Southwest boarding

[nhfd155]

Does anyone know if southwest still boards people with special needs and families with small children before the "A" group. It's been a while since I have flown southwest. I remember getting on the plane first with my child since we take some time getting on.

 

[crashbb]

Special needs (aka "blue sleeve") - yes. Small children - no (they can board between A and B, if they don't have an A boarding zone already and assuming that it isn't one of the rare flights where family boarding isn't used).

 

[pooch]

DH & my 2 yr old DGS. I booked DH's flight separately & paid for EBCI for him. He got on with a very low A, installed the carseat & stowed the carryon. DGS and I boarded between the A's & B's & we were able to put him (DGS not DH!!!) right in his seat without holding anyone up!

 

[jayhawk74]

Special needs (aka "blue sleeve") - yes. Small children - no (they can board between A and B, if they don't have an A boarding zone already and assuming that it isn't one of the rare flights where family boarding isn't used).

Southwest has made a change to their boarding procedure. The blue sleeves (not those in wheelchairs) now board with family boarding, after the As and before the Bs. So the only people now boarding before the As will be those in wheelchairs and their one assistant.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

You can always check WN's website for this information.

http://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/airport-experience/boarding-school/

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

Southwest has made a change to their boarding procedure. The blue sleeves (not those in wheelchairs) now board with family boarding, after the As and before the Bs. So the only people now boarding before the As will be those in wheelchairs and their one assistant.

Is this something new? or for a specific airport? We just flew Southwest at Christmas and due to my Mom's vision problems we were able to preboard. She is not in a wheelchair and we received the blue sleeve, which we used to preboard before the A's boarded. This occurred in Buffalo NY, LAX, and Chicago Midway.

 

[aubriee]

I just copied this from the Southwest site:

Do passengers with disabilities get to preboard?
Prior to general boarding, preboarding is available for Customers who have specific seating needs to accommodate a disability, and/or need assistance in boarding the aircraft, and/or need to stow an assistive device. If you have a disability and require preboarding, you should request a blue preboarding authorization sleeve from the Customer Service Agent at your departure gate.

The blue preboarding sleeve serves as notification to our Operations (Boarding) Agent that you need to preboard. It's important to keep in mind those Customers who preboard may not occupy a seat on the emergency exit rows. Customers who have any other special needs related to boarding should speak with the Customer Service Agent at your departure gate."

We realize that some Customers with disabilities require the assistance of the individuals they are traveling with, and we will allow a travel companion to act as an “attendant” and preboard with a Customer with a disability. In most cases, the Customer requires assistance from only one other person, and any additional family members or friends are asked to board with their assigned group. However, if a Customer needs assistance from more than one family member, then the Customer should be allowed the additional help

Do families get to preboard?
An adult traveling with a child four years old or younger may board during Family Boarding, which occurs after the "A" group has boarded and before the "B" group begins boarding. However, those Customers holding an "A" boarding pass should still board with the "A" boarding group.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Southwest has made a change to their boarding procedure. The blue sleeves (not those in wheelchairs) now board with family boarding, after the As and before the Bs. So the only people now boarding before the As will be those in wheelchairs and their one assistant.

That makes absolutely no sense. The whole point of needing to preboard is that it'll take extra time to board and boarding with everybody else is either dangerous or will be in the way of others/will hold up boarding. Boarding between A and B with the family boarding does not do anything about this issue. That's why those with special boarding needs board before everybody else.

 

[jayhawk74]

That makes absolutely no sense. The whole point of needing to preboard is that it'll take extra time to board and boarding with everybody else is either dangerous or will be in the way of others/will hold up boarding. Boarding between A and B with the family boarding does not do anything about this issue. That's why those with special boarding needs board before everybody else.

