SWA: Cattle Call

[Lewisc]

I'm pretty sure the video was released today, April 1. Enough said.

 

[5boyz]

I have never flown AirTran but have never had a problem with that kind of stuff with SW...people walk in the line and no one runs ahead......but like I mentioned before...it is just like at Disney. Some of the rides you stand in line forever only to get to the front and everyone is shoved into a room and they tell you fill in all the spaces, the next thing you know the person that was 5 turnstills behind you is now in front of you. That happens all the time at Disney.

Oh yeah so I got way off topic, Sorry about that!

I will stay with SW until the prices are too high for me, they charge for bagagge and they no longer have one ways for us....

 

[goofy4tink]

I can now say that I've flown AirTran. It wasn't a bad experience, but I will say that SW is preferable. SW loads it's planes much faster. When you have assigned seating, it is nuts. Everyone moves slowly, gets to their seat, stows their stuff, much moving around and looking for that seat.With SW, you just board and find a seat, any old seat that meets your requirements.
I wish the airlines would board business and first class first, then start boarding from the rear of the plane. It boggles my mind when there are a ton of people standing in the aisle, trying to figure out the seat they are supposed to sit in, or look around for the 'perfect' spot to stow their carryon bags in.
When I flew Delta down to Florida last week, from Boston, there was a family of 6..mom, dad and the four kids, one in a car seat. They must have booked very last minute because they truly were spread all over the rear of the plane. The FA was quite perplexed as to why the gate agents didn't try to shuffle around some people and get seats together for this family. A few of us offered to give up our seats. But the thing that was truly funny? The mother just stood there, looked confused. She got a FA and told her she didn't know 'how this all works'. The FA aske if she meant she couldn't find her seat. Yep, that was the meaning. I give that FA credit for keeping a straight face. She found 6 seats in the very rear of the plane and put the family there. But man, it sure did slow things down while those 5, with the car seat, ambled around trying to figure it all out.

I have yet to have anyone rush past me to board in front of me on SW. It has always been very orderly...even when it was a true cattle call. Most people are basically polite and well mannered.
It is pretty funny to see airlines with a sense of humor though.

 

[5boyz]

goofy...I took my first Canadian Airline in years in Feb and they did just that...they boarded the people that needed help, then people with kids under 2 then they boarded back to front...it was great we were at the back and I feel the same way...we were out of the way of the people in the front rows. I was thinking about that when I was reading and typing on this thread....

 

[TheWog]

JB boarded once in Dulles from rear to front. It was nice as you mentioned. I've only had it happen one time when a woman was inching her way up to the front of the A line in Manchester. Guy in front of me was having nothing of it. The woman called her husband over as they gate agent was getting ready to start boarding and this guy laid into her about cutting and stuff. Kinda funny, but he was not about to let her get ahead of his family. Otherwise I have always had pleasant boarding experiences on SW.

 

[prncess674]

I'm pretty sure the video was released today, April 1. Enough said.

Well considering I posted the link to the video on March 30, I would say it was released before 4/1.

 

[Lewisc]

Well considering I posted the link to the video on March 30, I would say it was released before 4/1.

I didn't notice the date. Video is funny, no matter when it was released.

 

[Tara]

I'm pretty sure the video was released today, April 1. Enough said.

April 1 or not, don't kid yourself about how serious they are about that commercial. And it is a commercial, no matter where it airs.

The 4/1 timing had nothing to do with it and is actually irrelevant. The "Skip the Stampede" commercial was already written about as early as 3/26, so well before today. And if you read the article, you'll see that it had to have been made and released internally sometime between early March and the 26th.

The line at the end of this Atlanta Constitution-Journal article on the "ad wars" as they called it says it all about how serious AirTran is about this. It shows they get social media and the fine art of viral marketing.

A jocular battle between low-cost carriers AirTran Airways and Southwest Airlines has moved to the airwaves and cyberspace, pitting baggage fees against cattle calls.Although Southwest doesn't fly to Atlanta the two carriers compete elsewhere, and Southwest of late has been touting its lack of checked baggage fees.AirTran, like many other carriers, now charges fees for checked bags.

