rove312

I'm also disagreeing with the tenor, but I think the usage is o.k. to use a singular as representative of a category of people, such as "Baseball is the thinking man's game."

pinniped

So you haven't talked to anyone about Southwest since 1987?

Commoners' airline? That's almost without question United and their giant swarm of CR2s and E135s, although maybe some Delta people out there want to fight me on that...

From my vantage point, on a lot of UA CR2's and (somewhat better) AA E170's, Southwest very much looks like the premium airline. It might as well be a fleet of CX 744's...

FindAWay

The poster didn't say "the common man." If the poster had, I would have agreed with you.

Examples to illustrate the difference:

The common airplane's problem is maintenance.

The airplane's problem is maintenance.

The airplanes' problem is maintenance.

FWAAA

There's a common misconception that WN attracts more than its fair share of unsophistimicated travelers along the lines of Cletus and Brandine Spuckler; frequently derisively referred to as "kettles." Unfortunately, people like the Spucklers travel on all airlines. They're difficult to avoid.

pinniped

+1.

The ironic thing in 2015 is that it takes perhaps the greatest degree of sophistication and travel expertise to correctly buy a ticket and navigate through the entire travel process on one of the ULCCs without making a mistake.

uastarflyer

One of Jason Derulo's top hits is "Riding Solo". He should follow his own anthem...

pinniped

Forget about critiques of different airlines for a moment: I honestly thought any serious rockstar either (a) flew private or (b) structured the tour so a big pimpin' tour bus would suffice.

Thus leading me back to my original observation that this guy isn't that big of a rockstar.

mike_la_jolla

I've never seen it happen on LUV. So the answer is 'A big one'. I've seen a passenger get tossed because she let the dog out of the travel cage. That is a different thread.
I wasn't insulted by this innocuous statement, but I'm a DYKWIA-type that has gotten creamed on this forum for my princess-like commoner attitude. I think Herb would agree, so I'll answer the question. ... So ... sipping my Wild Turkey 101 and trying to act like Herb ... bleech! ... trying again ... still bad ... anyway:

Southwest (sometimes 'LUV' or 'SWA') is leagues above Ryanair. It is certainly far above UA, but that isn't hard. It is nowhere near top tiered airlines such as Singapore or Cathay Pacific. SWA is more of a bus that uses an airplane. There are no seat assignments so it is sort of a free-for-all for seats. There are a certain set of rules, spoken and unspoken, and they get very irritated when these rules* are violated. I think that is what happened here. The posse tried to board out of order. The fancypants singer had a early boarding card and his body guard was in the C-group. The bodyguard tried to board with his boss and got sent to the end of line. A melee ensued since he was dissed.

"A source told People that Derulo’s crew initially requested for an escort but was denied" is something like going to Walmart to purchase a Porsche. It is something south of stupid.


* -- There are million-entry discussion threads here on these 'rules'. PM me if you'd like some links.

PS -- I think the apostrophes are correct in both cases. And I've never hear of the dude either. But I'm more of a B52's/Metallica/ABBA/GWAR fan.

toomanybooks

It is not a "free-for-all" on WN. That is complete nonsense; it is entirely orderly for people who know how to line up numerically. You want to see a free-for-all, look at these airlines with the gate lice and clueless people jammed up against the check-in podium, while earlier boarders have to fight and push through.

If this world-famous singer on his $49 fare expects all the special treatment, he should go elsewhere. And learn the damn rules. Idiot thinks he's Elvis or Sinatra or something.

B-52s and ABBA, yes! The others, God no, especially GWAR.

uastarflyer

Why would either of them merit breaking the rules (assuming they were alive) ?

BerenErchamion

I don't understand why anyone over 6' doesn't, if it's available and there aren't specific reasons why they can't (they have children they need to stay with, tight connection, etc.).

pinniped

This, +1000. WN has perhaps the most orderly boarding process of any domestic airline. United probably has the worst, since there are so many variants of early boarding and so many hordes of people who clog the boarding area thinking they're next when in fact *their* earlyish boarding is really about 2 groups away from being called.

US Airways was, for a brief period in history about a year and a half ago, the biggest circus of all when they were offering preboarding for *both* Star Alliance *and* Oneworld elite status members, plus all of the various US and AA credit cards that existed out there. It was kind of funny listening them to them read out all of their own preboard groups, and then folding in the AA preboard groups for the first time. (Yes, there was a weird overlap period after AA bought them when they were still part of Star Alliance.)

Boarding with a planeload of WN fliers is a comparative breeze since people are already lined up before the call for a particular group is made.

diver858

Given the choice, I am happy to walk though a swarm of gate lice for early boarding of my assigned premium economy seat versus lining up like a bunch of kindergartners going to the rest room, then fight for a decent open seat, bin space.

gregmchicago

I'm still stuck at - someone used a TRAVEL AGENT to book on WN???

returnoftheyeti

I've seen Robin Finick (Nine Inch Nails) and Maynard James Keenan (Tool) on Southwest flights before. In California and Nevada, a Southwest 737 is the ultimate tour bus.