to the actual company, and instead of flying other airlines direct to where I need to go, I will just do what works the fastest and easiest, flying Southwest, then renting a car and driving the remaining 1-4 hours.

Thanks!

Probably true, if you only count US flagged carriers. International is an entirely different ball game and expected level of service.

P.S. Avon makes a product that will fade those brown spots from your nose.

 

[Coool Hand Luke]

P.S. Avon makes a product that will fade those brown spots from your nose.

Funny, they look like Canyon Blue spots to me.

 

[Stifler's Mom]

Sounds like a great cover letter.

 

[jtrain609]

I want to second what Hootie said. I recently got hired to fly Chieftains out in southern California and when I had a weekend off of training I went to non rev from Burbank up to Oakland. This was my first time trying to jumpseat anywhere, and the two southwest crews I ran into were absolutely excellent. Both captains were excellent and helped me along with the whole process of trying to get on board when I told them it was my first time trying to non rev. From the gate agents to the captain and first officer to the flight attendents, I think I got treated better on those two flights than I have on most flights when I'm a paying passanger.

Thanks guys/gals!

 

[grog_sit_reserv]

Now if they'd only listen to the ramp tower in Vegas, I'd love 'em too. Hehehe

 

[AA717driver]

I want to second what Hootie said. I recently got hired to fly Chieftains out in southern California and when I had a weekend off of training I went to non rev from Burbank up to Oakland. This was my first time trying to jumpseat anywhere, and the two southwest crews I ran into were absolutely excellent. Both captains were excellent and helped me along with the whole process of trying to get on board when I told them it was my first time trying to non rev. From the gate agents to the captain and first officer to the flight attendents, I think I got treated better on those two flights than I have on most flights when I'm a paying passanger.

Thanks guys/gals!

Yeah, but how would you know any different? Those guys could have been flaming A$$holes and you wouldn't have anything to compare it to.

Now, if you want a REAL jumpseating experience, jump on AA from LA to DFW. Warm-fuzzies abound! TC

P.S.--Tell those AA agents I said hi! :bomb:

 

[YourPilotFriend]

While I can say right now Southwest is the friendliest airline around, in no way is it any comparison to what the legacy airlines used to be; It's not even in the ballpark. I have so many fond memories of when my parnets worked for the legacy airlines back in the day. Nothing I have seen in this industry toady is even close to what it used to be.

 

[skiandsurf]

I also think that SWA does a "good" job of getting you from point A to point b, in a very cheap, and efficient way. But I have also seen the TV show "Airline" on the Discovery Channel (maybe another channel). They do seem to piss off there share of passengers. I have seen a family of 8 get denied boarding of there way to a cruise, for overbooking. A lady was going to be denied boarding for the last flight of the night and she wouldnt be able to get home to her kids, overbooked flight.

I realize that the show is going to show the worst of the worst, but the trash that they haul, its like watching "Cops" or "Americas Most Wanted". Where do they get their passengers? Well I guess with $49 tickets, most every single wide dweller has "The Freedom to Move about The Country".

(Did you see the guy that was wearing a kilt with no "shorts" underneath......classic SWA.)

 

[Falconjet]

Arts and Entertainment (A&E) is the network. Lots of emphasis on the entertainment, not so much on the arts.

FJ

 

[canyonblue737]

While I can say right now Southwest is the friendliest airline around, in no way is it any comparison to what the legacy airlines used to be; It's not even in the ballpark. I have so many fond memories of when my parnets worked for the legacy airlines back in the day. Nothing I have seen in this industry toady is even close to what it used to be.

That may be true. I will say SWA has in general (there are exceptions everywhere) the nicest, friendliest employees from pilots, to FAs, to dispatchers, to reservation agents, rampers, gate agents, CPs... everyone. They love their company and they love the job and that makes ALL the difference.

Thanks for the kind words.

 

[scoreboard]

Now if they'd only listen to the ramp tower in Vegas, I'd love 'em too. Hehehe

Theres a ramp tower in Vegas??

Seriously, we listen, we just don't sit with our thumbs up our butt hoping for them to get around to letting us taxi 50 feet to our gate. Vegas, land of work projects.

 

[grog_sit_reserv]

Yeah, Vegas does blow, thanks for the rides though boys and girls. Only hope we treat you as well as you treat us.

 

[canyonblue]

Yeah Only hope we treat you as well as you treat us.

The times I used America West to bypass a DH out of PHX and LAS it was a great experience EVERY time. AW treated me awsome EVERY time, thanks again.

 

[Flydaplane]

Yeah, I just wish they'd drop the PIC turbine back to 1,000 hrs...I've got 1100 and will probably be an FO for.....???

 

[canyonblue]

I have seen a family of 8 get denied boarding of there way to a cruise, for overbooking.

Classic moron moments. Our family went on a cruise this year, and for the second time in three years we bought tickets. We also planned ahead using our brains and flew down the day before. The best, and possibly only thing to come out of that show was that the people with common sense who watched that show would tell me "what kind of morons are these people". They were usually people that were seasoned flyers who loved Southwest. The ones without common sense would ask "why didn't they give them a free ticket when they showed up late and missed their flight?". They were the ones who would say the probably would not fly Southwest after seeing that. So I think the show worked in that respect, good luck with all the eight balls coming your way.

 

[no1pilot2000]

I have flown several different airlines. I don't care how successful SWA is, they are mostly HYPE with the gimics and BS!! I have flown SWA to several of their cities to see what the LUV is all about. LUV is mainly a catchy little slogan that the airline uses to lure people to the airline. SWA talks about how much their employees LUV their jobs, but observing the Customer service reps at the ticket counters to the gate agents, you'd be suprised to see many unhappy faces.