The problem is that so many people were requesting the blue sleeves so that they could pre-board that those paying full fare (Business Select and A-Listers) were not getting the prime seats that their A Boarding Group should have been getting. So SWA made this recent change where the only passengers who will pre-board are those in wheelchairs and those who need a specific seat for medical reasons. With this new procedure after the A Group has boarded boarding will stop until the families and the blue sleeves have boarded. It shouldn't take any more total time to board as now the boarding delay will occur before the B Group instead of the A Group.

 

[disfan07]

Southwest has made a change to their boarding procedure. The blue sleeves (not those in wheelchairs) now board with family boarding, after the As and before the Bs. So the only people now boarding before the As will be those in wheelchairs and their one assistant.

Not true.
We just flew southwest at the end of December and I get a blue pre board slip because of my peanut allergy because I need time to wipe down seats, tray tables and put a blanket over the seat before sitting down.

I boarded the plane first...before "A" group.

I don't know where you got your information from but it's not true. If it was true we would not be flying southwest anymore...

 

[Lewisc]

Not true.
We just flew southwest at the end of December and I get a blue pre board slip because of my peanut allergy because I need time to wipe down seats, tray tables and put a blanket over the seat before sitting down.

I boarded the plane first...before "A" group.

I don't know where you got your information from but it's not true. If it was true we would not be flying southwest anymore...

Info is true. SW got permision. Sounds like GA Has flexibility

 

[Jestocost]

Info is true. SW got permision. Sounds like GA Has flexibility

That must be the case. I flew SWA between STL and FLL just this past week and "blue sleeves" were boarded before the A group on both flights.

 

[jayhawk74]

Not true.
We just flew southwest at the end of December and I get a blue pre board slip because of my peanut allergy because I need time to wipe down seats, tray tables and put a blanket over the seat before sitting down.

I boarded the plane first...before "A" group.

I don't know where you got your information from but it's not true. If it was true we would not be flying southwest anymore...

I'm SWA pilot and I got my infomation from the gate agents that I know. Since you have a peanut allergy and needed to wipe down seats and tray tables you are in the category of those with blue sleeves that have to pre-board to select a seat for medical reasons.

 

[jsilvers]

Info is true. SW got permision. Sounds like GA Has flexibility

Following on that, for those who may be interested in reading the initial DOT decision giving Southwest permission to deviate from the normal rules (later updates don't appear to have been made publicly available), see http://www.regulations.gov/contentS...e6cb34&disposition=attachment&contentType=pdf.

 

[clanmcculloch]

According to that link, the only people with blue sleeves that would board before the family boarding but after A group is those who just need extra time to get to their seats. EVERY other disability would still preboard.

 

[tjmw2727]

We were on SWA yesterday out of Detroit and Thursday out of Baltimore and both times all of the blue sleeve pre-board passengers and those using a wheel chair boarded first.

 

[Lewisc]

According to that link, the only people with blue sleeves that would board before the family boarding but after A group is those who just need extra time to get to their seats. EVERY other disability would still preboard.

According to that link the only people with blue sleeves who board before A1 are those passengers who have specific seat requirements. EVERY other disability gets to board after the As, before family mid-boarding.

There are 3 major reasons why passengers qualify for a blue sleeve.

Some passengers need a specific seat, or type of seat. Passenger with a service animal is entitled to a bulkhead seat. Easier to let that passenger pre-board then to move a seated passenger. I suspect a passenger in a wheel chair might need an aisle seat.

Some passengers need more time to board. Maybe the passenger is using a cane.

Some passengers need more time to stow their stuff.

OK peanut allergy passengers board early to give them time to wipe down. A few might not fit.

Legally the GA can't ask for documentation. There are questions the GA can legally ask but the GA doesn't have the time to question the passenger enough to determine if the request for a blue sleeve is valid. SWs open seating, and boarding in sequence order, won't work if a passenger can get a blue sleeve and board first by just saying they have trouble walking. A poster on another internet board described his cane as a "prop".

A PP offered a link. Southwest has permission for this system. My guess is the GA only bothers if there are too many requests or there are obvious signs of abuse. A passenger who is observed starting to limp 6 feet from the GA.