Many of you reached out to us via Twitter last night and today regarding a situation a Customer Twittered about that occurred on a Southwest flight. It is not our customary method of Customer Relations to be so public in how we work through these situations, but with so many people involved in the occurrence, you also should be involved in the solution. First and foremost, to Mr. Smith; we would like to echo our Tweets and again offer our heartfelt apologies to you. We are sincerely sorry for your travel experience on Southwest Airlines.
As soon as we saw the first Tweet from Mr. Smith, we contacted him personally to apologize for his experience and to address his concerns on both Twitter and with a personal phone call. Since the situation has received a lot of public attention, we'd like to take the opportunity to address a few of the specifics here as well.
Mr. Smith originally purchased two Southwest seats on a flight from Oakland to Burbank – as he’s been known to do when traveling on Southwest. He decided to change his plans and board an earlier flight to Burbank, which technically means flying standby. As you may know, airlines are not able to clear standby passengers until all Customers are boarded. When the time came to board Mr. Smith, we had only a single seat available for him to occupy. We are responsible for the Safety and comfort of all Customers on the aircraft and therefore, we made a judgment call that Mr. Smith needed more than one seat to complete his flight. Our Employees explained why the decision was made, accommodated Mr. Smith on a later flight, and issued him a $100 Southwest travel voucher for his inconvenience.
You've read about these situations before. Southwest instituted our Customer of Size policy more than 25 years ago. The policy requires passengers that can not fit safely and comfortably in one seat to purchase an additional seat while traveling. This policy is not unique to Southwest Airlines and it is not a revenue generator. Most, if not all, carriers have similar policies, but unique to Southwest is the refunding of the second seat purchased (if the flight does not oversell) which is greater than any revenue made (full policy can be found here). The spirit of this policy is based solely on Customer comfort and Safety. As a Company committed to serving our Customers in Safety and comfort, we feel the definitive boundary between seats is the armrest. If a Customer cannot comfortably lower the armrest and infringes on a portion of another seat, a Customer seated adjacent would be very uncomfortable and a timely exit from the aircraft in the event of an emergency might be compromised if we allow a cramped, restricted seating arrangement.
Comments
I think the main problem in this story, is that Mr. Smith could have been asked beforehand if he thought he would fit comfortably in the seating arrangement, as per their size conditions.
He could have been informed earlier, that he may not be able to travel in a single seat, and if need be, he would be removed from the plane due to his size and the seating arrangements booked.
Just because the customer service staff do not HAVE to ask you about this condition, it does not mean it would not make good customer service if they did, prior to boarding the plane. Hence, avoiding additional embarrassment in front of other passengers (i.e. a large quantity of people).
It might not be a condition of their customer service, but it sure is considerate...
Good for you SW!
Kevin's out of control ego just shone through here. He thinks he deserved special attention and you did not bow down!
As for those defending this idiot? How much have you been paid to stroke this idiot's ego?
Southwest,
This is flat out rude and horrible treatment of a guest. There are enough airline alternatives out there. I hope that people skip your flights if financially possible. I know my family will and others who hear of this cruel treatment.
I read the customer Kevin's tweets and the response by Southwest. I think their response was more than fair. This customer Kevin obviously likes to complain and one of those that feel entitled to the world. Buddy, buy first class if you are overweight. Southwest is a budget airline and the seats are small. I applaud Southwest for how they handled this situation. And for the fans of Kevin, this guy's ranting is costing Southwest time and money, which will end up increasing air fares. You get what you pay for. I personally don't fly southwest because the seats are too small and I hate sitting next to overweight people. They encroach on my space and typically in my experience, they smell. I flied only a few times with Southwest and had two very large people of the sides of me. Needless to say, I felt so uncomfortable, I vowed to never fly Southwest again. The savings could not entice me as I would rather pay more to breath easy and not have sweaty arms rubbing against me. I have nothing against overweight people. It never seems to work in the favor of the average size person. If you are petite to average size, it's not fair for bigger people to explode into other people's seats, rub their sweaty arms on other passengers, or move around a lot with reckless disregard for those sitting next to you. The overweight person who sat next to me had so much problems moving around that each time they did, they inadvertently hit me. As the Southwest flight was full (most flights are packed), I was miserable for the flight. I think Southwest has been more than fair to Kevin. Kevin should take a step back and loo at the situation. Southwest is a budget airline and actually offers decent customer service for what they charge, Kevin should consider retracting his statements and a formal apology to Southwest. You do not go to McDonalds and expect to get five star filet mignon. They gave him the $100 voucher already and issued a formal apology (which honestly, I don't even think he deserves). In this bad economy, we should all try to support businesses big and small. If something offends you, don't take it out on the businesses. Everything is struggling. Don't add to the problem. Companies have to spend time to remedy unnecessary situations and this cost money. This will end up either leading to increase air fares or worst yet, lay off of employees. Cost have to be covered. Unless if a company actually lied to you and committed fraud, cut them some slack. Don't be a hater. I never respond to comments but this Kevin person is ridiculous.
