Tag Archives for southwest airlines.
Southwest Airlines blamed air traffic control and weather for cancelling a quarter of its flights over the weekend, while pilots were rumored to be calling in sick in heavy numbers to protest vaccine mandates. The cause of the cancellations was clearly only affecting weather and air traffic control surrounding Southwest planes because other airlines had no such problems, even at the same hubs.
The FAA, usually a staid agency, took to twitter to defend itself.
After cancelling a couple of thousand flights, and delaying hundreds more, the lives of tens of thousands of passengers are being thrown into disarray. People are missing important life events, and this is not just ‘air traffic control and weather’, i.e. ‘things outside of the airline’s control that they cannot be blamed for.’
Kiwi.com did seem pretty blatant in what it was doing, but banning the publication of flight information seems both overbroad and prior restraint on free speech. I regularly publish “Southwest flight [and] fare information” on this site. They are even barred from “committing any other acts in violation of Southwests Terms & Conditions.”
The Kiwi.com case is about the power of website terms and conditions, and a company to control information it publishes publicly on the internet.
Kiwi.com did seem pretty blatant in what it was doing, but banning the publication of flight information seems both overbroad and prior restraint on free speech. I regularly publish “Southwest flight [and] fare information” on this site. They are even barred from “committing any other acts in violation of Southwests Terms & Conditions.”
The Kiwi.com case is about the power of website terms and conditions, and a company to control information it publishes publicly on the internet.
With the extension of the mask mandate into January 2022, Southwest Airlines told employees that it’s not bringing back alcohol this year. No word yet on what happens to expiring drink coupons.
While alcohol won’t be served on board, mixers will be as a standalone starting next month because the airline had planned to bring back cocktail service and had to order these ahead of time.
Register by September 9 and then travel on Southwest Airlines by November 18, 2021 and you’ll earn a Companion Pass that will be valid January 6, 2022 through February 28, 2022.
That’s two months of companion pass for two one-way flights (that can be a roundtrip, of course). That companion pass means being able to take someone with you on your travels (whether paid or award) for just the cost of security taxes.
The Southwest Airlines pilots union is suing the airline for, it says, making unilateral changes to pilot pay and working conditions without bargaining with the union. That sounds bad, because we know there’s a union contract, but let’s dig a little deeper.
On August 12 a mother was traveling with her husband, four year old, and two year old from Orlando To Norfolk, Virginia. While they traveled well to Florida, they were having difficulty with the younger child on the way home. The two year old wouldn’t keep her mask on, because she sucks her thumb and the mask gets in the way.
Two flight attendants, the woman said, stood over them watching as she struggled with the child. And one suggested she “glue it to her face.” And, “[t]he flight attendant, Cleek said, indicated she had glue available.”
Two women on a delayed July 15 Southwest Airlines flight from Sacramento to San Diego have been dubbed “Karen and Karen 2.0” after boarding late onto the aircraft and screaming at passengers that they should move so that the mother and daughter duo could sit together with an aisle.
The two hour delay turned into a three hour delay, with the rest of the flight’s beleaguered passengers applauding the women being escorted off the aircraft as a consequence of their flight privilege.
A Southwest Airlines passenger was told she couldn’t display her “Arizonenses Con Biden” sign if she wanted to fly because, the Biden supporter said an agent told her, “many customers are offended by your sign.”
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
