A Delta flight attendant in uniform confronted Southwest gate agents in Atlanta, telling them to “clean it up.” He was appalled by Southwest’s customer service quality and professionalism at the gate. It appears he’d been non‑revving. It may have been an issue about boarding position. He says he’ll take Delta – or even Frontier! – instead.
Some commenters claim he called the agent a b- and that Delta management already has the clip. That’s not verified in the video or in other online reports I’ve seen.
I think the reactions of “He’s right about ATL service” are largely right, that Atlanta gate agents can be brusque (relative to other Southwest stations) and the Delta employee isn’t wrong to call them out with “CLEAN IT UP.” Commenters are pretty strong on this point.
“He told NO lies”
“ATL does suck with their customer service”
“He said ATL and I was instantly on his side”
“Southwest should hire him to clean it up.”
That said, this is in-uniform conduct at the airport as a non-rev. Escalating with employees of another airline at the gate risks discipline and loss of travel benefits. Delta just suspended and fired a bunch of employees for their public comments about Charlie Kirk. Claims that “Delta doesn’t play that about their brand” aren’t wrong and other crewmembers know “When we wear our uniforms, we are a representation of the company.”
The incident is also a broader representation of Southwest versus Delta, and especially in Atlanta where the Texas-based carrier has largely cut and run. They bought the number two carrier at the airport, AirTran, and they’ve not only chopped the Atlanta operation to bone they’ve cut the Northeast they acquired too. That said, I do have to wonder whether the wired headphones he’s wearing with a cord live up to Delta’s image?
Ultimately when you’re nonrevving on another airline (let alone your own!) you need to be polite to agents, let their operations run, and escalate any issues via internal channels. Don’t create a scene that becomes a customer‑facing incident.
ATL is a nasty airport.
“LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!”
The way the Southwest agent dismissively put her hand in his face wasn’t any sort of masterclass on hospitality, professionalism, and deescalation. That being said he was wrong to approach the situation in such a confrontational way. He’s wrong simply because of that, but I can totally understand the way he must have been feeling.
I’ve been flying SW out of Atlanta for decades. Never an issue with gate agents. But with the service cuts I’ll be using them a lot less.
Gary, you can’t have a premium sound quality with wireless headphones. You need the wires for Delta level fidelity. – Tim, probably.
“ He was appalled by Southwest’s customer service quality and professionalism at the gate.”
I love the pointing in someone’s face as an example of professionalism. Then again, Delta pretty much tells all their partners what to do so the inspiration for this episode was probably from Delta bigwigs throwing their weight around.
For a Premium insult experience, choose Delta.
@ Gary — Why are you giving ATL a bad name just because Southwest sucks? Maybe Southwest’s customer service is bad, but that should come as no surprise given they are a trash airline.