Southwest Airlines: No family pre-boarding buzz
Our post, “Southwest Airlines ends pre-boarding for families?” struck quite a nerve. At the time of this post our comment section had 100 128 179 comments and there were twice as many pro family pre-boarding readers than there were anti-family. Of course there were several repeat commentors and even more readers whose opinions had nothing to do with pre-boarding.
There were sentiments that included boycotting Southwest, the call for adults-only flights, the desire for special sections for parents and children, and others who weren’t happy with the pre-boarding decision because they like to know where the kids are sit well away from them.
You can read all the comments yourself here. I pulled these two comments that had less to do with pre-boarding and more to do with the larger picture at hand.
Jim C said,
The problem is really NOT the pre-boards, it’s SWA’s failure to maintain the schedule and then they try to hurry the boarding process and the pre-boards seem to slow down the process and that’s why there is such angst.
Paul Covington said,
And that’s what’s wrong with America today. Until this society starts showing some real compassion for children and those who are raising them, we will continue to have children who grow up against the system.
If you’re new to the subject, read Los Angeles Times Staff Writer David Colker’s article, “Airline to end policy of letting families board first”.
BUZZ: I found blog posts about this topic on Gadling, WorldHum and Strollerderby — but the blog with the most comments on Southwest’s new changes were on their own blog. CEO Gary Kelly wrote a post about their decision on whether or not to keep open seating in “To assign or not to assign, that is the question”. While he didn’t mention anything about changing the family pre-boarding rule in his post, their readers sure had something to say about it. Quite a lot, actually.
13 Comments on “Southwest Airlines: No family pre-boarding buzz”
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September 24th, 2007 at 10:53 am
Whew. Thank you to everyone for the (relatively) civil comments and lively, thought-provoking debate on Jen’s original post, Southwest Airlines ends pre-boarding for families?
Only time will tell if, as many of you have suggested, Southwest has dropped the ball on this issue.
The question we’d like to explore now is:
Worldwide, which airlines do the best job of balancing catering to families, travelers with other unique needs and the rest of their paying customers?
Happy flying, and please, no personal attacks.
~ Andrew
Sr. Editor + Producer
travel.latimes.com
September 24th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
British Airways is hands down the best, followed by other European carriers like Virgin Atlantic (for short or long flights)
All of the U.S. based airlines are a mixed bag, sometimes good, sometimes terrible.
British Airwarys:
food, play toys, bassinets for long haul, pre-installed car seats, movies, tv, and sometimes even handheld games. If you book enough in advance you can get bulkhead seating.
Typical U.S. flying experience while travelling solo:
“No ma’am, we cannot allow you to use an elevator to walk down two flights of stairs to the tarmac and up the 14 inch wide stairs onto the plane. Please solve your own problems with your 25 lb child, 20 lb carseat, and bag of toys that we will also not help you carry.” The last time I asked for bulkhead seating I was told (in a whisper) that I should call back and say I was disabled.
I’d pay an extra $150 (or more) for British Airways type of service on a U.S. flight.
September 27th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Ha. I am disabled, and i hate British Airways. They won’t even let me pre-book an aisle seat with my disabled paperwork on me at an airport. They are rude and awful. It you aren’t a frequent flier of theirs, they wont’ let you have any seat request.
I am also childless, and I think Southwest’s new decision is appalling!
I cant’ even imagine trying to travel with kids. It must be so difficult - putting people with small children who need to sit next to them - in an open boarding queue is just a bad idea.
I dont’ know what Southwest is thinking. I think parents with children should always be allowed to pre-board - open seating or not.
Why do healthy people travelling without children resent having anything but the optimal situation for them?
This selfishness and lack of concern for society, including parents with small children, is just so horrific.
I see people without children parking all the time in the lot for people with children at the Ikea near me.
What is wrong with these people that thye won’t walk an extra 50 meters??
October 14th, 2007 at 12:25 am
In a message with the subject “Law school graduate tossed off Southwest flight for asking questions about pre-boarding policy!” reader Paul Stewart of Merion, PA emailed:
“This morning [Oct. 13, 2007] Southwest personnel denied me access to my flight from Philadelphia to Ft. Lauderdale following my request to discuss and review its pre-boarding policy. After telling me I had no right to discuss their policy concerning pre-boarding, a Southwest supervisor name Carol told me I was denied travel on Southwest for being controversial about their program, even though the original gate agent, name Lennox, provided me a copy of the pre-boarding policy in writing.
