What is it about SWA that people rave about?
 

Because I don't see it from a passenger point of view...

I have traveled on SWA several times recently (full revenue) and not only are the FA's rude old hags but the service has sucked lately.

What gives?

Company bean counters cutting corners?

No gate claim bags.

The agent let me preboard since he knew I was OAL.

"If you pre board no exit row PERIOD!" (In verbatim from FA) What a b!tch.

Has there been a decline in the LUV department amongst employees?

Just curious..

Ask for hot chocolate and a coffee while sitting in the last row on a sparse flight. They love that. Oh they do.

Don't sweat it. All airlines have bad apples.

A few less fees, a little lower fares, a bit more flexibility than the legacies.

As for the people who rave, it's like sports or religion. Once they commit, they ignore reason, and their "team" is the best.

All that and the goofy, rock concert boarding system.

GF

I wish other airlines would adopt their Jumpseat policy. Get on get your bags up, take a seat (out of courtesy take one behind the exit row unless told different) and if you are needed in the Jumpseat they call you up at the end. Doesn't get better than that.

Or most other airlines you are stuck getting on last minute trying to find overhead space. Then rushing to introduce yourself get settled, not rushing past the FAs today get on time, gate agents annoyed beyond you might make them close the door late etc.

The attraction to SWA is based on marketing technique.
Their market dept has most of the country believing that SWA always has the lowest fares. When in fact it is usually not the case. Why do you think SWA is not on most booking search engines?

I like SWA because they are consistent.

They're also smart. They look at where everyone is filed to and use alternate departure routes if available. We sit on the ground doing 20 in trail and they blast off going to the same destination.

What "gives" is your use of the words "recently" and "lately". To answer your question and understand it, you should understand a few things.

Their core customer base has been flying them longer than a decade. For ex, I started flying SWA out of DAL as a boy when one stood a very good chance of running into Herb Kelleher on a flight serving drinks and peanuts.

Decades later, 9/11 came along and SWA, alone among airlines, didn't lay off a single pilot, bag handler, or gate agent. The exec. suite even made a scheduled $179 million payment into a co. retirement plan during those uncertain times. In addition to all that, it has never sniffed bankruptcy and made a profit in every year of it's existence. Out of literally thousands of trips on SWA with innumerable connecting flights, they've never lost one of my checked bags and I usually arrive at my destination on time.

If I had to chose one word to describe SWA, in an industry fraught with risk, that word would be "reliable".

One can "rave" about SWA in any number of different ways. It has historically been a reliable company that gives the greatest value for your traveling dollar. It has been a reliable and safe investment for your stock portfolio. It's safety record is impeccable. It flies Boeing aircraft. I can go on and on.

Disclosure: never worked there, been a customer since the '70s, and I own the stock. Yes, I drank the kool-aid a long time ago, but the company and it's performance justified it and continues to do so.

From a passenger standpoint, customer service. From a NonRev/jumpseat standpoint, customer service. I've had gate agents go waaayyy out of their way to get me on a flight...and it's not just an isolated event, it's a part of their culture. Some legacies could take a few tips from WN's hospitality.

Breadsticks and cognac and humor you've never heard before and isn't rehearsed. :D

Honey roasted peanuts

Trapped in IND, trying to go to Chicago, USAir, AA, 300+ bucks. SW 117.00. No brainer.....

So I have to be a customer since the 70's to get respect from some old hag giving me her version of LUV?

With all do respect I don't care about your portfolio, profitability or running into Herb.

All I know that my past experiences LATELY, have not been good in my opinion as a full revenue passenger. Believe me that I am not in the least a demanding customer.

I run into rude FA's, supervisors that don't know proper protocols and then tell me that they are trying to help me when in fact they are doing just the opposite.

I was merely asking that if there has been internal issues with labor so people are irked or am I just getting the bad apples as one said.

That's it. No analysis, history, Boeing airplanes, stocks, drinks with Herb.

Why are you flying on them?

Well, that's not quite true, is it?

You DID read the question you asked in the title of your thread, didn't you? You never said you didn't want the full monte. No worries. No one likes surly FAs.

Anyway, I told ya I drank the kool-aid. Way back when Herb gave a certain chicken wing franchise the bottom end of it's business model. :cool:

My daughter likes flying them because you can cancel your reservation and get full credit for a future flight. Plus no charge for bags. Plus their fares are competitive.

It was only a matter of time.

I like SWA because the kitten population was getting pretty high and they solved it.

Same here. Virtually every ticket I have purchased over the past 10 years has been on SWA. The reason being, when my plans changed, I could get full credit back to be used on a future flight. SWA is the only airline that does that, although I have heard that policy has changed recently? If it has, my reason for flying SWA is gone.

