The Southwest Airlines boarding experience has been the worst of all possible worlds since moving to assigned seating on January 27. Now flight attendants are being asked to shoulder the burden, and their union is putting the airline on blast.
- They used to be super-efficient. They board just 30 minutes prior to departure (versus 40 minutes on comparable airlines) and this worked because everyone lined up ahead of time and got on quickly. They rushed to get the best seats, and didn’t have too many carry-on bags to stow because checked bags were free.
- But they got rid of free checked bags, and that meant passengers trying to bring far more luggage on board. There wasn’t enough overhead bin space because Southwest hadn’t invested in larger overhead bins on most planes – they didn’t need to, their bins rarely filled up, since customers could check their luggage free.
- More luggage slows things down. Passengers trying to find bin space and fit their bags slows things down. Too many bags for the bins means gate checking bags, which slows things down.
- Southwest started charging for seat assignments, and offering extra legroom coach seats, but didn’t ‘reserve’ space above those seats for customers in them. And they had been reserving some of those forward bins for flight attendants. Since everyone was trying to find bin space as close to their seats as possible, instead of choosing seats in part based on bin space, the overhead bin situation slowed things down even further.
- And while you no longer needed to line up in boarding order to board quickly to get the best seat possible, Southwest still forced everyone to line up in large groups ahead of time – wasting time for no customer benefit. This was designed to keep people boarding quickly.
Southwest has been trying to reduce the time each aircraft spends on the ground, so that they can fly each one more. That way they can increase the seats they sell without having more planes. But this does not work. As with layoffs, that’s part of their strategy to cut costs.
So the airline wants to start boarding planes earlier – which cuts against their goal of reducing ‘turn times’ (the amount of time a plane spends on the ground between flights) – but it recognizes that the changes they’ve made to their business model have also made the airline much less efficient. They’ve previously said that increasing boarding times just a couple minutes costs them several aircraft a day in less efficient flying.
American Airlines wasn’t able to get earlier boarding times until after they negotiated a new contract with their flight attendants. But Southwest wants it now.
The flight attendants union at Southwest Airlines is blasting them for it.
“Southwest Management needs to read the room—and read and respect our Contract,” the union slammed on Saturday. “Upper management is out of touch. Decisions are being made without facing the real-world implications or fully considering the strain and anxiety placed on you,” the memo added.
“They have diminished our flexibility, made our jobs harder, placed us once again directly in the line of fire with frustrated customers, and pitted workgroups against each other through poorly thought-out plans.”
…“We want Southwest to succeed, and we want our customers to have a great experience,” the union memo added. “But frustration continues to grow when policies are implemented without collaboration and without respect for our Contract.”
This is foisting the costs and consequences of their policy changes on cabin crew. The union went with higher trip pay in their last contract, rather than calculating wages inclusive of boarding time (like non-union Delta and now American Airlines have). Adding time to boarding doesn’t directly increase pay – just time actually spent with passengers.
It was just a couple of weeks ago that Southwest angered flight attendants by moving their dedicated overhead bins from the front of the aircraft to the back. It made sense to do so (and on many airlines there aren’t dedicated crew bins at all).
Southwest Airlines isn’t just angering customers, they’re angering employees, which is especially problematic because these are the very same employees caught in the middle facing unhappy customers. And their CEO maintains that the airline still has its same soul because of its employees even if not its policies.
I’ve been flying Southwest and in spite of all of the changes I still LUV them. Your Southwest daily criticism of Southwest makes me question your motives, Gary. You obviously have an axe to grind. What is your real beef with Southwest? Are you upset with them because they aren’t paying you as much as Delta and United who you seem to fawn over ad nauseum. The changes that Southwest has made were long overdue. As a businessman it was obvious to me that they needed to step up their game and start cashing in and stop leaving money on the table for bag fees and upgrade charges. Their employees are the best in the industry and I haven’t seen any change in their demeanor since the changes took effect. So what is your real beef, Gary?
I’m sure Bob Jordan insisted that his mgt team created multiple cabin mock ups with the new premium assigned seating but without reserved overhead bins. Clueless.
Flew SWA to BWI about 10 days ago from west coast. It was bad. Took over 40 minutes, with FAs yelling the whole time, including one FA announcing “You have to stay in your assigned seats the entire flight, that’s federal law.” I laughed out loud. No ma’am, that is not federal law – if it was how did you have NO seat assignments for 50 years?? Also, recently husband and I Have both observed that planes are rarely more than 2/3 full but they’re making everyone beyond group 5 gate check carry ons. No one is paying for middle seats.
I just flew WN twice in the past week. Both flights on time, boarding normal. FAs great.
Both flights boarded in less time than US legacies schedule to board a 738 or MAX8 which both flights were.
One flight was 60%, one was 95% full – which is right in line on a combined basis w/ WN’s system LF.
They will be fine. Some will never adapt and yet have nowhere to go.
