Our Peanuts Airline

[wnbubbleboy]

The one thing that you could always count on at Southwest Airlines was a reasonably fresh bag or two of peanuts, fairly low fares, and the expectation of arriving pretty much on time. Beyond that, with regard to comfort, accommodations, and scheduling, well, it was pretty much a crap shoot.

Now, the fares are much higher and even the peanuts are iffy. I was given some stale crackers of dubious nature that were essentially tasteless the other day. No peanuts in sight.

And after extensive market research, Southwest has determined that it's so-called "open boarding" system needed an overhaul. Upon hearing the news I was quite pleased. You know what I mean: the scene at airports where Southwest had hubs would always consist of diehards lining up at the boarding gate literally an hour ahead of time so they could be first in the queue. I never really understood this cattle-car mentality but then again there are many things I don't understand.

So did the Peanuts Airline finally decide to join every other major airline in the world, catapult itself into the modern age and start preassigning seats? Sorry, but no. Rather they have revamped their "open" boarding system because their research shows that customers still like to choose their own seats. They're still using the Group A, B, C, D etc. boarding group mentality. But now when you get assigned a boarding group, you also get a number to determine your place in line in that group. So instead of your ticket saying Group C, it will now say Group C12, meaning you will be twelfth in the C line. (Wonder if it ever occurred to any of the suits at SW that customers booking though an agent or on-line could still "choose" a seat from whatever was left in the inventory).





http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/e...balon_edit.html

 

[lpbrian]

I am suprised at SW stock. After 9/11 SW stock was about $13/share. Today it is....$13.80/share. Did I miss something? Was there a stock split?

 

[CynicalResAgent]

WN is great at what they do. I've never flown with them but I have dealt with their agents and booked travel on them for clients. They deliver what they promise more often than any other carrier and most of the reservation agents are very willing to help if there is a problem. I have the least amount of problems when I book a client on WN. The only big problem I had was when they adjusted their routes lately and dropped a lot of long haul routes. That made some people upset being taken off a nonstop and put on a connection.

 

[jimntx]

As a frequent non-rev on SWA who works for another airline, let me put my 2 cents in here...

SWA is a wonderful airline. The absolute genius of SWA is that they have managed passenger expectations from day one. What you are purchasing (and getting) on SWA is transportation from Point A to Point B with zero to 4 stops in-between, and if it's not too turbulent, you will get a glass of soda/cup of coffee and a bag of peanuts.

As a non-rev passenger--I'm a flight attendant with AA-- I commute on SWA frequently. Even though I have to pay for parking at Love Field, it is 15 miles closer to my home than DFW, and I rarely have to compete for a seat with other AA employees at DAL. I live in Dallas, but I am based in St. Louis.

I could not be treated better by my own airline's employees. Case in point: On 10/22 I was commuting back from STL to DAL after finishing a trip. There was weather in the Dallas area that day; so, a lot of flights were delayed--both DFW and DAL. When I got to the East terminal (It's close to a mile walk from Main to East), my 1:50p flight was overbooked (2 days before it had 50 seats on it). Once it was boarded the agent told me she would roll me over to the 3:45p flight; so, I went down to that gate ang got out my magazines and crossword puzzles. The agent at that gate told me that the 3:45p was also overbooked; so I was to stay nearby in case a seat became available. They were all upfront with me that there wasn't really any availability until the 8p flight. Well, such is the life of the non-rev (thus the magazines and crosswords).

I had not been there more than 30 minutes when the agent at the new gate paged me. He told me that the agent at my previous gate had a seat available on a flight to HOU with a connection of less than an hour to DAL if I was interested. Of course I was. Now, mind you I did not ask the first agent to investigate this possibility. She did it on her own. So, she got me on to the HOU flight which was supposed to get to HOU at 5:30p with a connection to a DAL flight at 6p.

As it turned out, due to weather in the Houston area, we were in a holding pattern for awhile and I didn't get off the plane in HOU until 6:15p. However, the monitor said that the 6p flight was delayed until 6:50p; so, I proceeded to that gate to check-in. The agent said, "There is a flight leaving for DAL at the gate across the concourse right now. They need to close the door. They know you are coming. Run!" I made that flight and got to DAL at 7:15p. If I had waited in STL, I would not have gotten there until after 9:30pm.

The point being though, that a SWA employee (and I could kick myself for not getting her name) took the initiative to get a non-rev from another airline onto a flight home. I am grateful.

 

[The Bagfather]

Im also AOL non-rev on WN. I love em. But even though they are perhaps
better managed that most they are still feeling the crunch of the current market.
There boarding system is the envy of every gate agent that ever lived. Its very
fast compared to assigned seating and very condusive to On-time Performance.
At US/HP I haven't seen a peanut in five years.