Earlier this month, Southwest began airing a TV commercial called "Battle Cry." It features Southwest ramp workers running towards an AirTran plane with its name and tail logo pixellated in a half-hearted disguise. The Southwest employees line up and lift their shirts, spelling out "BAGS FLY FREE" to passengers on the AirTran jet.

Some AirTran employees asked their company to respond. So AirTran, in a video posted on its employee Web site, takes a shot at Southwest's open seating policy. The video recasts a Southwest boarding area as a cattle ranch, with passengers in cow costumes herded onto the plane, where they race for seats. Meanwhile, on an AirTran plane, a passenger lounges peacefully in her seat.

"Skip the stampede," the video says.

Instead of turning the video into an ad, AirTran alerted the media.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Shoot, I missed this thread and started my own because I thought the airtran version of the cattle call was hilarious!

Not so funny because SW has not had a cattle call for years (duh) and Airtran pilots have been in contract negotiations for SIX years. Maybe Airtran should worry about the potential pilot strike and the picketing that has been happening already.

Just seems like a waste of resources.

 

[Tara]

I heard AirTran wanted the Chick-Fil-A cows but couldn't get them...

 

[uva185]

There are gate lice everywhere these days!!! Nothing like seeing a Zone 4 boarding pass waiting right by the gate agent waiting for boarding to start.

Then again its always great when the gate agent turns him/her away.

 

[BigTigger]

But man, it sure did slow things down while those 5, with the car seat, ambled around trying to figure it all out.

I bet this family took the "experienced traveler" line through security too at Logan

 

[BigTigger]

I think this is a funny video - a return bow shot. SWA likes to poke fun, but doesn't really take it back very well.

I find none of the airlines to be a pleasant experience at any price anymore. SWA may not be a cattle call anymore, but the $10 fee each way to maybe get an "A" pass by paying SWA to book your seat ahead of the 24 hour seat assignment opening shows they saw a opportunity in people fearing they may get the dreaded B or C groups and took it. I also find Business Select customers think they own the rows they choose and don't like you choosing the middle seat in the exit rows if they happened to get there first.

 

[Inkmahm]

I think this is a funny video - a return bow shot. SWA likes to poke fun, but doesn't really take it back very well.

I find none of the airlines to be a pleasant experience at any price anymore. SWA may not be a cattle call anymore, but the $10 fee each way to maybe get an "A" pass by paying SWA to book your seat ahead of the 24 hour seat assignment opening shows they saw a opportunity in people fearing they may get the dreaded B or C groups and took it. I also find Business Select customers think they own the rows they choose and don't like you choosing the middle seat in the exit rows if they happened to get there first.

Sure sounds like a cattle call to me...

I prefer having assigned seats months before I get to the airport. That isn't possible at any cost on SW.

 

[Inkmahm]

I can hardly wait to see what the new commercials might be now that Spirit is charging for use of the overhead bins!

 

[goofy4tink]

Truly...I don't think SW even comes close to being a cattle call anymore. Actually, it is much nicer than worrying about zones or those who feel they need that 'extra time' to preboard......you know, when the gate attendent tells those who may need a bit more time to get down the jetway or get settled??? That should mean the elderly or those with very young children. Yet, every time this announcement has been made, you see families jump up, with their 3 kids (ages 6-14) and preboard. Drives me nutty. Then they stand in the aisle, trying to get what they need for the flight out of the bag they just put in the bin.

But, with SW, it's all very orderly. I have never been shoved aside or had someone try to cut in front of me in the jetway. At least not since they went to the new system. I hated to old one where you had to get there really early and then sit/stand in the chute in order to hold your spot for boarding...that truly was a cattle call.

 

[Wendy5055]

Hhhhmmmm...it just seems that SW's commercial pokes fun AT AirTran...while AirTran's commercial pokes fun at the PEOPLE using SW (by turning them into ill behaved cows)...not necessarily SW.

I prefer SW over AirTran.

 

[Inkmahm]

Airtran gets number 2 spot and SW gets number 5 in annual Airline Quality ratings.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/bus...g/2010/04/airline_rankings_put_airtran_s.html

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Airtran gets number 2 spot and SW gets number 5 in annual Airline Quality ratings.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/bus...g/2010/04/airline_rankings_put_airtran_s.html

Well I will continue to go with SW - "Southwest continues to have the fewest customer complaints and the best on-time rate".