Southwest Family Boarding

[DebbieB]

I couldn't believe what I saw today. Flying PIT-MCO. They were using a gate that they usually don't use (A15), it didn't have the position poles and the microphone wasn't working for announcements. So the gate agent was pretty much yelling out the instructions to line up in order. She did say that family boarding will be between A and B, children 4 and under, parents and kids only, no grandparents, aunts, uncles.

I heard the people sitting behind me talking. They had C boarding passes. The one woman said "I guess I should have gotten online at 24 hours". She said worse comes to worse, we can try to do 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 (total of 8 of them). So the gate agent calls out family boarding. The man said, we're a family, let's go. Problem was the kids were 10 or 11 years old! So I watched them and they were at the end of the family boarding line, mom and dad and kids 10 or 11. Grandparents stayed behind, plus 2 others. The gate agent never questioned them! She knew they were the kids because they were last, no small children around. She just accepted their C boarding passes and off they went. So I guess they are not allowed to question the age?

I got my BP at exactly 24 hours, got B18. I headed to the back and got a window seat in row 18 and luckily no one sat in the middle seat.

 

[jayhawk74]

So I guess they are not allowed to question the age?

Not only have I seen them question the age but also refuse family boarding for those families with no children under the age of 5. I t seems like with the chaotic situation at the non-normal gate the Ops Agent just didn't want to deal with the hassle. Also if that flight was the 1st flight of the day for that aircraft the Ops Agents are under pressure to get all the passengers on board and have the doors closed 5 minutes before departure time due to a company wide effort to get Southwest's on time percentage much higher than it is.

 

[jezebel73]

Unfortunately, it sounds like you just got a gate agent who didn't feel like having the argument that day.
I flew SW when my daughter was 3 or 4 and they stopped us and said only one parent could preboard with the child and the rest had to stay behind (so either mom OR dad but not both and no other family including older children). Frankly that made it worse, trying to carry her stuff and mine and wrangle her, etc.

In the end, what you heard announced is I believe the official policy but it's up to the workers to enforce it.

 

[Yellowjj]

It seems like with the chaotic situation at the non-normal gate the Ops Agent just didn't want to deal with the hassle.

This is the explanation. I believe had they tried to board all 8 people under family boarding the GA would have made them do the walk of shame to the back of the line. As is was, however she decided to let it slide as pushing the flight was probably the bigger priority over people not knowing what "4 and under" means for children to be considered.

 

[DebbieB]

This is the explanation. I believe had they tried to board all 8 people under family boarding the GA would have made them do the walk of shame to the back of the line. As is was, however she decided to let it slide as pushing the flight was probably the bigger priority over people not knowing what "4 and under" means for children to be considered.

I think the part that got me was the mom admitted she didn't go on at 24 hours like she should have. The grandmother said to them it's 4 and under but they decided to try to get away with it.

 

[Yellowjj]

I think the part that got me was the mom admitted she didn't go on at 24 hours like she should have. The grandmother said to them it's 4 and under but they decided to try to get away with it.

There will always be people who try to game the system and they only end up hurting the people who follow the rules and actually need the service/