Yesterday, we flew AEP to IGR on Aerolíneas Argentinas. They boarded the old way, rear of the plane first. Group one sits in the back, Group 2 a little farther forward and group 3 all the way to the front. From the time we started boarding until pushback took a total of 15 minutes. Granted it was an Embraer 190, but still…
@1-John Kilian “What is your real beef with Southwest? Are you upset with them because they aren’t paying you as much as Delta and United who you seem to fawn over ad nauseum.”
I assure you that neither Delta nor United pay me. Nor would either consider my coverage to be fawning.
My coverage of Southwest is exactly how I see, and have experienced, their recent changes. And I compare what they’re saying about those changes to the arguments they made previously with convinction about why not to make them.
Southwest: Yet another gang that can’t shoot straight…
@Tim Dunn — If the flights you took were 60% and 95% full, more power to them. The 60% should be a no-brainer. Wait until your flight is 100% full and there’s no bin space and x number of people are forced to gate check… Of all the people I know that regularly flew Southwest, I can only think of two people who have recently spoken positively of their travels since the changes — that would be you and 1-John Kilian (though to be far, I personally know neither one of you). Both of my adult daughters, who fly WN enough to be A-Listers, and my brother-in-law who flies enough to earn a companion pass for as many years as I can recall, are either looking at, or have already started flying different carriers now.
@1-John Kilian —> We each have our own experiences, so I certainly believe you when you say you still “LUV” WN. All I can say, in addition to the above, is that a good friend has been an FA with Southwest for 30 years…she *hates* the changes.
Running out of overhead space might be alleviated by forcing carry on items be stowed ONLY in the bin directly over the row or under the seat. Since most airlines have flight attendants standing in the front, mid and aft cabin areas, this can be monitored. Announcements by the gate agents and the onboard leader/flight lead, etc. to that effect are made and enforced. Years ago, the TV show “Myth Busters” showed a carefully calculated method to board aircraft. That method could be adapted to various seat configurations. Their calculations and actual testing proved that boarding time could be reduced and overhead space was adequate.
The new system is a joke. I’m done with Southwest. The wheelchair scammers shoo-ed me away once. I came back hoping the new system would be better. It sure isn’t.
FAs need to realize that WN was losing money and assigned seating is a way of getting passengers to buy up to premium seating.
People will complain about anything. In one breath, you said it’s taking longer to board because the people aren’t lined up. In another breath, you said people are now lining up by boarding groups for no reason, thus taking longer.
This entire boarding slowdown is caused only by charging for luggage instead of giving two bags for free. Nothing else is different than any other airline’s boarding process.
I’m a long time SW passenger. 4-6 flights per month. Boarding time is definitely having at least 10 min longer on full flights. And on less than full flights, most of the passengers are crammed in the back 3rd of the craft. FAs are seeming more harried. Clearly this change is not fostering better working conditions for any except baggage handlers.
SW has given up all of the things that made them good. Now they are just another airline.
I just flew on the new Southwest and I never will again if I can avoid it. I’ve always been a fan. I was even stranded Christmas Eve when they had their software and forgave them. But they’ve stripped everything that made them a value to me out. They don’t even allow parents with small children to board early anymore. WTF is that? They need to revert the recent changes they made ASAP or they’re not going to last.
Also, on the recent flights, the premium seating was almost empty and everyone was crammed into the cheap seats. On the return flight even those weren’t full. I don’t know the last time I was on a southwest flight that wasn’t full or nearly. Charging a hundred dollars more and not filling half of the seats doesn’t seem like a good way to do business to me.
@ Tim Dunn — You flew WN? Was DL’s A350-900 not available to take you wherever you were going that day?
Make checked bags free again. Charge $10 for carryon. There, fixed it for you. Faster turn times, money saved. Tell the hedge fund to get bent.
@Jason “If the flights you took were 60% and 95% full, more power to them. The 60% should be a no-brainer. Wait until your flight is 100% full and there’s no bin space and x number of people are forced to gate check…”
Forcing passengers to gate check bags when the system tells the gate agent that they expect overhead bins to fill up is not unique to SWA. Every airline does this. My flight last week on Delta from DFW-DTW had all passengers starting in zone 7 or 8 (I can’t remember which one) check their carry-on bags. I have seen this on American as well in the past.
@LS
I assure you that if the load factor were around 66%, the system that operations uses, which tells them when and exactly how many bags to check, would indicate no gate check bags required. I don’t work in Operations; however, I have seen the software in action, and this would be the outcome.
There’s a lot wrong with SWA operations, and the company and the unions equally share blame for it.
1. Did you know that the flight attendants, per their contract, don’t have to show up until 30 MINUTES PRIOR to departure? No, that doesn’t mean start boarding at 30 minutes, that means they show up to the aircraft, go down and have social hour in the jetway and on board, and then finally tell the gate agent they’re ready to board 10 to 15 minutes later. No way you’re leaving on time boarding that close to departure time with a full flight.
2. The forward cabin FAs also would put all of their crew bags in the 1DEF bin. Which then forced the pax in 1DEF to put all of their bags (and personal items, since it’s a bulkhead seat) in the row 2 bin, forcing the row 2 pax to use the row 3 bin, and so on. Fortunately as of recent, SWA makes them use the back bins now, but that isn’t stopping the union from kicking and screaming about it, despite the fact that they’re the last ones off the aircraft anyway.
