Well done Southwest Airlines

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austinglasair

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Too cool not to share. My Dad had to shoot me an e-mail with a picture to prove it. Friday night he was returning from Vegas and was on his last leg from Midway on a SWA 737. Once everyone was seated the Captain starting from the front and working his way back shook every passenger's hand and said, "thank you for flying southwest." Sometimes he even said, "thank you for paying for my pay check" with a smile. Once he got to the front of the aircraft, he pulled out a picture of his children, got on the PA and said, "Ok folks, here's a picture of my kids, ones name is ...... the other one's name starts with an 'M'" whoever can guess my childs name will get a free drink tonight." People were guessing the obvious names and after a while gave up. "His name is Mustang!" He introduced his crew for the flight, of which one of them was the #1 stewardess for last year for SWA. It sounds like southwest knows how to conduct customer service once the door is closed.
 
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When I lived on the road off most of the 90s I grew to love SWA due to their customer service and always-upbeat attitude.
 
When I absolutely have to fly on an ATOD, Southwest is my first choice. They are straightforward, fair on price (not always cheapest, but they never gouge and never, ever cause you to forfeit the money you paid), and when ops get irregular, they task multiple agents to FIX it.

With the last vestiges of the old Wright restrictions going away this fall, and the remarkably nice new terminals at DAL, Southwest is cleared for takeoff... again.
 
Sounds like a massive waste of time to me. Airlines don't sell transportation...they sell time. If it wasn't for time people would walk to where they were going. This captain was stealing from his pax in order to stoak his ego...IMO.
 
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Captain said:
Sounds like a massive waste of time to me. Airlines don't sell transportation...they sell time. If it wasn't for time people would walk to where they were going. This captain was stealing from his pax in order to stoak his ego...IMO.
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Might he have done it while the FO was flying? That's what I assumed.
 
Captain said:
Sounds like a massive waste of time to me. Airlines don't sell transportation...they sell time. If it wasn't for time people would walk to where they were going. This captain was stealing from his pax in order to stoak his ego...IMO.
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You have to be the sourest guy I've come across in a long while. We're in Hanger talk, so I'll just leave it at that.

Urine is not the only fluid you can put on corn flakes.
 
I have been on flights where everyone was seated and we had more than a few minutes before we were allowed to depart for one reason or another. Maybe this was one of those situations.
 
spiderweb said:
Might he have done it while the FO was flying? That's what I assumed.
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I don't think they are allowed to do that any more. Also the OP said "right after they were seated". There must have been some other reason for the delay otherwise I can't imagine someone taking the time to shake hands with everyone in the airplane. I flew on Southwest yesterday and every seat was filled.
 
Captain said:
Sounds like a massive waste of time to me. Airlines don't sell transportation...they sell time. If it wasn't for time people would walk to where they were going. This captain was stealing from his pax in order to stoak his ego...IMO.
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Opinions are like - - - , everyone has one.
 
Holy negativity batman. If push back isn't for another 20 minutes and it takes him 3 minutes to do what he did, what's the harm in that? After doing something like that (the captain) I don't care if we got off the ground 30 minutes late, that's an impressive act of appreciation and service. Which is lacking today, no?
 
Does the crew get paid by the hour for the time the door is closed?

Does this give the crew an incentive to close the door before it is necessary?

Just curious.
 
NoHeat said:
Does the crew get paid by the hour for the time the door is closed?

Does this give the crew an incentive to close the door before it is necessary?

Just curious.
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At at least one carrier that I am familiar with, the clock starts when the door is closed and the parking brake is released.

And the door won't be closed before scheduled departure time unless a very special set of circumstances are met. And in 25 years, I have never seen that happen.

JOOC, what did you have in mind?
 
Captain said:
Sounds like a massive waste of time to me. Airlines don't sell transportation...they sell time. If it wasn't for time people would walk to where they were going. This captain was stealing from his pax in order to stoak his ego...IMO.
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I don't fly much commercially anymore, but I hope never to run across you, or someone who thinks like you do, the next time I am flying commercially.

Good grief.
 
Well, mostly I'm just wondering if the Captain was paid or not, for the time spent talking to every passenger.

I thought that perhaps he was paid, because the door was closed, even if they were still at the gate. But I think I see now that he was not paid, since you said that the crew doesn't start earning until the brakes are released, and I assume the brakes were applied during the aisle-long handshake.
 
