Passenger Complaint

wnbubbleboy

Veteran
Aug 21, 2002
944
22
By God Indiana
This was posted a couple of weeks ago. I don't work upstairs so I don't really know how to rebutt this but I think this person is wrong an many counts. I have posted a link to the sight if anyone who works upstairs would like to file a response.



SOUTHWEST AIR DEFIYS TSA
Sun Jul 29 2007, flight 27, 0610 departure.
I arrived at SLC airport two hours before my flight departure time, as requested by Transportation Security Administration 'TSA'. Southwest Air did not open kiosks and had no personal at their ticket counter until 0500, one hour before departure. The obvious question I had for the ticket agent when she finally did arrive to open was 'why are we (passengers) asked to be at the airport two hours ahead of departure and Southwest ticket personal arrive only one hour before?. Her response was 'oh, well that's just how it is, you know' I indicated I did not know and would like an explanation. Her answer was ' that is just how it is. I asked why were the kiosks not open? Her answer 'oh we can't do that'. I asked 'is T.S.A. aware of this policy' The flippant attitude changed abruptly to a curt response of 'sir would you please direct you comments to SWA on line.

After obtaining my boarding pass I noted a very long line waiting to be processed. I continued to gate B11 witch is a good 8 to 10 minute walk. I still needed to clear T.S.A. security. I arrived at the gate about 0520. On arrival at gate B11 there was not anyone from SWA to be seen. The gate personal (one woman ) arrived at 0540. Note SWA reserves the right to sell your seat if you are not at the gate 30 min before departure, more on this practice later. After boarding the announcement from the cockpit was the flight to Phoenix will take one hour and five minutes. Winds aloft would have to be over 100 miles per hour to accomplish this speed, or we would have to fly faster than the speed of sound as this flight normally takes about one hour and twenty minutes. This same announcement was repeated two times. The flight did take one hour and twenty minutes.
As a passenger I feel the arrogance shown by SWA policy and SWA personal is almost unbelievable. I have further noticed SWA when overbooking their flights excel at finding a passenger that has been 'drinking or is loud' and is posing a threat to air safety. At that point its obvious to me that SWA does not offer a room or flight accommodations to the benefit of the passenger but keeps the passenger from boarding to the benefit of SWA . Note SWA overbooked the flight. Does this 'safety concern' from SWA extent to passengers who question SWA and their lack of customer service with their obvious self serving actions in disregards to TSA and the real safety of their passengers and crews? Will that same customer, passenger be denied boarding also? I ask you how does SWA show support to TSA and their limited personal by not honoring their request to arrive two hours early and opening the baggage counters to help in clearing the security area? Does impeding passengers to the point of being late when they still need to go though TSA security help TSA do their job better? How often does this scenario and others like this happen across the country?. When will the airlines participate in National Security as much as their customers?
The TV show 'Airline' showcases SWA and their 'customer service'. It seams that in almost every show passengers are denied boarding for violating the rules SWA has set forth, when if fact SWA violates their own rules with impunity. I further question the basis of denying boarding to a drinking passenger when SWA is the one who has served the alcohol to that passenger and then penalizes that passenger for South west airlines actions. Yet all at once SWA will insist it is only interested in the safety of public and the crew and will rely on TSA to give them that blanket authority to deny boarding. TSA please help the crews and the public who you are charged to protect. Bring SWA and any other airlines to accountability.

Fly time
wittmann, Arizona
U.S.A.

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/264/RipOff0264209.htm
 
OK....

The TSA *suggests* you arrive at the airport two hours before departure. It's not a requirement for the passenger, and the airlines aren't required to open the ticket counter two hours before the first flight leaves.

He even said that he arrived at the gate at 5:20, so what is the problem? What a moron!

One time I flew out of a small airport on the first flight of the day to STL, and because it was an international itinerary, AA reservations insisted that I check in at least 90 minutes before departure. They didn't seem to realize that the ticket counter didn't open until 60 minutes before departure; it doesn't take that long to check in 19 people on a domestic flight.

Why the TSA's stupidity is any of SWA's fault is beyond me. Letter writer is an idiot and should be banned from ripoffreport.com for diluting the value of the information posted there.
 
OK....

The TSA *suggests* you arrive at the airport two hours before departure. It's not a requirement for the passenger, and the airlines aren't required to open the ticket counter two hours before the first flight leaves.

He even said that he arrived at the gate at 5:20, so what is the problem? What a moron!

One time I flew out of a small airport on the first flight of the day to STL, and because it was an international itinerary, AA reservations insisted that I check in at least 90 minutes before departure. They didn't seem to realize that the ticket counter didn't open until 60 minutes before departure; it doesn't take that long to check in 19 people on a domestic flight.

Why the TSA's stupidity is any of SWA's fault is beyond me. Letter writer is an idiot and should be banned from ripoffreport.com for diluting the value of the information posted there.
Maybe he wanted to be first in line in the A boarding group. Never understood that logic...40 people in the A group, boarding an aircraft that holds over 120 people...and they LINE UP IN THE A GROUP.
 
