Last week, flying Aus-Atl, my favorite ops agent was working the SWA flight. I asked him about rampers not being able to help out and he said they are organized into zones and they can't help another zone "unless instructed to do so by a supervisor." Said it is not a problem at Aus since they have all been there a long time and work well with each other. Met the Captain who is still badged AirTran. Super nice guy. Then I wandered down two gates to get on my Delta flight to Atlanta. I can no longer depend on Southwest unless it is my only option.