Newsstand - Southwest Airlines stars in new reality show debuting tonight (2Jan)

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2004-01-02-southwest-tv_x.htm

DALLAS (AP) — The star of the next reality television show isn't a model, an actor or a beach-dwelling survivor; it's an airline.

I looked through the digital cable 'Guide' through shows on A&E today/tonight and tomorrow and was unable to find the show.

Anyone have an idea of when it will be on exactly (East Coast US here - Time Warner Cable)

Thanks!
Chris

The article (dated Jan 2) says the show starts on Monday. That would be the 5th. A quick visit to the A & E web site (http://www.aetv.com/) shows a big banner ad for the show. It starts January 5 at 9pm.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by xyzzy:
The article (dated Jan 2) says the show starts on Monday. That would be the 5th. A quick visit to the A & E web site (http://www.aetv.com/) shows a big banner ad for the show. It starts January 5 at 9pm.

</font>

Yes, my humble apologies for the incorrect header in the subject line. I guess being back at work today after the holidays it felt so much like a Monday...

http://www.aetv.com/tv/shows/airline/

New show on A&E featuring Southwest Airlines.

10pm on Jan 5, 2004 here on the East Coast.



------------------
Addicted to airline miles? Check out: Mileage Workshop (http://www.mileageworkshop.com) --- "You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." - Frank Zappa (1940-93)

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MileageAddict:
10pm on Jan 5, 2004 here on the East Coast.
</font>Well, the A & E homepage says "9pm, 8 Central" so it looks like the day is correct and showtime has been pinned down to within an hour http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

FANTASTIC SHOW!

I absolutely will never fly Southwest - I may never fly again. The class of people you meet on Greyhound has got to be better. Or hitchhiking. Or jumping freight trains.

If I have ever been rude to any gate agent, flight attendant, check-in personal, etc... I am so very sorry.

I thought it might have been called "top ten reasons not to fly SWA"

No thanks.

I loved it!

I thought it was great. Some dedicated employees were showcased. They did some really good work - especially keeping drunks off their planes. But, the show is now my further justification to pay higher fares to fly elsewhere. I saw two things that will continue to keep me away from Southwest.

First, I have an issue with a ticketing agent holding up a line, not to mention a family with a crying infant, to figure whether or not the child was under two and eligible to fly without a ticket. When they bought their tickets, they explained the child was under two, and were told "no charge". That changed at the airport because they didn't have ID for the kid. They even had the mother calling the hospital where the child was born (to no avail), all to prove the child was young enough to fly without a ticket. Obviously, the kid had no ID. The extremely customer-unfriendly agent was so bent on enforcing the rules, it made the airline look ridiculous. I don't know if WN gets to approve the segments run on the show, but that whole segment made me think that the agent needed to go back for some more training. The family will never fly WN again, and I'm sure there were more than enough people who thought the agent's behavior was silly. After nearly making them miss their flight, the agent told them that they could buy a ticket and get it refunded once they could mail in a copy of the kid's BC. Add insult to injury...the agent gets them on the plane, and then starts talking down the mother after the door is closed, like the passenger was crazy. That WASN'T a crazy passenger...that was a mother who was in utter disbelief that the whole situation even took place.

Then...where I would have been arrested for air rage...was the MDW-LAS flight with the flight attendants signing and making noise for the whole 3 hour flight. Some passengers appeared to be enjoying it...but some weren't. I personally enjoy peace and quiet on an airplane, not renditions of "Happy Birthday" for my fellow passengers, and games like "guess the combined age of your FA's".

WN talks about freedom. Well, feel free to charge me $100 more, and give me the freedom of a peaceful flight.

edited for brevity, believe it or not.


[This message has been edited by shinbal (edited Jan 06, 2004).]

This show was interesting. There were several scenes that should SW personnel in a really good light, but there were several scenes that did nothing to make me want to fly SW. Infact the exact opposite. In particular, the ridiculous antics of the ticket counter agent questioning the age of the under 2 year old infant, and the comedy club routine of the flight attendants on a 3 hour flight.

First, I thought the show was GREAT. I agree with the comments above. The show certainly showed employees hard at work and loving their jobs.

The age-checking thing was ridiculous. You would think that the employees would want to help the family not just shake them down for money. At the end, when told they could buy a ticket and get a refund if they proved the kid was under two the mother said "Well why didn't you just tell us that at the start?" Also, when she finally got onto the plane she muttered "This is the last time we fly Southwest!"

EDITED TO ADD:
Oh and yes -- the attitude of that family definitely STUNK!

[This message has been edited by xyzzy (edited Jan 06, 2004).]

I also LOVED the show...it just shows the rest of us how great we have it.

I think the 2-yr old confrontation was more a result of the customers attitude. At the end of the encounter the ticket agent made a comment to that effect. Also, this traveler made the comment that they will never fly WN again, but I'll bet the very next time they want to fly and can do it for $39 each way they will jump back on.

How many drunk passengers to they get!!!

The BO guy cracked me up. Now how would you like to have to deal with THAT situation?

I enjoyed the show, and look forward to future episodes. But I found myself longing to see a version of the show with a real airline with actual middle class business and leisure travelers, as opposed to the bizarre array WN attracts. Then again, the conventional airline employee probably spends half of his/her time dealing with peeved frequent flyers wailing about their upgrade - and how exciting would that be on TV?

(And if we want to see that, there's enough of it on this board!)

:-)

I've wanted to try Southwest for years. Not anymore.

WN may need to change it's motto to "Southwest - never boring!"

Mind you, I've run into some boors on other airlines as well, and suave F/A's on many - including WN. (The guy on NW who complained to the F/A "This guy says I can't recline my seat!" She looks at my knees and says "He's right, you can't," and gets a person much shorter than I am in an Exit row to switch with me.)

One of the best was the WN F/A who told me how upset the parent of an infant was when the F/A told him he could ABSOLUTELY NOT place his infant in the overhead compartment!

WN F/A's, on the average, in my experience, are better at disarming stuff like this with humor. This does not preclude folks form being stiff-necked or having a bad day. Your mileage may vary...

Sorry,

this somehow went before the post was finished.

See real post below.



[This message has been edited by emailkid (edited Jan 08, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by markg:
[B]FANTASTIC SHOW!

.... The class of people you meet on Greyhound has got to be better...B]</font>

Now, now .....

I flew SW from Houston to Dallas a year and a half ago, and that was actuallly quite good. Then about three years ago, and that was not quite as nice, bucause they were longer flights.

Love the show though. And hard to say about the kid issue without seeing how they got to the point of confrontation, but my impression was that the parents were out of control. If you know the policy, bring proof of age, and there would have been no confrontation. OTOH, if the counter person didn't offer to refund the ticket after proof was presented later as she offered toward the end, that would indeed make SWA look bad.

Too bad we can't look at the whole footage somewhere on A&E's web site. And kudos for keeping the drunks off the plane http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif !

EmailKid


------------------
Then again, what the hell do I know?