AirlineReporter.com: Showing the LUV. Southwest Crew Orders Pizza for Stranded Passen

[ron burgundy]

My job, as I understand it, is to get the pax SAFELY to their destination. If I can do that then my responsibilities and obligations have been fulfilled! That's what I get paid to do. When the pax are in the terminal I think there is someone else on the payroll that is ..supposed to be... doing their job. I.E. ..redcoats,gate agents,customer service reps ,supervisors,etc. So if they fall short of their obligations, why am I expected to or why should I have to make up for their failure? Not going to do it!.... I know. Teamwork, pride in your company, helping fellow crewmembers because the company treats all of us like crap so we need to stick together. All very valid points. But, when the circus clown cluster, goat rope, rodeo fuch is the norm instead of the exception, I will concentrate on my sole responsibility. Nothing more!

P.S. Any SWA guys feel free to pm me if ya want to walk in my resume. I'm pretty sure that I would be a "shoe in"!

 

[waveflyer]

Keep it up Ron! ;-) well said!
(as long as you don't work for wn)

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

I was hungry. Figured they were too. Wasn't prepared to nail myself to the cross for these people, nor did I need to get in the papers. I did expect some basic human level of decency, the kind a mother teaches a 3 yr old. Say thank you.

I think it is fair to notice a lack of manners, but to expect it might be too much in todays culture....

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Wasn't there a UAL Capt., who was recognized in a newspaper for making customer service announcements at the gates for delays, and also buying food for the entire plane when warranted?

Articles as such only seem to make many of us who provide a high level of customer service more cynical towards the human race in general... sad really.

While the SWA article is IROPS, the photo of the professional pilot serving pizza goes a bit against the grain.... I might have asked the Stews to pass the slices.....

Then there is UAL guy that goes to far and does gate agent duty etc..... one of the problems is, an expectation is created....

On the next event, the pax say, "where is my special treatment, like Mr Cool UAL guy"

 

[SFR]

You guys are all weak, I once diverted a Brasilia into Lawton, OK and a tornado hit the field. Our plane was spun around. We spent the night in the hanger and I ordered pizza and beer for everyone. I even gave all of the women a free orgasm, some mouth and johnson action of course. I let all of the guys watch, that way everyone benefited.

The next day we continued to DFW just after I banged the hot ones again, and all was good. I did not make the news either, but I think I gave 110% and went above and beyond.

I did get the ASA Award of Excellence for that trip, at least I got $1,000 bucks and got to play with the knocker bockers...

 

[Headfake14]

Sooooo...I don't understand why this SWA crew made headlines for buying pizza. We do that ALL the time at JB. And it's not always the crew...our gate agents will do it at out stations/small airports when the flight is severly delayed.

must have been a slow news day.

 

[MILPILOT17]

Sooooo...I don't understand why this SWA crew made headlines for buying pizza. We do that ALL the time at JB. And it's not always the crew...our gate agents will do it at out stations/small airports when the flight is severly delayed.

must have been a slow news day.

In order to answer your own question you would have to read the first post of the thread (including the link) and not skip to the end of the thread and ask a question that is answered in the first post

 

[jehtplane]

I did this at Skywest years ago flying under United Express colors the night southwest went off the end at MDW.. not that uncommon a practice. Pizza delivered.. drink carts emptied.. carry on.. And damn.. I didn't even make the papers...

Same here in CHA, Diverted coming into ATL due to WX.

 

[no1pilot2000]

The important thing is that the crew and airport personnel exercised personal initiative and took good care of the passengers under difficult circumstances. If the crew is from AA, SWA, or any other airline, it's good PR from corporates point of view.

 

[Sluggo_63]

You always hear people complaining about losing the "good 'ol days of flying," but dang, I don't even think airlines of yesteryear did this.

I loved this quote. You mean the airlines of yesteryear that had galleys and hot food? The ones that probably fed their passengers on the way to their destination? That yesteryear? You're right, they probably didn't even need to do this.

 

[SpyFlysDOTs]

Thanks for the laugh SFR.

Wait till you get someone like that UAL capt on your jumpseat, calling your cheif pilot after a 90 min weather delay asking him to authorize pizza for your passengers.

Yeah, we need more Captains like that...

 

[b707guy]

Methinks you addressed your post to the wrong forum, SFR. This is flightinfo.com, not Penthouse Forum from 1978...

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

Yawn......

Can we kill this thread? Every airline has done this, but because it's Southwest, all is good! We get it....the luv.....let's move on to more pertinent stuff like Mesa Sucks and whatnot

 

[BornAgainPagan]

So that is the level of humility it takes to get hired at SWA today?

Obviously, sarcasm is lost on you.

 

[TacoTurbine]

I bought dinner for the peeps in Pueblo following a divert one night too, and it was remarkable for three reasons:

1. Probably one of the few hot meals ever served to pax at Great Lakes Airlines.
2. I actually got reimbursed for it!
3. We got spicy wings too. (the folks passed 'em up and down the isle of the Beechliner enroute to DEN)

Good times.

 

[Scope out RJ's]

Obviously, sarcasm is lost on you.

Apparently from reading all his posts, so is a college education!:laugh::laugh:

 

[GuppyWN]

I'm just getting a kick out of all the "haters" on this thread. Of course everyone does this from time to time. It's just that Southwest is KNOWN for this kind of thing and it's good to see Colorado getting a dose of it.

"Southwest Airlines - Denver's newest second tier hometown airline."

