Family Asked To Leave Southwest Flight After Tweet
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2003
Location: VA
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Posts: 387
Family Asked To Leave Southwest Flight After Tweet
#2
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: AL
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Posts: 477
This policy is ridiculous though. I think the age cut off is six. They enforce this to make families purchase early boarding and it has put Southwest at the very bottom when it comes to how the airlines treat families or anyone traveling together.
#4
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Sounds like the passenger was definitely more wrong than the Southwest agent in my opinion. Publicly humiliating a Southwest employee because they would not break the rules for you is a big and I have a difficult time faulting Southwest for taking action against such a customer. The biggest fault I have with WN is that they gave him the option of deleting his tweet and flying on them, they should have just refunded his tickets and told him that his behavior was not acceptable.
Edited to add: I would like to clarify that I think the passenger's behavior was over the line because he specifically named the employee, if he had not done that my answer would be different (i.e., if the tweet simply excluded the first name and last initial of the agent).
Edited to add: I would like to clarify that I think the passenger's behavior was over the line because he specifically named the employee, if he had not done that my answer would be different (i.e., if the tweet simply excluded the first name and last initial of the agent).
#6
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,875
his quote from the article
I was left, you know, very upset, very embarrassed, very humiliated,” Watson said
What was he trying to do to the agent?
without taking sides I am not sure what he thought would happen if he tweeted the experience. Anyone who posts stuff on social media should expect feedback positive or negative so he should only blame himself. If he had a legitimate beef with the agent he should have contacted WN through the proper channels and not aired his laundry in public.
I was left, you know, very upset, very embarrassed, very humiliated,” Watson said
What was he trying to do to the agent?
without taking sides I am not sure what he thought would happen if he tweeted the experience. Anyone who posts stuff on social media should expect feedback positive or negative so he should only blame himself. If he had a legitimate beef with the agent he should have contacted WN through the proper channels and not aired his laundry in public.
#7
Original Member and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 1998
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If I was embarrassed and humiliated about something I certainly wouldn't be giving a television interview about it ... which of course naturally leads to the question of why a television station even knew to interview him.
#8
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,875
you do if you are looking for even more compensation from the airline.
#9
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: STL, MO-US and A , SWA A-List, Marriott LTTE, Hilton Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,883
Those are the rules and they apply to everyone, regardless of status. I choose to purchase ebci when my children travel with me and it's always worked out fine. This guys a jerk!
I don't fault the GA, she was doing her job unlike a lot of others that let stuff slide. As someone else said though I probably would have just refunded the guys money and been done with it.
I don't fault the GA, she was doing her job unlike a lot of others that let stuff slide. As someone else said though I probably would have just refunded the guys money and been done with it.
#10
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Night Vale
Posts: 1,872
During the days of Herb, the Captain was supposed to get involved in on-board removals. The guidance was that the Captain could talk to both parties and figure out the conflict and make a decision. In this case I think the jerk would have been counseled but allowed to fly, and the CSA would have remained upset. But today, maybe the guidelines have changed as to who makes the final decision on something like this. This guy tried to push the envelope and didn't like not getting his way. I would like to see SWA not cave on his demands for more pesos.
#11
Join Date: May 2004
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Posts: 8,215
Sounds like the passenger was definitely more wrong than the Southwest agent in my opinion. Publicly humiliating a Southwest employee because they would not break the rules for you is a big and I have a difficult time faulting Southwest for taking action against such a customer. The biggest fault I have with WN is that they gave him the option of deleting his tweet and flying on them, they should have just refunded his tickets and told him that his behavior was not acceptable.
Edited to add: I would like to clarify that I think the passenger's behavior was over the line because he specifically named the employee, if he had not done that my answer would be different (i.e., if the tweet simply excluded the first name and last initial of the agent).
Edited to add: I would like to clarify that I think the passenger's behavior was over the line because he specifically named the employee, if he had not done that my answer would be different (i.e., if the tweet simply excluded the first name and last initial of the agent).
#12
Join Date: May 2002
Programs: WN F9 HA UA AA IHG HH MR
Posts: 3,305
"Watson says he’s not satisfied with their response. All three received $50 vouchers, but Watson says he won’t fly Southwest Airlines again."
Since you won't be experiencing the horrors of SWA anymore, I'll take those pesky vouchers off your hands.
Since you won't be experiencing the horrors of SWA anymore, I'll take those pesky vouchers off your hands.
#13
Join Date: Dec 2011
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Wow, I don't know what all of you responders are on - the GA was out of line and I would have severely punished her for her behavior if I was her supervisor.
It's unclear whether the GA let them board with the father's boarding group or with theirs - probably, the latter, which caused the remark from the Dad. I see nothing wrong with the remark he made. He said she was the rudest agent and identified her by name and gate. When you complain about someone, you want them to be identified, so proper action is taken. The GA TOTALLY overacted by considering that to be a threat and DEMANDING to have the tweet deleted or have the passengers removed. She was so on a power trip - I don't know Kimberly S's track record but if it were me, I would fire her for that. She clearly overstepped.
Now, if she wants to sue the passenger for defamation for calling her "the rudest agent", go ahead, that's totally fine. But I doubt she'd win anything on such a lawsuit.
It's unclear whether the GA let them board with the father's boarding group or with theirs - probably, the latter, which caused the remark from the Dad. I see nothing wrong with the remark he made. He said she was the rudest agent and identified her by name and gate. When you complain about someone, you want them to be identified, so proper action is taken. The GA TOTALLY overacted by considering that to be a threat and DEMANDING to have the tweet deleted or have the passengers removed. She was so on a power trip - I don't know Kimberly S's track record but if it were me, I would fire her for that. She clearly overstepped.
Now, if she wants to sue the passenger for defamation for calling her "the rudest agent", go ahead, that's totally fine. But I doubt she'd win anything on such a lawsuit.
#14
Join Date: Jan 2005
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Posts: 2,184
The gate agent was following Southwest's policy telling him to wait to board with the children's assigned position. She was way over the line on her reaction to his tweet.
This policy is ridiculous though. I think the age cut off is six. They enforce this to make families purchase early boarding and it has put Southwest at the very bottom when it comes to how the airlines treat families or anyone traveling together.
This policy is ridiculous though. I think the age cut off is six. They enforce this to make families purchase early boarding and it has put Southwest at the very bottom when it comes to how the airlines treat families or anyone traveling together.
This guy seems to have been looking for trouble