Upon having three Philadelphia Police officers escort me out of the terminal, Carol concluded with, “Was it worth it? Worth it to lose your trip over our pre-boarding policy.”
It reminded me of the scene in Anger Management when airline security kept demanding that Adam Sandler “calm down” and ultimately tasered him.
I am considering a Free Speech claim against Southwest but I liked to learn more about other incidents involving Southwest arbitrarily removing people from flights.
Can you provide any insight?”
[telephone # removed]
Has anyone else been asked to leave a flight on Southwest or another carrier for questioning company policies?
- Andrew, Sr. Editor/Producer, travel.latimes.com
October 18th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Here is a new tool (beta) for checking into Southwest and getting into the A group automatically. You put in your name and confirmation number and it will check you in as soon as check-in becomes available for the flight, putting you at the front of the line.
http://southwest.hopto.org
November 3rd, 2007 at 6:25 am
I hate Southwest’s new family boarding policy!! I just traveled Southwest alone w/ my 1 yr daughter. I always buy her a ticket so that she can ride in her car seat. SOO to carry her, the car seat, her diaper bag and a bag for myself and to get more than half way down the plane is a real hassle!! Next time I will fly DELTA!
November 14th, 2007 at 6:27 am
i had my first and last Southwest flight last week, boarding procedures were ridiculous, the last on the plane was a mother with 3 little kids who were asked to sit wherever they could, the poor kids were so close to tears, finally people started moving around which finally worked for the family, but delayed the flight.
whoever thought this was a good idea needs to have their head examined
November 18th, 2007 at 4:53 am
My family will not travel with Southwest again until families are allowed to pre-board.
Shaun Dakin
StopSouthwestPreboard.com
December 9th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
My five year old was forced to sit with strangers. When he statrted crying the flight attendant told him he better stop or his family wouldn’t get to go to Disneyland.
December 24th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
If you’re traveling with children under 4, Southwest’s new seating arrangement can be NIGHTMARE. I held up the line while trying to maneuver an infant, toddler, stoller and car seat by myself. In the old method, we used to get assistance and plenty of time when we PRE-BOARDED and we didn’t have to hold any other passengers up while getting situation (Believe it or not, parents traveling with small children and equipment actually need more time to set up). We used to get to sit right up front, away from other passengers and closer to flight attendants in case we needed help. Now, we are lucky if we can find 3 seats together away from the wing (where the noise makes my infant cry). As a parent of an infant & toddler, I do all I can to be courteous to other passengers. SOUTHWEST, PLEASE DO US ALL A FAVOR AND ALLOW PARENTS WITH SMALL CHILDREN TO BOARD FIRST AGAIN. YOU ARE MAKING LIFE DIFFICULT FOR PARENTS AND OTHER PASSENGERS.
December 27th, 2007 at 9:30 am
just realized the preboarding policy change for swa.. no longer flying and taking united instead.
infant 6 months.
I would rather drive to iad that take swa out of bwi from baltimore than put up with this aggravation
January 1st, 2008 at 6:23 pm
me at bwi, just so you know, United no longer allows passengers with small children to preboard either. When my husband and I traveled with my then 8-month-old, we were not allowed to preboard and unfortunately inconvenienced other travelers while trying to maneuver into the plane with our child, car seat and other gear. You might want to consider another airline.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:41 am
was recently on a very full SW flight to Las Vegas. There was a mom with her 6 or 7 year old daughter. By the time they boarded the flight there were no two seats together. The only thing that was left were middle seats. The mom was very distressed and no one was moving for her. I would have moved myself but I was in the middle seat so me moving would not have helped her. No flight attendant came to her aid and she just stood there trying to get the courage to ask someone to move. She started to give up and was motioning for her daughter to sit between two men. The open seats were almost all between two men. I couldn’t believe it! No one even made a gesture to move and no FA had come to her aid. I could not just sit there and not help so I got up and very directly and firmly asked a man to move to one of the middle seats so the woman and her daughter could sit togther. I made it clear that it was not right that no one would move for them and that a 6 year old girl should not have to be seperated from her mother. The man did move, no doubt shamed into it and I’m sure hating me. If that is what it took then I was willing to do it.
This could have all been avoided if SWA allowed parents to preboard!! It would have at least help if a FA had stepped in and asked passengers to move instead of another passenger needing to step in. All in all I was dissapointed with SW and will not be flying with my 2 year old. He would NOT be happy sitting by himself.