Gup

 

[northstar]

This IS ironic. When I diverted to Pueblo last year, FLowers Aviation bought THE CREW steaks. Filet Mignons if I recall. They were goooood. No BS. Dead serious. I'm sure it's in the check somewhere though.

 

[GuppyWN]

Actually it's not. You buy gas you get steaks. They've done it for decades. It's a way to schmooz the pilots with the credit cards.

Gup

 

[Paul R. Smith]

You guys are all weak, I once diverted a Brasilia into Lawton, OK and a tornado hit the field. Our plane was spun around. We spent the night in the hanger and I ordered pizza and beer for everyone. I even gave all of the women a free orgasm, some mouth and johnson action of course. I let all of the guys watch, that way everyone benefited.

The next day we continued to DFW just after I banged the hot ones again, and all was good. I did not make the news either, but I think I gave 110% and went above and beyond.

I did get the ASA Award of Excellence for that trip, at least I got $1,000 bucks and got to play with the knocker bockers...

REDEMPTION!!!:laugh:

 

[Whataburger]

This IS ironic. When I diverted to Pueblo last year, FLowers Aviation bought THE CREW steaks. Filet Mignons if I recall. They were goooood. No BS. Dead serious. I'm sure it's in the check somewhere though.

Flower Aviation gives out a steak per 500# of fuel if I remember correctly. If you bought fuel, Flower actually shorted you a ton of steaks and cheap champaine. Hopefully one of the gals in short brown shots parked you at least.

 

[pilotyip]

Turns out that JUS was the training ground for this great event, former JUS guy carried his pizza skills over to SWA.

 

[Tristar]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob_Sacamano
Really?!?!?!?!?? It's only happened once.

Unless of course you're not counting BUR.

And about a week before that, they ran off the RAMP in AEX on a military charter. I don't mean cut a corner and put a main in the grass, they ran the whole airplane about 100' into the grass in the fog (in other words, visibility was restricted and they were hauling ass).

They can't stay on the pavement - hardly makes the news. Buy a few pizzas - they are the customer service darlings of the world.

 

[fiel12]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob_Sacamano
Really?!?!?!?!?? It's only happened once.





And about a week before that, they ran off the RAMP in AEX on a military charter. I don't mean cut a corner and put a main in the grass, they ran the whole airplane about 100' into the grass in the fog (in other words, visibility was restricted and they were hauling ass).

They can't stay on the pavement - hardly makes the news. Buy a few pizzas - they are the customer service darlings of the world.

It's not fair! I knew Mom always liked them best.

 

[Capn Mike]

I diverted into SWF before we started service there for a three hour delay at the FBO. One of the ramp guys drove to a local store to pickup some baby formula. I ordered 30 pizzas and we passed them out in the cabin. Most people said thank you, but I did have a couple of people complain that I didn't get anything that was Kosher. You can't always please all the people.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Are we sure the pizza's were intended for the passengers and not the folks in the tower? Sorry couldn't resist - nice to see someone doing the right thing.

 

[knowlimits]

...some mouth and johnson action of course. I let all of the guys watch, that way everyone benefited.

After your mouth was on all those dude's johnsons did they at least thank you?

 

[LUVChild]

I think people are missing the point. For a while now, Southwest has been telling its Employees that with all the social media, iPhones and such, ANY Customer can become a "reporter" of what happens on a flight. They can send out information, and it gets picked up by the formal media very quickly.

SWA has been hit by the bad end of it, as we've seen a couple of times, but this is a time when I think it actually worked in our favor. I doubt Southwest called the Denver newpaper and offered this up as a story. I'm willing to bet it got picked up because some people on the flight Tweeted it, somebody in the media knew one of those passengers, and thus they picked up it up as a "man bites dog"-style story. (Because we're all so used to hearing about how horribly airlines treat passengers in these sorts of situations, this was something seemingly novel.)

Yeah, great for Southwest. And great for our crews - thank you for making SWA look good! But to me, this article also proves that our culture of social media, videophone cameras, and everyone having the ability to be a reporter - can cut both ways.

 

[get2flyin]

Had a flight attendant call up and tell us they had accidentally poured a POT of hot coffee on a passenger. They dabbed her off as best they could and gave her some burn ointment but thankfully, she was a pretty good sport and told them, "no big deal, accidents happen". FA wants to know if we can have a Customer Service Supervisor meet the plane when we land (at our hub). We ACARS the request and call in-range to verify the request was received. Arrive at the gate....no supervisor. I called ops and requested one come immediately. He shows up, all pissed off at having to leave his cozy office, wants to know what problem is. FA advises what happened and asks if we can provide vouchers for dry cleaning, entry to the USAir club...something...ANYTHING. Agent says, "we don't provide anything unless they write a complaint letter", and goes back to his office. YGSM! I asked the FA what, if anything, he was going to do. He says, "Cheap F-ing company! I don't know what the FAs in the aft are going to do, but I'm going to empty the liquor cart into a garbage bag for her", and that's what he did. Instead of provided $20 worth of vouchers and an apology from a supervisor, we gave this poor lady our apology and about 40 mini bottles worth at least $5 each. Probably cost the company significantly more in the long run.

I miss the days when the company philosophy was, "every one of us is a customer service agent" and we were each empowered to actually do something for people. Maybe Southwest still has that. I envy them for it, even if I grow weary of them telling us all about it.

 

[crashpad]

Those of us who've been around long enough, know what this job is realy about. I'm sure the Southwest Captain didn't expect anything more than knowing he made the passengers day a little better.