Vector4fun
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2003
- Posts
- 796
saabcaptain said:I would say that part of the reason ATC favored them was that they always went out of their way to make sure they never caused ATC a problem and always expedited anything ATC needed. Maybe it was the SWA mugs or pizza given to the tower, who knows.
Truthfully,
If I've got a jet on 2 1/2 mile final at typical speed, a SWA flight is probably the only brand I'll roll in front of the arrival. For no other reason than I'm reasonably sure they'll do their best. A few other operators seem to not really care if even their own company's flight has to go around. (not naming names) If I ask 'em to hustle, they'll do it, and I won't get any long-winded, condencending replies. And if I see brand XX taxiing at 10 mph, why wouldn't I put a SWA on the taxiway in front if I could without causing too much trouble?
But as far as favors, outside of one jumpseat home from Vegas many, many years ago, SWA has never done anything for me other than just cooperate as much as possible. Oh sure, maybe a decade or more back, some controllers were probably flashing and dashing a bit, and reciprocating. That hasn't been possible for a long time now.
As far as favors go, Lufthansa beats all you domestic lines hands down. I used to find a case of German beer in my pickup every Xmas....