Why I HATE Southwest Airlines...

[SillyOldBear]

I hate Southwest! If you are pooh size or baloo size watch out. They will charge you for an additional seat. I travel with my 5year old and husband so we always sit together in the row of three. I do need to use a seatbelt extender but do "fit" in the seat. Since I was sitting with my little one who barely takes up half a seat he doesn't mind. We flew down to MCO from Boston with no problem. On the return trip we checked in no problem and were waiting for the flight to board. About 15 minutes before boarding some SWA employee came up to me and asked to see my ticket. She walked away and came back. She went into some song and dance about needing to buy another seat because I was a COS (customer of size). I told her that I flew here a week ago and had no problems and I hadn't gained weight since then. She then started talking about my comfort and the comfort of others. She clearly saw I was traveling with my little boy and husband. I told her they wouldn't mind. Now everyone is looking at us and I am feeling completely embarrassed. She even dragged the poor guy who had checked us in all the way from downstairs to "look at me". She then told me that I could get a refund of the second ticket because the plane isn't full. So I aked why I had to pay for the extra seat that I was not going to use if she already knew the flight wasn't full. She just kept saying that was policy. We argued about this up until the flight was about to leave and I didn't want to miss it so I paid for another ticket. This was an early flight around 7am. When we finally got on the plane there were only 20 people on the whole thing! We were last on and still got to sit in the first row. And yes, all three of us sat together. I guess my "extra seat" I paid for was the one across the aisle from us. I returned home and applied for my refund and did get my money back. I just had to inconvenience myself and spend my time to do it. It was soooo unnecessary considering she knew there were 20 people on the plane. I have flown all around the world and have never had this problem on any other airline. Sorry for the long post but I thought my experience would spare someone else out there the embarrassment I went through. I will NEVER EVER fly that discriminatory airline again!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CarolA]

The truth is that any airline can do this.. SW is the only one that has begun enforcing this policy. Sorry you were upset.

 

[AllyBri]

Sounds to me like this FA was on a "power trip"
I would sit down and write a letter to SW.

 

[AllyBri]

The truth is that any airline can do this.. SW is the only one that has begun enforcing this policy. Sorry you were upset.

Yes, but when a "pooh size" person is in the same row with their family, they don't make them get another ticket.

 

[isla bonita]

I do not care for them either but I fly with them all the time because of the direct flights. My daughter does not like to fly so instead of getting her upset by the flights I try to minimize as much as possible. I would have gone off so bad. I am also very pooh sized.

 

[tarmand]

I think that if this happened the way you say it did, then SWA owes you a huge apology. However, even though I am overweight (I fit in my seat with the armrest down and do not need an extender), I agree with their policy. I can not tell you how many times I have had to sit next to a "pooh sized" person who was spilling into my seat. In your case since the flight was empty it should not have mattered, but on a full flight, I would fully expect them to inforce their rules. If this ever happens to me and they want to charge me for another seat, they'd better make darned sure that no one sits next to me since I paid for that seat.

 

[LisaNJ25]

I would of been pissed...What if you were short on money right after the vacation and did not have the funds to buy the extra ticket?

This should not be an issue when you are traveling with other family members and you are sitting together.

You should of said you wanted half of your 5yos ticket refunded because he only takes half of a seat.

 

[2buzzboys]

I have seen them do this to people on the show airline. Dont know if you ever saw that show but it is about southwest airlines and what goes on in the airport before people board the plane. If it is still on its on a&e.
I am so sorry you had to go through that.That is an awful way to treat a person and an stupid policy.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yes, but when a "pooh size" person is in the same row with their family, they don't make them get another ticket.

Um, according to their website http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/cos_qa.html they do
"Why can't a large Customer sit with a family member who doesn't mind being encroached upon or a small child/person who doesn't take a full seat?
Open seating cannot guarantee that two people will be able to sit together. In addition, we must treat the smaller person (despite willingness or personal relationship) as a valued Customer who deserves the use of a full seat. Most importantly, we have to consider the safety aspect of the family member whose movement (especially in the event of an emergency) could be compromised if encroached on by a large seatmate.
"

 

[bicker]

SillyOldBear: Sorry you were upset.

The truth is that any airline can do this.. SW is the only one that has begun enforcing this policy.

Well, actually, the rest of the airlines have a substantially different practice, when it comes to larger passengers. They wait for a complaint or concern expressed by another passenger. Of course, Southwest will respond to such concerns as well, but Southwest also will proactively apply their policy, without any prompting from any customers.

Sounds to me like this FA was on a "power trip"

I see no reason to believe that. This is indeed Southwest policy, and if anything, Southwest has been making it very clear that they intend for their gate agents to apply this policy, exactly as described, more consistently.

I think that if this happened the way you say it did, then SWA owes you a huge apology.

Actually, I read nothing in SillyOldBear's description of what occurred that indicated that the gate agent was in any way rude or negligent of her responsibilities. I could see writing to Southwest to ask them to do away with their policy, but I do not believe it is right to complain about an employee dutifully doing her job. That would be unfair. These people have a hard-enough job as it is.

