Southwest is up next

I for one would like to hear the other side of the story. I am thinking they were allowed to board but took exception to the mother or just thought they were trying to cut the line.
 
Not covering for the airline, but Southwests explanation seems like the reasonable truth - they denied family boarding to the grandmother, not to one of the dads. And likely offered to let her take the place of one of the dads and they took that to mean "one of the dads was refused because he's gay!"
 
They allowed the male/male family to board, but not during the "family boarding". What were the damages suffered by them as passengers? I guess they had to wait a few extra minutes at the gate prior to boarding.
 
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If people keep this up the airlines will start privatizing and only carrying members. The general public can go ride on a broken down 3rd world carrier.
 
It's kind of an idiotic policy, in my opinion. Any group that is traveling together should be allowed to board as a group, family or otherwise.

Or better yet, just assign seats like almost every other airline does. The boarding free-for-all is one of the reasons why Southwest is right up down there with Spirit on my list of favorite airlines. I'll take an assigned seat of my choice on JetBlue to Southwest's stand-up routine briefings any day.

Rich
 
how come only people who are minorities and the disadvantaged get treated like crap by the airlines? I get treated like crap sometimes and get lied to all the time by the airlines, but I'm not out there crying discrmination. . . .

Grow up - its called 2017 and everyone gets lied to and treated like crap by the airlines. Stop having such a pita entitled attitude - and maybe you'll get treated with respect if you treat others with respect and not trot out the whining card at every juncture.
 
comanchepilot said:
how come only people who are minorities and the disadvantaged get treated like crap by the airlines? I get treated like crap sometimes and get lied to all the time by the airlines, but I'm not out there crying discrmination. . . .

Grow up - its called 2017 and everyone gets lied to and treated like crap by the airlines. Stop having such a pita entitled attitude - and maybe you'll get treated with respect if you treat others with respect and not trot out the whining card at every juncture.
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I know man - how dare they demand the grandmother take her place in line when the parents boarded with the kiddies. Shameful, old age discrimination!
 
dell30rb said:
Hate southwest.
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Love Southwest...flew them yesterday.

Anyway...SW is in the right here...just cuz people don't know the rules does not mean they get to play the freakin discrimination card every time they feel they were wronged. The GA may have certainly be able to handle and word the situation better but I don't know if I am more disgusted by people that continually scream "discrimination" when they don;t get their way or so called media that publishes this crap.

While there is indeed a lot of discrimination still in the US, applying stated rules does not mean you are being discriminated against. Just cuz the last gate agent let my 52lb bag slide without overweight charge and the next one charges me for it...I don't get to play freaking victim.

"Family boarding" is simply a courtesy with the open seating policy to those traveling with a child that the child can be seated with an adult and not be split up, NOT a guarantee that your whole "family" will get to sit together. Just like if you pay for assigned seats on other airlines to keep your group together, there are products on SW that you can buy to get better boarding positions and sit together. This party was trying to game the system on the cheap...plain and simple.
 
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Shawn said:
just cuz people don't know the rules does not mean they get to play the freakin discrimination card every time they feel they were wronged.
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It's one thing not knowing the family rules. It's another to be told outright: "You are not a family".
 
deonb said:
It's one thing not knowing the family rules. It's another to be told outright: "You are not a family".
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So they are just assuming SW meant "You are not a family" according to the traditional societal family structure as a statement of that agent's personal beliefs as opposed to "You are not a family" as your party is currently structured that meets out "family" boarding procedure to let you all on together ahead of everyone else.

Sorry, I can't believe anyone is that stupid to say that in that context...if they did that person should be fired and you still don't get the place the philosophy of a whole company on one individual stupid employee. Victim card and assumptions.
 
I told ya when this started everyone was going to be looking for their 15 minutes of fame and their payout.

