32andBelow wrote:

freakyrat wrote:

Chemist wrote:

Why didn't WN reps have the authority to buy customers tickets on other airline flights? Yet many of the customers did this for themselves. Not a good service example.
I thought in the past that WN customer service reps had the authority to "make it right" and make local decisions for good service? That was the story a decade or two ago when you read about the great WN service and culture. Apparently that has changed.

Southwest does not have interline agreements with any other carriers. This is why they cannot rebook a passenger on another carrier.

They can’t just book seats a full rate like any other travel agent in the GDS?

They can but the amount of manpower, time and $ that would have required would have been astronomical given it is a completely manual process. There is a big difference in "making it right" locally for 5 passengers than systemwide for hundreds of thousands.

alasizon wrote:

32andBelow wrote:

freakyrat wrote:

Southwest does not have interline agreements with any other carriers. This is why they cannot rebook a passenger on another carrier.

They can’t just book seats a full rate like any other travel agent in the GDS?

They can but the amount of manpower, time and $ that would have required would have been astronomical given it is a completely manual process. There is a big difference in "making it right" locally for 5 passengers than systemwide for hundreds of thousands.

No stories I've seen that anybody did at all.

Chemist wrote:

alasizon wrote:

32andBelow wrote:

They can’t just book seats a full rate like any other travel agent in the GDS?

They can but the amount of manpower, time and $ that would have required would have been astronomical given it is a completely manual process. There is a big difference in "making it right" locally for 5 passengers than systemwide for hundreds of thousands.

No stories I've seen that anybody did at all.

I know of at least 3 UMNRs and 2 youth travellers that were rebooked from WN to AA in PHX during the meltdown. But all a story like that does is infuriate the masses that they aren't being taken care of to the same standard.

Why hasn’t the management (CEO) resigned or been fired yet?

I believe there is enough IT brain trust in my Seattle surburb to fix their mess in short order.

jetblastdubai wrote:

Cubsrule wrote:

Is WN not refunding folks who ask for refunds? If they aren’t, that’s a problem. But I haven’t heard of it happening and my experience was that I was refunded pretty quickly (the money hit in about 48 hours) and without complaint.

My niece had her WN flight cancelled on 12/23. I was able to get her a UA flight the following morning. A few days later, she called and cancelled her return WN leg as she had already purchased a ticket on another carrier she thought would be a safer bet. She asked for a refund but they only offered her a credit. She wasn't aware she could have been more assertive in demanding a credit.

I'm sure a lot of passengers that aren't aware of all their options were convinced to get a credit instead of a refund.

I'm not sure that passengers who voluntarily cancel a ticket on a flight that WN operates--which sounds like your niece's situation--are entitled to refunds (nor would they be under any regulatory scheme elsewhere in the world with which I'm familiar).

alasizon wrote:

Chemist wrote:

alasizon wrote:

They can but the amount of manpower, time and $ that would have required would have been astronomical given it is a completely manual process. There is a big difference in "making it right" locally for 5 passengers than systemwide for hundreds of thousands.

No stories I've seen that anybody did at all.

I know of at least 3 UMNRs and 2 youth travellers that were rebooked from WN to AA in PHX during the meltdown. But all a story like that does is infuriate the masses that they aren't being taken care of to the same standard.

I suspect this was a liability issue.

Cubsrule wrote:

jetblastdubai wrote:

Cubsrule wrote:

Is WN not refunding folks who ask for refunds? If they aren’t, that’s a problem. But I haven’t heard of it happening and my experience was that I was refunded pretty quickly (the money hit in about 48 hours) and without complaint.

My niece had her WN flight cancelled on 12/23. I was able to get her a UA flight the following morning. A few days later, she called and cancelled her return WN leg as she had already purchased a ticket on another carrier she thought would be a safer bet. She asked for a refund but they only offered her a credit. She wasn't aware she could have been more assertive in demanding a credit.

I'm sure a lot of passengers that aren't aware of all their options were convinced to get a credit instead of a refund.