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Every crew in the world releases the brake once the door is closed for that reason. Now that I've said that someone will protest some crew that doesn't. Fine. But every single flight I've ever observed, without fail, releases the brakes when the door closes.

To my previous post...if there was a known delay to mitigate the 'meet and greet' then the OP should have stated it.
 
NoHeat said:
Well, mostly I'm just wondering if the Captain was paid or not, for the time spent talking to every passenger.

I thought that perhaps he was paid, because the door was closed, even if they were still at the gate. But I think I see now that he was not paid, since you said that the crew doesn't start earning until the brakes are released, and I assume the brakes were applied during the aisle-long handshake.
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Let me clarify. The door has to be closed and the brakes need to be released to start the clock. The clock stays running until the door opens again.

Let me propose a scenario. It is time to depart. The door is closed and the plane releases the brakes for pushback. After pushback, the airplane is told they have a 45 minute ground delay. The crew taxies to the penalty box and shuts down for the delay. Still on the clock. The Captain takes the delay opportunity to do some PR with the passengers. Not a bad way to spend the delay, IMO.

And for what it is worth, I am getting conflicting vibes from the original story. I can't tell for sure if the Captain did his walk-a-bout before or after the door was closed. Could go either way in my opinion.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Let me clarify. The door has to be closed and the brakes need to be released to start the clock. The clock stays running until the door opens again.

Let me propose a scenario. It is time to depart. The door is closed and the plane releases the brakes for pushback. After pushback, the airplane is told they have a 45 minute ground delay. The crew taxies to the penalty box and shuts down for the delay. Still on the clock. The Captain takes the delay opportunity to do some PR with the passengers. Not a bad way to spend the delay, IMO.

And for what it is worth, I am getting conflicting vibes from the original story. I can't tell for sure if the Captain did his walk-a-bout before or after the door was closed. Could go either way in my opinion.
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You are adding to the story. All that was relayed was the door was shut and the captain took the time to shake everyone's hand. No mention of delay or any other reason to not push and go.

If stating the obvious makes me mean then so be it. As a Captain I try to get my peeps to where they're going as quickly and safely as I can. Of course I am professional and polite, but you can do that and not waste time too.
 
There's one in every crowd..smh.

I wonder if you had been on that plane and the Captain had come over to shake your hand, would you have refused and asked him why he was wasting so much of your precious time...?
 
tomf188 said:
There's one in every crowd..smh.

I wonder if you had been on that plane and the Captain had come over to shake your hand, would you have refused and asked him why he was wasting so much of your precious time...?
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Of course not. I am polite. But I'd be ticked if the story really went down the way depicted. Maybe that's why businesses don't fly SWA?
 
Captain makes a valid point that airlines do sell time but I think he's missing a another point that this pilot seems to be going above and beyond for his company and passengers. He is right that it takes a lot of time to be that appreciative but sometimes it takes a good apple to make an uncomfortable passenger feel better about flying and also restore a little of humanity. I don't believe this should be a practice for every flight but it's a neat story. It could also be true that he has an ego but it's unfair to say that without knowing the pilot. I miss the personal touch of the crew and as long as there is time that cannot be used for pilot duties and you're just sitting there anyways, why not give a personal hello?
 
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Captain said:
You are adding to the story.
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I proposed a scenario based on my airline experience, no more, no less.

All that was relayed was the door was shut and the captain took the time to shake everyone's hand.
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Based on my experience as an airline pilot, what I am very certain of is that the Captain did not delay the flight to do his PR thing. If the OP got his facts right and the door was in fact closed, I can say with almost certainty that there was either a long gate hold or the plane pushed off the gate and was held in the penalty box for a wheels up time. And yes, it is speculation based on my experience. Also, based on my experience, this sort of PR thing would be done before the door was closed.

No mention of delay or any other reason to not push and go.
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Doesn't mean that didn't happen.

but you can do that and not waste time too.
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And now YOU are assuming facts not presented.
 
Let me get this straight Captain is complaining because an airline is treating passengers as human not just cattle.
 
Captain said:
Every crew in the world releases the brake once the door is closed for that reason. Now that I've said that someone will protest some crew that doesn't. Fine. But every single flight I've ever observed, without fail, releases the brakes when the door closes.