In game show announcer voice:

"Our staff member accidentally said something dumb! You win free tickets and here's a local camera crew for you to cry to, just step right over here, and do an interview while we work hard not to offend someone else!"
 
deonb said:
It's one thing not knowing the family rules. It's another to be told outright: "You are not a family".
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The family was allowed, not the extended family (which included the Grandmother). As a Geezer myself, I'd like to board early but I tough it out and board with the rest of the cattle.

Cheers
 
Shawn said:
Sorry, I can't believe anyone is that stupid to say that in that context...if they did that person should be fired and you still don't get the place the philosophy of a whole company on one individual stupid employee.
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That's exactly what they said happened, and exactly what they are asking for.

There is a lot of nuance in the line "You are not a family". The meaning changes based on your voice, who you gesture at, who you look at etc. These guys took it that the gate agent meant them. Twice.

We can't possibly know what was meant without a video to judge ourselves. And SWA didn't address this at all in their reply.
 
bflynn said:
I know man - how dare they demand the grandmother take her place in line when the parents boarded with the kiddies. Shameful, old age discrimination!
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If granny needs to board early then get her a assistance pass - then let her board and save a row for you - like everybody else does.

You know how annoying it is as a regular passenger to be shuffled to the back of the arplane because half the damn airplane boards before because of all of the alleged disabilities and families with 37 kids and their junk and then the elderly and people who I saw walk into the airport carting their bag all of a sudden are in a wheelchair? Getting prime up front aisle seats?

There HAS to be a way to start certifying this stuff. . .

I have a societal disability - I am a royal first class a-hole - can I get a priority slot too? Cause people don't like me?
 
comanchepilot said:
If granny needs to board early then get her a assistance pass - then let her board and save a row for you - like everybody else does.

You know how annoying it is as a regular passenger to be shuffled to the back of the arplane because half the damn airplane boards before because of all of the alleged disabilities and families with 37 kids and their junk and then the elderly and people who I saw walk into the airport carting their bag all of a sudden are in a wheelchair? Getting prime up front aisle seats?

There HAS to be a way to start certifying this stuff. . .

I have a societal disability - I am a royal first class a-hole - can I get a priority slot too? Cause people don't like me?
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They should let you drive,Joe.
 
Nowadays, I fly SW almost exclusively - 3 times in the past 7 months so admittedly not a lot. Coming out of Orlando a couple of weeks ago, I could see the strollers lining up so I went up to the gate agent and gladly purchased an upgrade to A3 from C30. Behind me was a FA deadheading and as we chitchatted, I asked her what the secret was to a good seat and she helpfully told me. And she was right!

On the way down, the flight was delayed about 5 hours at the gate. While waiting to board the gate agent called my name. I reported as requested and he handed me a $100 voucher for a future flight. That seemed reasonable for my trouble considering I didn't ask for any compensation and I was at home watching the status of the flight from my EZ chair. I have never met a cross or unfriendly FA on SW - can't say that about the TSA rent-a-cops. I just treat them with respect, be kind and realize they have to deal with the PUBLIC all day long.

Yes I hate flying commercial like everyone else, but IME SW is the best at customer service.
 
bflynn said:
The stink was over the grandmother boarding because family boarding only allows parents to board with children. Both fathers were allowed to board and there was no discrimination.

https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/t5/Southwest-Stories/Statement-about-Flight-5136-on-May-20-2017/ba-p/56349

Solution should have been to have grandmother take one of the kids and pretend to be another family. But from what I hear, SWA will end family boarding soon anyway.
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I recently flew SWA and they clearly state during the family boarding that it's parents only.
 
iflyvfr said:
Nowadays, I fly SW almost exclusively - 3 times in the past 7 months so admittedly not a lot. Coming out of Orlando a couple of weeks ago, I could see the strollers lining up so I went up to the gate agent and gladly purchased an upgrade to A3 from C30. Behind me was a FA deadheading and as we chitchatted, I asked her what the secret was to a good seat and she helpfully told me. And she was right!