It is a small but significant change....

Now you have to cancel atleast 10 mins before departure. If you just simply no show, then you loose your money. But if you are late reaching the airport, and reach the airport within 2 hours of the scheduled departure, then they put you on the next one out or reroute you to get get you where you are going & that is not considered a no show....

Still, you have your money which can be applied to future travel up to one year with no change penalty....

Not like UAL, where you can't use your travel funds online for a web fare but have t o call to make a booking & You are better off buying a new ticket than using old one...

Still one of the best travel experience, no nickel & dime for small things, simple philosophy first come first served, best rewards program, the list is long.....

You have to look past the age of the FA's & actually see how they are willing to help you....

If all one wants is cute looking girls, then fly Emirates or other Middle East or Asian carriers.....

For domestic travel, SWA is prolly the best value for money...

It hasn't changed that I know of. Their 'Reusable Funds' are available on all fares. You just have to cancel your reservation at least 10 minutes prior to the flight on the cheapest fares.
The policy is as follows:
Reusable Funds1
If you cancel your flight, 100% of your ticket value can be applied to future travel for up to 12 months.

1. No Show Policy: If you are not planning to travel on any portion of this itinerary, please cancel your reservation at least 10 minutes prior to scheduled departure of the flight. For tickets purchased on or after May 10, 2013, for travel beginning September 13, 2013, Customers who fail to cancel or change a Wanna Get Away or DING! Fare segment at least 10 minutes prior to travel and who do not board the flight, will be considered a no show, and all remaining funds on this reservation will be forfeited, including Business Select and Anytime funds. On cancellations, 100% of the ticket value may be applied to future travel to be completed for up to 12 months or by your ticket’s expiration date, whichever comes first.
   Canceling your reservations without penalty: If you call or cancel online at Southwest.com within 24 hours of booking, Southwest will offer you the option of refunding the airfare back to the original form of payment, or retaining the credit to be used toward future travel.

As one rival airline CEO once said of SWA many years ago, they set a lower bar of expectations for their customers, and then seldom fail to meet or exceed those expectations.

So, when the staff goes above and beyond, as they usually do, the customers think they're getting even more for their money, and feel as if they've had a great flight experience.

The legacy airlines, on the other hand, are still stuck in a bit of a time warp. Too many passengers (meaning casual flyers, not road warriors) today still think that when they buy a ticket on United or American or Delta, they expect the same experience as Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe, winging their way across the country in a Constellation, resting their heads on linen headliners, and being served tea in a China cup by a young, attractive "stewardess" wearing white gloves.

All for that $69 Internet fare.

I have also noticed that most airlines have cut way back on TV advertising -- with the notable exception of SWA, whose ads show up in every commercial break during baseball and basketball games, at least in the market where I reside.

My guess is that part of this phenomenon is SWA reinforcing in the minds of the masses how great they are, compared to other airlines (and there's nothing wrong with that -- especially the part about 'no itty-bitty regional jets'); and, that the legacies have finally smartened up and stopped spending money on TV ads trying to lure customers with unrealistic expectations, having finally realized that only one thing influences the purchasing habits of the Great Unwashed:

The cheapest fare on the Internet.

Non stop service.

The excuse for poor service called US airlines is the reason why many customers want foreign airlines to compete with US airlines for their business. Foreign customers already know the service at US airlines is poor.

The only reason they are not on a search engine is because of superior marketing. Airlines lose significant money to be able to sell tickets on your typical travel sites. Southwest has been able to successfully get the word out that their tickets can only be bought on southwest.com and that you'll get their lowest fare.

Every airline (including mine) would give their left engine to be able to ditch the search engines and direct all traffic to their sites.

BINGO!

In a huge number of markets, the only nonstop option is SWA due to not utilizing the traditional legacy hub and spoke network.

So in answer to your question "What is it about SWA that people rave about?" often it is nonstop service to a destination where none other exsists. In addition to a lot of other things people have already mentioned. Your still handing them money because they offer a service you desire.

Nice one, man..haha:D

Because pre-boarders are people physically (legally) unable to sit in the exit row, or DH/jumpseaters...the Exit Row is SWA's "First Class" and is reserved for the folks who paid for the right to get seated first. Only a colossal d1ck would call a FA a "b!tch" for enforcing that. That's like someone getting on a Legacy's airplane and taking an open seat in First without being offered it. D1ck move.

Yeah, right up to the pont where they have to pay for that service. Then most of them will be back on us.

You were not there @sshole and I did not take the seat. I asked about it after the agent was kind enough to let me preboard and I got snapped at like a rabid dog. Since you are reading impaired I was traveling on a full fare ticket and not jumpseating or non-rev.