To my previous post...if there was a known delay to mitigate the 'meet and greet' then the OP should have stated it.
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Having worked on the ramp for many years, the pilots released the brakes when we were ready to push off the gate.
 
Captain said:
Sounds like a massive waste of time to me. Airlines don't sell transportation...they sell time. If it wasn't for time people would walk to where they were going. This captain was stealing from his pax in order to stoak his ego...IMO.
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Given that pretty much everyone I know that's received similar personal attention from SWA came away thinking the airline knows how to woo and treat it's customers I'd say your concerns are misplaced. If the only thing airline passengers valued was time they'd pack themselves into containers for quicker loading and unloading to save a few minutes on each trip.
 
gismo said:
Given that pretty much everyone I know that's received similar personal attention from SWA came away thinking the airline knows how to woo and treat it's customers I'd say your concerns are misplaced. If the only thing airline passengers valued was time they'd pack themselves into containers for quicker loading and unloading to save a few minutes on each trip.
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Um, no disrespect intended but...

http://origin-www.businessweek.com/...dot-s-dot-airline-is-also-the-most-profitable
 
I try to at least go back and thank my passengers when we start disembarkation at the gate. If we are caught in a gate hold I make a PA and explain why we are delayed and reassure them we are working on getting underway ASAP and will do our best to make up time.

On occasion I have stepped in the back to answer passenger questions why we are waiting. Lots of passengers are already apprehensive about flying so putting a human touch to a situation is good PR, in my opinion.
 
Tristar said:
I miss the personal touch of the crew and as long as there is time that cannot be used for pilot duties and you're just sitting there anyways, why not give a personal hello?
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Two of my most memorable experiences were sitting in the cockpit of a 757-200 (after we landed) and discussing aviation with the Captain and First Officer. Once in Aruba and last year in Cancun. That was so awesome! The Captain even told my son to sit in his seat, took my camera and snapped a few pictures. Then told me to sit in the right seat while he took my picture. I was like a kid in a candy store:D
 
I had a similar experience on a Delta international flight during a maintenance delay. The captain stopped at each seat in the Business cabin, showed the routing on the oceanic charts, thanked each passenger, and asked if there was anything they could do to make us more comfortable. He also addressed the coach cabin.

Very good PR.
 
I was on SWA one flight when the flight attendants set up a toilet paper race. They took two rolls to the front, then during our takeoff acceleration, rotation, and climb, they unrolled all the way to the back. Harmless fun.

What they didn't do was this - put one end of the TP roll in the toilet, and flush:

http://youtu.be/0qQcUvr3pVA
 
Captain said:
Of course not. I am polite. But I'd be ticked if the story really went down the way depicted. Maybe that's why businesses don't fly SWA?
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You are surely joking, right?

Southwest was created for the explicit purpose of allowing business travel around Texas, and it has grown on a foundation of business travelers. Note: they don't open stations which will not support substantial frequencies, because that is what business travel requires, and it is the only carrier which never, ever requires forfeiture of funds when flights are cancelled. The short-lead fares are not staggering, and short-lead purchasers aren't relegated to the last-row penalty box by the lav and between the engines on a pathetically small RJ.

I expect silly statements like that to pop up on that Airliner forum (where everyone flies first class, and they're all platinum elite king in the ff programs); never here, where so many of us actually spend our own money to fly, whether in our own planes or on an airliner.
 
I always always always fly southwest if they have a flight going where I need to go. I am also willing to pay more to fly on a southwest 737 over some regional crj.

I don't care about assigned seats and basically never take my headphones off while traveling. I want to get where I need to go without delay and if something goes wrong I want to be treated like a human. Southwest does the above very well.
 
Captain said:
Every crew in the world releases the brake once the door is closed for that reason. Now that I've said that someone will protest some crew that doesn't. Fine. But every single flight I've ever observed, without fail, releases the brakes when the door closes.

To my previous post...if there was a known delay to mitigate the 'meet and greet' then the OP should have stated it.
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WRONG. no one is going to risk having the aircraft roll into ground equipment just to get the clock running. Brakes are released when everything and everyone one is secure and ground crew is also ready for brake release.

Besides that, our aircraft need doors closed, brakes released, AND aircraft movement sensed by the IRS's to send a block out time.
 
Southwest is not paid by the hour but instead by the trip. They are about the only airline that does this. Southwest also has the highest labor cost of all current US airlines.
 
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