On the way down, the flight was delayed about 5 hours at the gate. While waiting to board the gate agent called my name. I reported as requested and he handed me a $100 voucher for a future flight. That seemed reasonable for my trouble considering I didn't ask for any compensation and I was at home watching the status of the flight from my EZ chair. I have never met a cross or unfriendly FA on SW - can't say that about the TSA rent-a-cops. I just treat them with respect, be kind and realize they have to deal with the PUBLIC all day long.

Yes I hate flying commercial like everyone else, but IME SW is the best at customer service.
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Care to share :)
 
deonb said:
It's one thing not knowing the family rules. It's another to be told outright: "You are not a family".
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Ok, so a complete stranger says something that someone else doesn't like...oh the humanity. Geez, could we as a society become bigger pansies.
100 years ago people had real struggles to just survive...now, if someone says something that offends me it makes national news.
 
denverpilot said:
I told ya when this started everyone was going to be looking for their 15 minutes of fame and their
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denverpilot said:
I told ya when this started everyone was going to be looking for their 15 minutes of fame and their payout.

In game show announcer voice:

"Our staff member accidentally said something dumb! You win free tickets and here's a local camera crew for you to cry to, just step right over here, and do an interview while we work hard not to offend someone else!"
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heres your voice

 
tawood said:
Ok, so a complete stranger says something that someone else doesn't like...oh the humanity. Geez, could we as a society become bigger pansies.
100 years ago people had real struggles to just survive...now, if someone says something that offends me it makes national news.
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Not a complete stranger. An official airline employee that has been sanctioned to speak on behalf of the airline.

When you phone up SWA, do you say afterwards: "I spoke to Cindy", or do you say: "I spoke to SouthWest"? Do you say: "I bought a ticket from Cindy". "Cindy has a stupid baggage policy". "Cindy killed my dog". I bet you don't. Instead, you bought the ticket from SWA. SWA has a stupid baggage policy, and SWA killed your dog.

Similarly when someone stands up there wearing a uniform and judging whether 2 legally married people constitutes a family or not, it's not Cindy doing this, it's South West.

And if this is not reflective of South West's policies or values, they do need to come out and say it.

I'm not saying that this happened at all. Maybe the agent never said anything that resembles or truly implies: "You are not a family". But if she did, and she was my employee, she would be fired. And that has nothing to do with politics - if she said: "Gun toting rednecks aren't welcome", she'd be fired as well.

There are corporations who proudly display and enforce a single religious belief, and only want employees and customers who agree with that belief. That's fine, but I don't think SWA is one of those organizations.
 
deonb said:
Similarly when someone stands up there wearing a uniform and judging whether 2 legally married people constitutes a family or not, it's not Cindy doing this, it's South West.

And if this is not reflective of South West's policies or values, they do need to come out and say it.
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They did. The day it happened. You're about 5 days late and don't even have the correct facts. See my link above.

The two fathers were NOT denied boarding, grandma was. The two parents could board, the grandmother had to wait her place in line. That is standard SWA policy for everyone.
 
bflynn said:
They did. The day it happened. You're about 5 days late and don't even have the correct facts. See my link above.

The two fathers were NOT denied boarding, grandma was. The two parents could board, the grandmother had to wait her place in line. That is standard SWA policy for everyone.
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Nowhere close to the argument I was making. The flight attended allegedly didn't say: "You have too many members". Or "Only 2 adults allowed".

She (allegedly) said "You are not a family". It's a very different thing, and even those words are nuanced based on how you say it.

The SWA reply didn't at all address this. Just the technicality of why pre-boarding was not allowed, which is the lesser of the issue. Even if they just come out and say: "Our agent didn't say anything like that", it's still fine. But they're silent on that - which is bad.

I mean, this is SWA after all - they're winning the race to the bottom. They need to just treat everybody equally crappy and make boarding a free-for-all fistfight.
 
deonb said:
Not a complete stranger. An official airline employee that has been sanctioned to speak on behalf of the airline.

