From the SWA Board:
Art:
Good deal. I've read you enough to know that you will keep an open mind and be honest.
In a way, I wish you had let me know....I would have mailed you some drink coupons and might even have sprung for the difference to upgrade you to Business Select (You know me, last of the big spenders.)
Now....if we've got some WN employees hanging around.....get ahold of the crew or at least the station at Islip and make darned sure that Art has a good experience.
A few hints from one of the WN cognoscenti:
If you are on a fairly early morning flight....the FAs will pass thru the cabin with juice and coffee. That doesn't mean that is all they will serve. They are glad to get you a "special beverage" (anything that is not on their tray)...all you have to do is ask.
If you want a can, ask for a can. The FAs are usually great but they are not clairvoyant. (Although I swear I flew with a female FA named Claire Voyant, one time...)
If you booked Business Select, life looks good. If you aren't.....check in on line 24 hrs out. Get that "A" boarding pass and life looks grand. No standing in interminable lines, no fistfights to get the seat you want. "A" will put you in the first 46 folks on the plane or so.....which means you are guaranteed either a window or an aisle whichever you prefer.
Your best chance for an empty middle is just past the wing. The front fills up....and then the back, as people go all the way back looking for an empty seat. The area just aft of the wing usually is good. I personally like the aft.....as that puts me close to the galley for drink refills.
Speaking of refills...after the beverage service the FAs will wander around picking up trash. If you want a refill, just tell them when they pass by. They expect it. They won't scowl. Again, it gets back to the mind reading business.
If I were you, I'd identify myself as a first time WN flyer. Tell the gate agent that you had been a life-long, diehard USAirways fan and had decided to see if you could fly WN and continue to live. He or she is apt to find that a real hoot.
If you treat the WN employees as well as you treat the USAirways front line.....I promise that you all will enjopy each other.
Speaking for myself...and I'm sure KC....we're real tickled you have decided to experiment with joining us among the unwashed huddled masses. Come on in, the water's fine (and free LOL). I hope you have a good trip.
Watch the whole operation. It is fascinating. Southwest's folks....who tend to act a bit more casual than US or the other legacies....are no less professional.
The plane will be clean. There will be other business folks on board. The seating is not "F" but it is real comfortable Y seating. Barring weather or a broken plane you should get there on time and with your baggage.
I'm sorry I didn't manage to get you any drink coupons to you. I actually dug a couple of books of them out of a drawer and told my wife that I was gonna mail them to Art at ISP if he ever shot me a mailing address. I'd scan them in and e mail them to you but somehow I am afraid the FAs might think that a bridge too far in providing positively outrageous service. I think the ones I got out have expired but that has not stopped the FAs from accepting them when I travel.
Again....WN employees, if you're listening......make sure Art has as good a trip as the other 100 MM folks that fly your airline each year!"
In PHL it would be a somewhat different reception from US.
PB are you listening?