So the only d!ck is the one you are sitting on.

There is always at least one sorry son of a b!tch that has to open their glory hole.

Geez Nemo. So you got snapped at by an FA. That's like freaking out over some temporary light chop in cruise. I bet you want to break things when you're thrown an unexpected gate change.

You aren't by chance a certain CA @ JB that recently tried to sue for being off your meds, are you?

Lol no. I guess you had to be there. Her attitude was unexpected given I gave her no reason to bark at me the way she did. One of the other folks that were on the plane even inquired as to what her problem was.

I started this thread because I began to see a trend of not so good attitudes from employees when I traveled on SWA. I am aware of their success and track record and it does speak for itself. I was only curious if it was just because of a few bad apples or are the folks there not so happy anymore. Maybe my title was a little misleading and should have been phrased more along those lines. My apologies.

Oh and the scumbag that you are referring to was not taking meds. He was overworking himself while downing diet shakes for an extended amount of time. Maybe it lead to his meltdown maybe it did not. I am no doctor. But since he was a avid juicer and company man management has helped him extensively and even kept him on the seniority list. Now he turns around and tries to sue because he feels that it was the company's and the crew's responsibility to ensure he was fit for duty. He just wants mo mo money.

Back to the topic my apologies for any misunderstandings and "blastoff" eat sh!t troll.

Smells like.....

FI

Charlie don't surf.

The original poster couldn't have been more correct. Additionally the quote above rarely happens anymore. They print you a boarding category and don't let you board with the flight deck authorization sheet that much anymore. If you ask them to board with the flight deck form, half of them don't understand that jumpseating doesn't actually mean the jumpseat and they say "no there are seats in the back". Explaining further, only confuses them further.

Lately agents have been rude, non-helpful, no preboarding, and a lot of agents have no idea what's going on anymore. I find the entire boarding experience to be a complete disaster once you're on board as well, everybody switching with everybody, never on time. The only pleasurable experience is dealing with the pilots ( who are exempt from all statements above and always go out of their way) and maybe half of the flight attendants.

For those who say fine then don't fly Southwest, I usually don't however they do have a very frequent schedule... and I'd rather it be fixed then just be told to fly on somebody else. It used to be a great experience.

Actually, it's funny how it depends on what channel/show you are watching. On CNBC its all Delta and United ads lately.
On Judge Judy (who makes $47million a year btw) its all SWA commercials.

Since I don't watch commercial TV other than sports, the only SWA commercials I see are on live ballgames; so I was not aware of that distribution of advertising.

Interesting demographic.

Thanks for pointing that out.

I have had a similar experience with some of our gate agents. They are honestly trying to help you out. They think that you prefer a seat in the cabin and don't want to have to go through the whole process of dealing with the jumpseat. I just politely ask for the cockpit jumpseat if that is what I want and if they still hand you a boarding group and you are in uniform, just head over to the preboard area and when the ops agent makes his or her initial announcement, ask if it is cool if you head down and introduce yourself. I haven't had one say no yet, and I frequently go down early with non-SWA guys who are in the same situation.

The response is generally the same no matter what from the flight crew - grab a seat in the back and make yourself at home. We will call you if we need you.

As for crabby FA's, every company has their five percent, us included. Some of them really need to take a long vacation. They get so frustrated telling customers the same thing over and over that it comes out rude and condescending.
Many captains (commuters, mainly) will tell guys to take a seat close to the front. You know, in case we have to call you up and for cabin security reasons in flight. I personally approve of that method. If not, though, I go aft of the exit row and plop down there in an aisle seat.

I don't care how many times I've seen it, this always cracks me up.

"It was the little things that got to me, like......EXCUSE ME!.....people."

$3+ mil in your profit sharing account after 20 years..

Anyway, that's was a SWA pilot/good friend of mine said another pilot told him.. he had been with the company for 20 years and had $3 million in just his profit sharing account.. now, I don't have a 4 year degree, and hate public math, but that equates to $150,000 a year..

Now, if they could just spend some of that profit on maintenance.

If he had played the market better he could have had $92 million, which would have been $4.6 million per year just from profit sharing.

With SWA, you know what you're going to get. They are consistent, the employees (generally) seem happier and more pleasant than the perpetually p!ssed off AA/UA/DAL crowd, and best of all (as has been noted previously) there is flexibility with changing/exchanging tickets. No $150 "change fee" (seriously? a few keyboard strokes costs that much?), no cancellation fee, no nickel and dime BS. And the frequent flyer program is just as flexible - have traveled for free a lot. Great website and app, hardly ever have to talk to a human.

I'm a fan, and steer clear of the legacies as much as possible.