I just got back from a trip to Las Vegas with my wife- we needed a little rest and relaxation from our recent move and our kids. When I booked our travel, I was hoping to fly an airline that provided preboarding, assigned seats and the the flight had to get in before 6:16 PM Las Vegas time to ensure we made our show reservations. I was not very happy when I found out that the only flight from Boise, Idaho to Las Vegas that met our time requirements was offered by Southwest Airlines. Yikes?!
Historically I have always liked their prices, but I have hated (yes I know this is a strong word) their boarding process and how they treated their passengers in-flight. I did enjoy the singing, attempted humor and the scared look on new air passengers faces when the flight attendants would announce “we will be hitting the ground in 10 minutes” instead of something a little less concerning like “we will be landing in 10 minutes.” The old boarding process was nothing more than a weak attempt at a cattle drive using letters to designate which herd you belonged to. It also drove me crazy that you had to get to your flight 3 hours in an attempt to be the first one in line for your herd. Without being first in line, you weren’t guaranteed a good seat, a seat next to your traveling companion or even overhead bin space for your carry on luggage.
This time I noticed something different on my paperless ticket - a letter and a number. What was this? An attempt to make the cattle drive a little more civil? My heart began to beat a little faster. Would this cattle drive more resemble getting in the lunch line when I was in grade school instead of the herding of cats that usually occurred? Maybe this new found freedom would spill over into the in-flight service being just a little bit better. Maybe the flight attendants would make an to find overhead bin space for everyone’s carry on-luggage! To much to ask for?
B-26 was my line location and and my wife was B-27 - this meant we were in the second herd, location 26 and 27. We lined up with the B group who had numbers 25 to 30. It was a fairly orderly process, even though they told all the B’s and C’s to say seated while the A’s took center stage - a little tact would have been nice. When the announcement came that the “B” group from 31 to 60 was loading we were pretty optimistic. We looked for two seats together towards the front of the plane - this seemed reasonable since we were only in the second group. Well reason seemed to have gotten off at the previous airport because the only two seats we could find together were in the last 2 rows of the plane. Once again, confined to the back of the “bus” because I couldn’t click my mouse fast enough during the online check-in process.
Content with finding the two seats together, we counted ourselves blessed because the only carry on luggage we had was my wife’s purse. I made the comment to my wife that we were lucky we didn’t have to test the in-flight crew on their overhead bin packing skills - then it happened. There was a 70+ year “younger” lady who was pleased to be in the “A” herd. She was already seated in an isle seat with her bag safely stowed in the overhear compartment. Then came this 30+ year old man who proceeded to cram his backpack into a small space next to the “younger” lady’s bag. The lady asked him to be careful of her bag with which he replied she was taking up to much space. To much space?? Really? You just brought on a backpack that there was no snowball’s chance in Hell of fitting into the approved carry-on luggage measuring box. What a dork!
Much to my surprise, a flight attendant headed to her rescue. Finally a little help for a patient “younger” customer. The flight attendant asked the man what the problem was. He explained his tale of the women’s bag. Without missing a beat (or asking the “younger” lady anything), the flight attendant took the backpack, crammed it into the overhead bin (on top of the women’s bag) slammed the door shut and said “problem solved”. The “younger” lady was in shock - as was I. Under her breath she mumbled something about being in herd “A” and that she deserved to be treated better.
Did Southwest’s attempt at improving their boarding process work? Probably. I didn’t seem as concerned with standing in line for two hours before my flight hoping I would find a seat. Did it help with improving a customer’s ability to find valuable, safe overhead bin space - not so much. Especially for a 70+ years “young” lady who follow-ed all of their rules.
Southwest! Thank you for the change in boarding procedures as it was much needed, but will you please work on the overhead bin space problems you have and maybe throw in a little customer service!
Carefreetrip.com rates our Las Vegas flight on Southwest Airlines 
out of 5 suitcases.