This was posted a couple of weeks ago. I don't work upstairs so I don't really know how to rebutt this
Oh let me count the ways: (1)As previously stated, if the TSA asks you to be there 2 hrs. prior, and the security checkpoint isn't open, blame the TSA. The TSA is in charge of when the TSA opens, not when Southwest, Hertz, Starbucks, etc. opens. (2) Was the flt. time quoted by the pax actual flt. time, or block time? After answering that question, what difference does it make? Winds aloft in excess of 100 mph are not unusual, although they are found more in the winter than in the summer. Judging from the rest of the post, I get the impression that this guy thinks 100 mph winds at altitude never happen, and that he was being lied to (just one more example of that dastardly Southwest outfit taking more, in this case 15 minutes, of his time). (3) Southwest (and other airlines) don't deny boarding to someone who's been drinking, but to those who appear to be intoxicated. It's required by law, and providing a hotel room, the limo ride there, and a mini bar isn't. (4) Pax doesn't define or give an example of "disregards to TSA and the real safety of their pax and crew". Pax accuses SW of using safety as a means to justify the ends (denying boarding to make room for other pax), then does it himself in the very next sentence to justify his own ends (his argument). Notice he doesn't say that this happened on his flt., he doesn't give specifics when he's seen it happen, just an "I have further noticed...". (5) SW is not in business to "support" the TSA. The TSA has its own mission, funded by tax dollars. The TSA does not request that SW "arrive 2 hrs. early and open the baggage counters". They request pax to arrive early. That request might mean that the 2 hrs. begins when you pull onto the airport property, so that you have time to park your car, ride the shuttle or walk to the terminal, etc. (6) Airlines do participate in national security, much more so than this guy realizes. (7) (a repeat of #3) SW has no rule that says no one can drink. It's an FAR that no agent, F/A, pilot, etc. may allow anyone who appears to be intoxicated to board an aircraft. The TSA doesn't give anyone "blanket authority" to deny boarding; FARs give that authority to certain individuals in certain situations. (8) I've watched numerous episodes of "Airline". I love it because I thought, "Crap like that only happens at the airline I work for". It was nice to see that it happens elsewhere. Having said that, I've never seen anyone on the show denied boarding, for any reason, that I felt shouldn't have been. (9) Finally, it is not the TSA's job to "bring SWA and any other airline(s) to accountability.

That's one way to rebut this. Another approach is to remember the machine that's at the entrance to every airport in the country. It sucks out pax brains when they first walk in the airport, and this guy made multiple entrances.
 
Anyone stupid enough to arrive at 0410 for an 0610 departure, expecting counters to be up and running at that hour, and can't understand the difference between a 1:05 flight time and a 1:20 gate-to-gate time, is just not even worth bothering with...
 
SOUTHWEST AIR DEFIYS TSA
Sun Jul 29 2007, flight 27, 0610 departure.
Southwest Air did not open kiosks and had no personal at their ticket counter until 0500, one hour before departure. The obvious question I had for the ticket agent when she finally did arrive to open was 'why are we (passengers) asked to be at the airport two hours ahead of departure and Southwest ticket personal arrive only one hour before?. Her response was 'oh, well that's just how it is, you know' I indicated I did not know and would like an explanation. Her answer was ' that is just how it is. I asked why were the kiosks not open? Her answer 'oh we can't do that'. I asked 'is T.S.A. aware of this policy' The flippant attitude changed abruptly to a curt response of 'sir would you please direct you comments to SWA on line.

After obtaining my boarding pass I noted a very long line waiting to be processed. I continued to gate B11 witch is a good 8 to 10 minute walk. I still needed to clear T.S.A. security. I arrived at the gate about 0520.

So let's see...it took him/her all of 20 minutes to check in when the ticket counter opened at 0500, clear TSA security, and make the "good 8 to 10 minute walk" to the gate. Yup, sounds like a huge problem to me.

On arrival at gate B11 there was not anyone from SWA to be seen. The gate personal (one woman ) arrived at 0540. Note SWA reserves the right to sell your seat if you are not at the gate 30 min before departure, more on this practice later.

This is patently false; the company's contract of carriage reads:

Ten-Minute Rule - Failure of the passenger to have obtained a Boarding Pass and be present and available for boarding in the departure boarding gate area at least ten (10) minutes before the scheduled or posted aircraft departure time may result in cancellation of the passenger’s reservation.

After boarding the announcement from the cockpit was the flight to Phoenix will take one hour and five minutes. Winds aloft would have to be over 100 miles per hour to accomplish this speed, or we would have to fly faster than the speed of sound as this flight normally takes about one hour and twenty minutes. This same announcement was repeated two times. The flight did take one hour and twenty minutes.

