It’s not every day that I republish a complaint letter in its entirety. Then again, it’s not every day that an airline does the right thing without yours truly getting involved. Maybe it was the letter. Or maybe it was the fact that the airline in question was Southwest.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
Like most Southwest Airlines passengers, Kevin Palmer likes nothing more than a bargain. Which is exactly what he thought he’d found when a con artist offered $1,200 worth of flight coupons at a deep discount on Craigslist.
Airline ticket agents write the darnedest things on your boarding pass. If you’re on the dreaded TSA watchlist, as Matthew Heffelfinger claims to be, you could find several “S”s notifying the Transportation Security Administration agent that you deserve extra-special screening. Or something else.
It’s been months — years, actually — since an airline asked for my opinion about a flight. They probably know better. So when Southwest Airlines sent me an email asking for my feedback, I just couldn’t resist.
Discount carriers used to be the darlings of air travelers, if not travel columnists. With low fares and high standards of customer service, what wasn’t to like? That was then. This is now.
Every now and then I come across a hard luck case with no easy fix. William Marleau’s story is just the latest. He bought tickets on Southwest Airlines through Craigslist and ended up being drawn into a clever scam that may force him to pay for his flight twice.
If you really want to understand how the Southwest Airlines safety scandal is affecting passengers and employees, there’s only one thing to do. Get on a flight and strike up a conversation with a crewmember. Which is exactly what I did this morning.
The next time your flight is delayed or canceled, you might want to think twice before whipping out your airline’s contract of carriage and demanding compensation. Airline employees don’t tolerate passengers with attitude — especially those invoking the legendary “Rule 240.”
