Mats

I recently started flying Southwest a lot more. I just had six flights in the past couple of weeks. The past four, in particular, were not easy. One of the staff at the check-in counter was downright aggressive. I didn't personally interact much with the flight attendants, but they seemed angry, unwelcoming, and not at all the folksy, charming, jokey types one expects from Southwest.

I tried to figure out if this was just me, or if something else was afoot.

I noticed that the announcements had such a shaming and harsh tone on each fo the last four flights. Since the happens at the beginning of the flight, it sets the tone in a negative way.

The lavatory rules, in particular, were over-the-top. These were stated in the regular safety speech then again after takeoff. The rules were long and complex about how many people can stand where, and how it's a federal law, blah blah blah. The crew then snapped at an elderly man in a cane when he was standing in the aisle at about row three or four, waiting for permission to use the forward lavatory. That sort of combative approach isn't endearing. It seemed like a lot of rules, and it also seemed like nobody would listen. It was like a lousy primary school teacher with no sense of classroom management.

On domestic flights, I've found that many US carriers have fairly loose lavatory rules. On flights TO the US from international points of origin, they insist upon using the lavatory in one's "ticketed cabin." Occasionally a crew member will make some absurd security-related speech, but most just keep it to a mandated sentence or two about "congregating." Polite crews would also try to navigate the rules so as to accommodate an elderly or disabled passenger.

The PA admonishments continued. There were additional speeches about water bottles in seat-back pockets, about passengers "trying to hide" purses beneath their feet, and--of course--"obey all commands." Doesn't that sound defensive? "Nobody listens to us, so we're going to make our speech sound like we're battle-axes."

I thought about this compared with safety videos on other carriers, or the written speeches in recent memory. There was something so belligerent and long-winded about Southwest. It was as if they expected passengers to misbehave, so they were launching a pre-emptive strike. Sure, passengers can be awful, but I can't imagine that this helps. Sure, some of the language in the safety speech is regulated by law, but can they tone down their delivery? Are there times when the crew could address a problem face-to-face rather than hiding behind a PA? Does this seem like a power trip?

I'm curious if anyone else has noticed this, or if it was just a "bad run."