 

[CarolA]

Yes, but when a "pooh size" person is in the same row with their family, they don't make them get another ticket.

I know that on SW since they don't assign seating, they have no way of knowing this.

I do agree that this agent was out of line. SW's public face has been to only require this on fairly full flights.

I also agree that the other airlines are not doing this, but when SW first made this public someone over on www.flyertalk.com went thru the contract of carraige of several majors and found where they have this policy outlined. They just don't do it...

Now, I am going to get slammed here but I once flew back from Dallas with a passenger next to me who was so large I had to sit in the jump seat when we were not landing or taking off. During landing and take off I literally was SQUISHED up aganist the armrest by the exit and did not have my seat belt fastened. The AA FA KNEW I could not fasten my seat belt, but allowed this to happen. I was LIVID and AA did compensate me later, but I should have never been placed in this position!

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

I think it was absurd that the agent put you through all of those hoops when there was only 20 people on the whole plane! INEXCUSABLE!

I feel the agent could have told you about the policy and explained that since the plane wasn't full that you wouldn't have to pay this time. To be aware in the future that you may be asked to pay for another seat.

Lori

 

[bicker]

To be aware in the future that you may be asked to pay for another seat.

I think it would be prohibitively expensive to keep track of which customers have been provided such warning and which customers have not. The Contract of Carriage must be sufficient notice of all terms and conditions of a flight. Anyone who purchases airline travel without reading and understanding the terms and conditions is really taking a major risk of being disappointed, but in a low- (really, negative-) margin business like domestic airline travel, it is unreasonable to expect the kind of personal attention you get in high-volume businesses.

It is very difficult, but I think we really need to consider this from both sides: The larger passenger's perspective and the neighboring passenger's perspective (not to mention the perspective of safety). There are strong arguments for the major airlines' practice of expecting the neighboring passenger to express a concern, though that does put a good number of people in the difficult position of choosing between being unfairly subjected to being moderately uncomfortable due to someone else's situation, or having to risk raising the ire of the neighboring passenger by complaining about that person's obesity and how it unfairly and adversely affects their own comfort. There are also strong arguments for Southwest's practice of more consistently relieving passengers of having to complain about a neighboring passenger's girth in order to receive full use of their fair share of the all-too-limited space, even though it results in situations such as the one reported by the OP, where the passenger feels that action is unnecessarily punitive.

Of course, if everyone was willing to pay 20% more for airline travel, this problem could be resolved, by switching to five-across seating. However, passengers are already way-too-motivated by the lowest fare to allow more than one or two small airlines to operate using that business model.

 

[Lorix2]

So is it this person's job to walk around and look for overweight people? Geesh!

Sorry you had to encounter this problem with them and glad you did not have to pay double for you're seat.

 

[Lewisc]

Requiring a customer that doesn't fit in a standard seat purchase a second seat isn't discrimination, SW won in court.

You could have asked to pre-board the plane and demonstrate you'd fit in one seat, with the arm rest down. You kind of said you don't when you said your 5 year old doesn't object to giving you half his seat.

I agree the employee could have been more flexible for an empty flight but just because an employee won't make an exception doesn't mean their rude. The rule was explained to you and you decided to argue.

I agree other airlines are more flexible. Some of them can upgrade you, or the passenger next to you, to either business class or first class. Assigned seats does eliminate the argument that you might be sitting next to a stranger.

 

[bicker]

Requiring a customer that doesn't fit in a standard seat purchase a second seat isn't discrimination

It is discrimination. It is legal and appropriate discrimination. Discrimination isn't, by default, a bad thing. We rely heavily, in our lives, on the discrimination shown when medical boards discriminate against the unskilled in certifying physicians. The only discrimination that is of concern is discrimination against a protected class of people.

 

[Tinkim]

Whether Southwest's policy is right or wrong or discriminatory they should be able to talk to people and deal with the situation in a discreet manner. I think it is unfortunate that the OP had to purchase another seat when SW knew the flight was not booked and she would not require another seat anway with only 20 people on board. What bothers me the most is that SW felt the need to go about the situation in a way that humiliated her.

 

[mousey]

I agree that this SW employee had nothing better to do then harass you. Rather than bother you, she should of policed the pre-boarding line, as this is where most of the "violators" are. You know, the 8 family members that board first with 1 infant, or 4 guys in business suits. That's the people SW should question. I also think the SW employee should of pulled you away from the other passengers before she started questioning you. Was it necessary to question you in front of other passengers. I would definately question a higher up about how this whole thing was handled. Policies were made to be changed!!!

 

[C.Ann]

Another possibility is that this was a new employee.. New employees will often follow the rules & regulations to a "T" until they are more familiar with "extenuating" circumstances or little things they can let slide.. It doesn't sound like the employee was rude - just someone doing their job..

 

[paladin]

Even though it is their rule and even if it is legal, it is obviously being applied inconsistently as the OP was able to fly down to MCO without it being an issue (and was apparently checked in for this flight without it being an issue). And while the SW agent was "just doing their job", it is NEVER the job of someone in customer service to embarrass a customer.