I'm not sure that passengers who voluntarily cancel a ticket on a flight that WN operates--which sounds like your niece's situation--are entitled to refunds (nor would they be under any regulatory scheme elsewhere in the world with which I'm familiar).

If you have a RT ticket, and SW cancels your outbound (and or rebooks you and you don't like the rebook), you may cancel the entire ticket and obtain a refund.

bob75013 wrote:

Cubsrule wrote:

jetblastdubai wrote:

My niece had her WN flight cancelled on 12/23. I was able to get her a UA flight the following morning. A few days later, she called and cancelled her return WN leg as she had already purchased a ticket on another carrier she thought would be a safer bet. She asked for a refund but they only offered her a credit. She wasn't aware she could have been more assertive in demanding a credit.

I'm sure a lot of passengers that aren't aware of all their options were convinced to get a credit instead of a refund.

I'm not sure that passengers who voluntarily cancel a ticket on a flight that WN operates--which sounds like your niece's situation--are entitled to refunds (nor would they be under any regulatory scheme elsewhere in the world with which I'm familiar).

If you have a RT ticket, and SW cancels your outbound (and or rebooks you and you don't like the rebook), you may cancel the entire ticket and obtain a refund.

You’re right—my error. I read it has her having booked two one ways.

stlgph wrote:

Chemist wrote:

freakyrat wrote:

Southwest does not have interline agreements with any other carriers. This is why they cannot rebook a passenger on another carrier.

I'm not talking interline - is that not a reciprocal agreement for carriage? I'm talking get on the phone and book a flight and pay for it for the customer. The same thing the customers are having to do for themselves.

Because giving out an endless credit limit to thousands of employees is a good idea - said no one, ever.
Then there's the issue of buying a passenger a ticket on another carrier and being tied up in assumed liabilities if something goes wrong up to horribly wrong including injury and/or death.

Zappos does it. I mean they're a shoe company, but they'll send customers flowers and things at times. But yes it is rare. And all airlines have controls on which passengers they'll reaccomodate on another airline, such as the UMNRs alasizon mentioned, high value customers, or those the airline decides to make an exception for. "Going to a wedding/funeral/visiting a family member in hospice, etc. etc.). However its worthwhile having the right tools to do that. It'd be much better if they had an interline just like most carriers. This using a credit card or the old days of a corporate check. Is purposefully making the process difficult so it doesn't get used.

As for the fear uncertainty and doubt, the "assumed liabilities" bit seems like a red herring. Perhaps Southwest would be on the hook, but surely they would they immediately go after the operating carrier for whatever costs they incurred.

Bradin wrote:

USAirKid wrote:

Bradin wrote:

I don't think it needs to be spelled out that they will upgrade the technology. They know they need to upgrade technology.

I'm not a crisis communications expert, but being clear and explicit about things like this are important to send a message that you're actually doing things to fix the problem in the long term.

I think Southwest's message, while vague, was appropriate. Your sentiment and assessment would be correct that they want to fix the problem. However, to find the root cause of the problem takes time. A lot of time to do analysis and to figure out what went horribly wrong and not having a repeat.

In Bob's message - https://swamedia.com/releases/video-sou ... -statement

"I'm apologizing to them daily and they'll be hearing more about our specific plans to ensure the challenges that they’ve faced the past few days will not be part of our future."

It's easy for anyone to say "fix this and it will solve everything." However, my perspective is that IT not being modernized and lack of proper risk management is more of a symptom of larger challenges. Challenges and risks that need to be identified, prioritized, and mitigated.

I just watched that video. (I'm often on mobile, and I don't watch many videos there.)

I thought it was okay. They could've moved apologizing a bit earlier and made it more frequent, but it seemed to cover the basics.

