jimmc66

I was booked on
WN1187 HNL/KOA on 30 November.
It was scheduled to depart HNL at 12:55pm.


I was inbound to HNL on a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles. Although that flight left early from LAX, it arrived 30 minutes late due to unfavorable winds aloft. I noted enroute that other flights were so situated including the inbound WN 808 which arrived 18 minutes late for the same reason.


Although I live near KOA (on the island of Hawai’i), I transit HNL because I travel with a service dog. It needs to clear the State of Hawaii quarantine at Honolulu airport. The dog has flown with WN previously and they were noticed about the dog on this reservation as well.


When my UA flight was landing, I got a text message from WN. It says:



We made the very long walk from United’s gate to Quarantine, then the very long walk back to the Southwest check-in desks.


NO ONE was at the WN check-in desk. And there was NO INDICATION or MONITOR showing the departure time for this, or ANY WN flight.


So we then made the very long walk to the gate. We arrived at the gate at about 12:50 and THE FLIGHT WAS ALREADY BOARDING!


This DESPITE the message Southwest had sent me that the flight was not leaving until 2:05pm.


I LOST my priority seating because of their error.


Even worse, after I got in the boarding line a WN employee came and stood behind me, blocking any newcomers from boarding since they were "late". Indeed I saw at least two passengers denied boarding for being late - and overheard them quoting the same text message sent to them!


I've asked for an explanation from Southwest but they don't respond.


Text message sent to me at HNL by Southwest with false information.


(Sorry don't know how to reduce the size of this phone text).

toomanybooks

Notifications from Southwest that a flight is delayed/undelayed are ALWAYS subject to change at any moment. That's why they are completely, absolutely useless.

Never stake your plans on them. Since they fly only 737s, it is often easy for them to sub in another plane, for example. Assume the flight will go on time.

NoStressHere

I never trust those texts or emails and always assume the flight will leave ontime.

sorry for your issue and loss of priority boarding, but at least you got on the flight unlike a few others.

[redacted] happens.

Daily.

rsteinmetz70112

What was the originally scheduled departure time?
Flightaware shows that flight on November 30 actually departed at 1:16.

Often1

Other than the fact that OP lost priority boarding on a 40-minute flight, I am not sure what the problem is. In fact, if OP required a handicapped accessible seat, WN would have moved a seated passenger. But, apparently, he did not.

WN reserves the right to start boarding at T-30 and requires passengers to be at the gate no later than T-10. That was 12:25 and 12:45 respectively. OP was at the gate 5 minutes late and could have been denied boarding and, if on a WGA ticket, required to purchase a new one. But, WN did not deny him boarding. Rather, it permitted him to board late and, for that, he has complained.

Delays come and go. This is true on WN as much as on other carriers. The deadlines are still the scheduled time.

If the GA's learned one thing, it is that no good deed goes unpunished.

NoStressHere

i am confused about the title. It says DENIED BOARDING, but then you say you did get to board - I think.

toomanybooks

Plus when flying consecutive flights on two different airlines, when one has multiple "long" walks and a quarantine procedure to endure, maybe a bit more time in between is warranted.

jimmc66

That's unreasonable. Assuming their own word is a lie is NOT helpful to anyone.

jimmc66

The scheduled time was 12:55pm.

jimmc66

I completely agree. It was a risk I knew about going in, and a risk I was prepared to take. Had I missed the WN flight I was prepared to wait for the next departure, at 4:00pm. The trip to LAX was a quickly planned three day trip and I was pleased to even get ANY flights booked on the holiday weekend.

jimmc66

You've clearly not understood the problem. INCORRECT TEXT MESSAGES FROM THE AIRLINE that confirm a departure time (or rescheduled departure time) that an average person has the right to rely on.

A message changing the departure time to 2:05p from the original ticketed time of 12:55p from the airline itself SHOULD be something that an average person can rely on as accurate. I routinely get a veritable flood of "arrival time" text messages that are continually updated. I would guess a clever lawyer might argue that the airline changing the departure time via text message is contractual.

10 years ago, when the technology was new, I would never have relied on an SMS message regarding my air travel. Now it's mature technology. It should be handled by the airlines as such.

Capice?

Tanic

Knowing what is in the actual contract of carriage can be helpful. Specifically 9.a.(3)(4).

PlaneJane1

Not a lie. ETD=*Estimated time of departure. It’s always subject to change.

Flights on every airline change back and forth every day.

Never any guarantees with air travel. It’s life.

garykung

I am actually surprised that a UA 1K 2MM would even believe what the airlines told you.

formeraa

I would suggest that the OP invest in a smartphone and download the WN app or flightstats or flightaware. I find these infinitely more helpful than an old text message. The airport monitors can actually be incorrect themselves, since most rely on centralized data from a third-party source. I have eye issues that sometimes prevent me from reading the monitors (if they are up high or a long distance away). So, I relay on the airline app, which hopefully picks up the airline's internal data.