Southwest Airlines is so much less than what it promised
By Ray Hanania
Flying on an airplane used to be fun. But these days, it’s
changed. And it’s not just because of Sept. 11. It has more to do with greed.
Southwest Airlines is a good example. Cited 10 times by
Fortune Magazine for its financial management, it knows little about how to
treat customers.
Southwest Airlines began in Texas in 1967 as Air Southwest
and changed its name in 1971. It has always portrayed itself as the “little
guy” in the airline business, promising the highest service and the lowest
cost.
Like all of the airlines, Southwest Airlines saves money by
nickel and diming its passengers, offering the lowest fares by treating passengers
like cows. But Southwest Airlines has taken it all one step further.
They don’t assign seats when you buy your ticket. That’s too
civilized for cows. Instead, you line up based on whether you pay them extra
money. Some people might call that bribing the company to give you a better
place in line.
You get seats in one of two ways. You are assigned a
“boarding position” when you register for your flight online at least 24 hours
before your flight.
Or, you can pay the airline $15 per passenger to have them
assign you a “boarding position” 36 hours before the flight in boarding
positions 1 through 60.
But 40 minutes before the flight, Southwest Airline sells
the first spots in line to passengers who are willing to pay $40 more.
Worse, is that no one really checks to see if people are
being honest. The boarding steward doesn’t care. He just checks you in. So many
people simple get in the line even ahead of their real assigned number.
You can see how all that ala
carte spending starts to add up.
It’s uncivilized, which is what Southwest Airlines should use
in its motto. “We’re the uncivilized airline, but we’re rich” rather than their
worthless motto which now laughingly proclaims, “Doing the Right Thing.”
What does that mean anyway? The “right thing” for who? Not
the passengers.
When you pay $15 to “early register” for the flight, don’t
you think that means getting a seat assigned. No. It means getting in a pecking
order on where you stand in line trying to get a seat.
The steward jokingly urges passengers to pay the extra $40
per person “to sit with your significant other,” meaning the chances of a
family sitting together are probably only 30 percent. Those are bad odds.
The uncivilized way they assign seats is only the beginning.
The seats themselves are the most cramped of any airline. In fact, when you get
into your seat, somewhere at the back of the plane after paying a fortune, the
fold-out tray opens and touches your stomach. It has a sliding feature, but it
has no room to slide on normal people.
They are constantly also trying to “balance” their airline
wait, asking passengers to take a later flight for a flight coupon. That tells
me they constantly overbook.
Maybe they should call Southwest Airlines “Sardine Airlines.”
At least you will know what you are paying for.
I liked the old days when airlines treated people with
respect. You got what you paid for. Now, they want to take your money and give
you what they want.
There was a time when people meant something. These days,
we’re just Sherpas for someone else’s profits.
(Ray Hanania is an award winning columnist. Reach him at www.TheMediaOasis.com. Or follow him on
Twitter @RayHanania.)