I agree - Kevin Smith is not large enough to require 2 seats. He did purchase 2 seats and when he went on standby he couldn't get 2 seats together.
I on the other hand am obese and uncomfortable about flying after this incident. I would like to be able to check on an actual seat to see if I fit so I am not removed from the plane.
Believe it or not I do not want my seat mates to be uncomfortable. I have gained weight recently and always worry about the space I am taking up. Luckily I don't fly that much
Personally, I wish that I was more dedicated to working out and eating properly and I hope that before I fly again I will be at a girth that will make make my seat mates (and myself) comfortable. And a litte more than 17 inches in the width of the chair might be more comfortable for everyone, but I am no on to judge at this point.
Let me tell you why I do not fly Southwest. I have over 400,000 miles on other airlines, and I had flown once on Southwest before, with no problems.
Several years ago I purchased a ticket on Southwest. I boarded the plane and was seated, buckled in (no seat belt extender) ready to go, bags checked, nobody next to me, plane about 75% full. The armrest was down.
I weigh about 265. Two people came up to me from the airline and asked if I would please go with them.
They explained the airline's person of size policy and said I would have to purchase another ticket.
I had rented a car and reserved a hotel in the city I was going to and I know that they had both put reserves on my somewhat limited credit card balance.
I believe the ticket was 149, and it would not go through, so they said I could not fly. My trip was ruined. I had to pay for the first night at the hotel and since the car rental was through either priceline or hotwire (I don't remember which) I was out that.
I had to wait while they took my baggage off the plane. I think they gave me some sort of voucher to use, of course I have never flown on them again.
I would be afraid they would come an get me and throw me off again.
Apparently there is no rule about the size or weight of the passenger that qualifies as a person of size. That is left to the gate agent. Its arbitrary.
So if you have a waist greater than 42 and a weight greater than 265 be aware, they may tag you as a person of size and may make you buy a ticket, make sure you have lots of available credit on your credit card. It was a humiliating experience.
The only good part is that I have flown at least 30 times since then to destinations that they serve and not one dime has gone to Southwest and not one dime ever will.
Dear Anonymous,
We are sorry to have disappointed you with our service and have forwarded your concerns to our Customer Relations Department. They will be contacting you directly.
I am a woman of a "certain size" and I experienced my first humiliation at the Southwest curbside check in on Friday, September 17 at 1:15 p.m. out of LAX. I cried all the way through security and through the flight home to Oakland. Out of the 60+ flights I have taken in the last 12 months, it was the first time i was made to feel less than human. I understood that it is a delicate issue and the Curbside guy tried to be as gracious about it as possible, but when I stated that I have been flying all year and have never had a problem, he stated that he needed a second opinion. He proceeded to call whom I assume was a manger and she came to where i was standing and with an attitude checked me out from top to bottom and told him to let it go this time. For a second opinion, this woman had the worst customer service skills of all the counters. Apparently, he gave me a break "this time".
I love Southwest and have tried other airlines to double check that my feelings about this company. Southwest has helped my personal living arrangement more bearable. But the experience with this woman was awful and embarrassing and I don't care who saw or didn't. She humiliated ME and that was totally uncalled for. I didn't make a big deal at the counter because I was cutting it close to my flight and I didn't want to risk my flight home.
According to the policy it is based on the armrest and at no time did they ask me if the armrest would come down, the policy was implemented on them checking me out from the rear at the curbside counter. When i board the plan i gently ask the flight attended for a ext and they are so gracious about never flaunt the request. Only one time a "not so" customer friendly attendant tried to bring it to my attention, but when she saw that I could put the armrest down she left me alone.
I am not sure I will continue to be a A-list Southwest customer as I do not want to stress that I will be "checked out" at the curbside again and have to justify my behind, but I do know that next time i am put in that situation, i will not let it go without notify someone of a certain position. The ironic part is that the woman who gave the second opinion was of a "certain size" herself.
I have a friend who is a person of size and has tried 4 times now to comply with Southwest's policy of buying an extra seat. She is willing to pay the extra money to make the flight more comfortable for herself and others. However, each of the 4 times, she has had unbelievable trouble getting her boarding passes. Twice, she was almost prevented from boarding the flights at all.
I have mixed feelings about the policy. However, I definitely think that Southwest needs to clean up its act so that folks who want to follow their policy are actually able to. They need to fix their computer system so that folks buying two tickets can print their boarding passes online at home so they can avoid delays and humiliation at the ticket counter.
My friend and I are no longer Southwest customers.
This is about the worst apology I've ever seen.
First of all, the title of the blog itself is insulting. Were you trying to be cute or funny? Does a disgruntled customer not have the right to speak out?
Secondly, from a PR standpoint this is horrendous. You're disclosing personal information about Kevin Smith's history doing business with you and this is supposed to quell any concerns potential customers may have about flying with you?
I'm glad Kevin Smith has been as vocal as he has been about this because it's shined the light on what little concern Southwest has for its customers.
dizi