3. Unlike every other airline, SWA refuses to pay for wheelchair pushers, leaving the “ops agent” (the one scanning the boarding passes) to take each wheelchair passenger down individually. This delays boarding even further, especially if they start boarding late (see reason #1).
4. The scheduled time between flights is way too short. When you’re supposed to start boarding 30 minutes prior to departure, yet the plane is only scheduled for 35 minutes on the ground, do you really expect to get 140 passengers off the plane and clean the cabin in 5 minutes? Not to mention if there’s a single delay, even a small one, now every flight on that aircraft is late for the rest of the day. Which is why you’ll frequently see flight delayed 10-45 minutes later in the evening. At AA, the turn times are at least 45 minutes, and those extra few minutes make a big difference.
5. I’m not so sure why the FAs are so militant about everyone sitting in their assigned seats. On every other carrier, I’ve seen them allow pax to spread out and move to empty rows, so long as you aren’t moving to a different class of service (such as Comfort+ or an exit row). The FAs claim it’s for weight and balance purposes, even if you’re just moving one row back or forward. So are the other airlines going to get fined by the FAA for departing with inaccurate weight and balance data?
Improve those aspects and continue installing the larger overhead bins, and you’ll see everything dramatically improve.
Southwest is dead, Long Live Southwest…
I’m surprised the union hasn’t found a “work to rule” excuse to refuse to enforce seat assignments.
Herb wisely said that if a plane is in the air, it is making money. If it is on the ground it is not making money. That was the problem every time Southwest did a test of assigned seating in the past. And this is what comes of a Company who thinks they know everything, but they do not. More important fact that they do not know the Airline Industry outside of being a Passenger. Yet, because they were able to purchase massive amounts of WN Stock, they felt that they knew it all. Instead of fixing the major issue of the scammers preboarding, they dictated the changes that are causing just as many problems as the scammers did, just a slight change. The Elite Passengers, in their mind anyway, will complain and then complain more about everything. Same people, different song. Carry on bags is now the whine of the day. People are well aware that if they drag their bag to the gate, presto free checked bag.
Herb Kelleher was a very smart man. Too bad he is no longer with us. The problems that Elliott created were originated by Bob Jordan’s predecessor and enhanced by Elliott.
@EZ
Check-in times vary based on whether it’s an outstation or home domicile. It’s one hour for home, and as you stated, 30 minutes for outstation. Agreed that adjustments need to be made.
Turn time has been increased with the intent to mitigate delays and account for increased boarding time. Further adjustments might be needed and should be implemented as more data comes in. Let us not forget that this is new (for SWA) and that potential corrections were anticipated (or so they tell us).
As for weight and balance, yes, the airline will get fined if this isn’t done accurately. Ask SWA how they know. This is typically a greater concern with cargo, but on relatively low passenger loads, this is equally as critical. As for not allowing passengers to move around, I haven’t experienced this. Every flight I have been on, they have allowed people to move within their fare class. It might not come until airborne, but I haven’t seen FAs flat-out denying this, although I have heard many stories of this. If this is the case, hopefully, this gets tweaked as time goes on.
@American
The changes that were pushed through by Elliot were largely already “in the works” long before they showed up. They changed the timeframe, not the plan. As much as I enjoyed the old way of doing business, premium is all the rage, and you either adapt or you fail. And I assure you, assigned seating was not implemented with the sole intention of eliminating the wheelchair abuse. In fact, it was barely a sidenote in the discussion. It was principally to attract business and premium passengers (the upsell model). As for charging for bags, we were told a long time ago that this would be required as soon as SWA started listing flights on third-party sites. Bags were never free. They were built into the ticket price. When SWA flights were displayed against other airlines, SWA would typically show a higher price because it was the “all in” price, whereas other airlines were showing base fares (bags and fees excluded). Data showed SWA was losing customers due to this relatively recent change to the comparative model. Changes were imminent.
And yes, Herb was a very smart man. I was fortunate to be welcomed by him on my first day at SWA. And being the smart man that he was, if he were still around, he likely would understand the shifting dynamics of the airline industry and make the necessary adjustments to keep the SWA family moving forward.
Hey @EZ armchair expert…..FAs aren’t socializing in the jetway. They board the plane and “tidy” up y’all’s mess folks left and doing the safety checks. The FWD “crew bin” was at 1ABC not DEF. Crew being the last ones off isn’t the point when the turn times as you say are sometimes less than 45 min….if it’s a thru flight two up front can leave and head to the next plane. Not anymore because now they have to wait to go to the back and grab their bags. So much for boarding YOUR next flight early. FAs aren’t being militant about seat changes. The policy is one can’t move on ground unless for “operational reasons”. After takeoff folks are welcome to move within their same zone when the seat belt sign is off. Lastly the weight and balance issue is puzzling to some. That’s because SW currently uses diff software than other airlines to manage weight zones and balances. Supposedly it’s being tweaked as we have all read. Please get your facts straight before trashing SW employees. Thank you.