When you phone up SWA, do you say afterwards: "I spoke to Cindy", or do you say: "I spoke to SouthWest"? Do you say: "I bought a ticket from Cindy". "Cindy has a stupid baggage policy". "Cindy killed my dog". I bet you don't. Instead, you bought the ticket from SWA. SWA has a stupid baggage policy, and SWA killed your dog.

Similarly when someone stands up there wearing a uniform and judging whether 2 legally married people constitutes a family or not, it's not Cindy doing this, it's South West.

And if this is not reflective of South West's policies or values, they do need to come out and say it.

I'm not saying that this happened at all. Maybe the agent never said anything that resembles or truly implies: "You are not a family". But if she did, and she was my employee, she would be fired. And that has nothing to do with politics - if she said: "Gun toting rednecks aren't welcome", she'd be fired as well.

There are corporations who proudly display and enforce a single religious belief, and only want employees and customers who agree with that belief. That's fine, but I don't think SWA is one of those organizations.
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I don't care what the employee AND/OR the company calls me. They can call me the most vile horrible things, and I don't give two chits. I have bigger fish to fry. And you apparently care. I guess I see the definition of "being offended" differently than you do. I don't see it as being a big deal, while you (and apparently most people in this crazy world) see it as the end-all.
I saw in the story the guy involved actual cried. I'm sorry, but to me this just shows what they are dealing with.
 
deonb said:
Not a complete stranger. An official airline employee that has been sanctioned to speak on behalf of the airline.

When you phone up SWA, do you say afterwards: "I spoke to Cindy", or do you say: "I spoke to SouthWest"? Do you say: "I bought a ticket from Cindy". "Cindy has a stupid baggage policy". "Cindy killed my dog". I bet you don't. Instead, you bought the ticket from SWA. SWA has a stupid baggage policy, and SWA killed your dog.

Similarly when someone stands up there wearing a uniform and judging whether 2 legally married people constitutes a family or not, it's not Cindy doing this, it's South West.

And if this is not reflective of South West's policies or values, they do need to come out and say it.

I'm not saying that this happened at all. Maybe the agent never said anything that resembles or truly implies: "You are not a family". But if she did, and she was my employee, she would be fired. And that has nothing to do with politics - if she said: "Gun toting rednecks aren't welcome", she'd be fired as well.

There are corporations who proudly display and enforce a single religious belief, and only want employees and customers who agree with that belief. That's fine, but I don't think SWA is one of those organizations.
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One hand you're "not saying it happened at all" but all your posts have the attitude that it did...given all the false hate crimes that were reported post-election that were then debunked perhaps waiting for more information would be prudent before we erect the gallows for this particular GA.
 
All the silly word-semantics about "family" aside, I can't imagine my family getting all worked up about sitting together on a domestic shorthaul flight. Hell, probably not even if it was international.

One parent would take the kid, the other would sit with their mom.

Or if grandma wanted the kid, the parents would sit together and grandma and kid could board early.

I can't figure out what the actual SEATING BFD is here. Just get on the cattle car in pairs. It isn't like folks don't know Southwest is cattle car style when they buy the damn ticket.

Want assigned seats? Buy them on an airline that does that. SMH.
 
denverpilot said:
I told ya when this started everyone was going to be looking for their 15 minutes of fame and their payout.

In game show announcer voice:

"Our staff member accidentally said something dumb! You win free tickets and here's a local camera crew for you to cry to, just step right over here, and do an interview while we work hard not to offend someone else!"
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I don't know -'word from the rumor mill is that he only got 1 million dollars. He and his lawyer sat down with about 5 UAL lawyers and they offered him a one time deal. If he didn't take the deal they profiled how they would ultimately find a way to air out his less than stellar past to the whole world. Whatever the truth is we will never know though.
 
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