That's funny, the first Southwest flight from SLC to PHX this morning was aloft for a grand total of 54 minutes, according to flightaware. They must have borrowed a Concorde from the Museum of Flight.

I ask you how does SWA show support to TSA and their limited personal by not honoring their request to arrive two hours early and opening the baggage counters to help in clearing the security area? Does impeding passengers to the point of being late when they still need to go though TSA security help TSA do their job better?

Ya know, I looked through the TSA web site and nowhere do they "request" that passengers "arrive two hours early." They do advise passengers to check the wait times for the security checkpoints; the historical maximum wait time in the early morning on Monday (a busy morning for air travel) at SLC is 40 minutes, and that was in the Delta terminal.
 
Why all the foo-fa-raw about the denial of boarding to intoxicated passengers? Methinks the poster got denied boarding (not necessarily this particular time), and he's trying to spin the incident in his favor.

I loved the part about it was SWA's fault because they sold the alleged passenger the booze. Typical alcoholic rationalization--nothing is ever his fault. Did SWA employees hold him down and force him to drink the alcohol? I kinda doubt it.
 
Maybe he wanted to be first in line in the A boarding group. Never understood that logic...40 people in the A group, boarding an aircraft that holds over 120 people...and they LINE UP IN THE A GROUP.

DallasCattleHerd.jpg
 
That looks remarkably like the Delta gates when they announced "medallion" boarding. The whole waiting area stood up and proceeded to the agent. When they told them that this was for their "preferred" customers - most of the non-preferred folks sat back down...until they called boarding for first group...once again, everybody headed towards the agents.
 
This was posted a couple of weeks ago. I don't work upstairs so I don't really know how to rebutt this but I think this person is wrong an many counts. I have posted a link to the sight if anyone who works upstairs would like to file a response.
SOUTHWEST AIR DEFIYS TSA
Sun Jul 29 2007, flight 27, 0610 departure.
I arrived at SLC airport two hours before my flight departure time, as requested by Transportation Security Administration 'TSA'. Southwest Air did not open kiosks and had no personal at their ticket counter until 0500, one hour before departure. The obvious question I had for the ticket agent when she finally did arrive to open was 'why are we (passengers) asked to be at the airport two hours ahead of departure and Southwest ticket personal arrive only one hour before?. Her response was 'oh, well that's just how it is, you know' I indicated I did not know and would like an explanation. Her answer was ' that is just how it is. I asked why were the kiosks not open? Her answer 'oh we can't do that'. I asked 'is T.S.A. aware of this policy' The flippant attitude changed abruptly to a curt response of 'sir would you please direct you comments to SWA on line.

After obtaining my boarding pass I noted a very long line waiting to be processed. I continued to gate B11 witch is a good 8 to 10 minute walk. I still needed to clear T.S.A. security. I arrived at the gate about 0520. On arrival at gate B11 there was not anyone from SWA to be seen. The gate personal (one woman ) arrived at 0540. Note SWA reserves the right to sell your seat if you are not at the gate 30 min before departure, more on this practice later. After boarding the announcement from the cockpit was the flight to Phoenix will take one hour and five minutes. Winds aloft would have to be over 100 miles per hour to accomplish this speed, or we would have to fly faster than the speed of sound as this flight normally takes about one hour and twenty minutes. This same announcement was repeated two times. The flight did take one hour and twenty minutes.
As a passenger I feel the arrogance shown by SWA policy and SWA personal is almost unbelievable. I have further noticed SWA when overbooking their flights excel at finding a passenger that has been 'drinking or is loud' and is posing a threat to air safety. At that point its obvious to me that SWA does not offer a room or flight accommodations to the benefit of the passenger but keeps the passenger from boarding to the benefit of SWA . Note SWA overbooked the flight. Does this 'safety concern' from SWA extent to passengers who question SWA and their lack of customer service with their obvious self serving actions in disregards to TSA and the real safety of their passengers and crews? Will that same customer, passenger be denied boarding also? I ask you how does SWA show support to TSA and their limited personal by not honoring their request to arrive two hours early and opening the baggage counters to help in clearing the security area? Does impeding passengers to the point of being late when they still need to go though TSA security help TSA do their job better? How often does this scenario and others like this happen across the country?. When will the airlines participate in National Security as much as their customers?
The TV show 'Airline' showcases SWA and their 'customer service'. It seams that in almost every show passengers are denied boarding for violating the rules SWA has set forth, when if fact SWA violates their own rules with impunity. I further question the basis of denying boarding to a drinking passenger when SWA is the one who has served the alcohol to that passenger and then penalizes that passenger for South west airlines actions. Yet all at once SWA will insist it is only interested in the safety of public and the crew and will rely on TSA to give them that blanket authority to deny boarding. TSA please help the crews and the public who you are charged to protect. Bring SWA and any other airlines to accountability.

Fly time
wittmann, Arizona
U.S.A.

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/264/RipOff0264209.htm


This moron needs to get a clue and a life. What a freaking moron. :up: :up: :up:
 

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