The one thing I found curious was the statement that they're the largest airline in the US. They're not. WN: 779 DL: 910 AA: 933 UA: 861. And that is before you get to the contracted carriers, which the majors, from a customer perspective, have some responsibility for. Putting that in there felt more like "We're bigger than the others, so we have more issues." Which would be fine if it were true, but its not. An apology message is not the right time for marketing. (And to head of the eventual complaint, "but the majors fly internationally, so they're not as big in the US" most of those planes touch the mainland US at least once a day or every other day, so its not as if they're unaffected by weather.)

The largest in US refers to number of pax carried domestically, which WN is at the top.

sprxUSA wrote:

The largest in US refers to number of pax carried domestically, which WN is at the top.

Probably true. But that is bordering on the old aphorism, figures never lie, but liars figure. It reeks of the marketing team wanting to find something to be the “biggest” at and finding a statistic that fits.

In any case, it shows that they’re still focused on marketing instead of crisis communication. It is not the time to humble brag.

MIflyer12 wrote:

bluecrew wrote:

Eolesen wrote:

Technically the dot doesn't like it when you advertise something, failed to operate it, and don't refund the customers. As long as Southwest isn't holding back refunds, dot really doesn't have any room for action here. Especially if a number of these cancellations early on were due to crew legalities.

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

That's not true at all. DOT is the regulator.

It's well within their purview to assess whether or not you're reliably operating your transportation network, and impose regulatory sanction as a result.

The administration has good reason to care as well, as an airline disruption that large has financial impacts like a small bank collapse or minor natural disaster. All depends on who you have at the regulator, and what kind of appetite they have for a fight.

Congress doesn't have to leave this to the FAA as a safety matter, nor to the DOT as a matter of operating to schedule. It has the FTC (unfair and deceptive trade practices), or it can directly regulate the industry itself as per the Constitution 1.0.

I've spent more than a few evenings in a cold-soaked airplane, no rampers in sight, flight attendants in another city, first officer 2-3 hours out, wondering when the DOT will just shut us down. It's happened probably 5-6+ times, I lost count. There gets a point where the disruption is so hilariously significant that a regulator will step in, shut everything down, and tell the company to get it right. This is pretty fitting with what I'd expect out of this DOT.

They got lucky on this one. It was a systemic failure on a scale rarely scene, simply because of the number of people they carry. I'm surprised DOT didn't jump in at all - probably because no sanctions would have helped. They melted down in phenomenal fashion, usually losing track of all the crew and not knowing what direction is up is my team's type of error.

Pending, of course, investigation as to how they just deleted billions from the American economy with such a major disruption. BJ has to go as a sacrifice, GK has to be foisted from the chairmanship, and they need a technocratic leader to take the helm and fix the malaise of tech issues. This didn't happen because of weather, it all happened because the Optimizer deleted their working set of data as it died. And no schedulers anymore are competent in putting together a "cancel package," evidenced at other airlines whenever they have to do it. It's all based on the computer now, and it turns out the computer sucks.

bluecrew wrote:

Pending, of course, investigation as to how they just deleted billions from the American economy with such a major disruption.

Could you please explain how billions were deleted from the US economy by a disruption of flights of one LCC?

USAirKid wrote:

sprxUSA wrote:

The largest in US refers to number of pax carried domestically, which WN is at the top.

Probably true. But that is bordering on the old aphorism, figures never lie, but liars figure. It reeks of the marketing team wanting to find something to be the “biggest” at and finding a statistic that fits.

In any case, it shows that they’re still focused on marketing instead of crisis communication. It is not the time to humble brag.

Maybe so, but they’ve used the same statistic/boast for years. This isn’t something made up for this occasion.

'carrier contracts of carriage' These should all be replaced by a single version written by the FAA, with input from airlines, passengers, and unions etc. It should be a 2-3(?) page document. Airlines would have the right to have up to 1 page of exceptions if approved by the FAA It all needs to be written to about an 8th grade reading level. Administrative law judges would be responsible for dealing with contested cases, their decisions not considered precedents. Net effect, practically nothing except responsibility for airlines to deliver, workers to work, passengers to be orderly would be clarified.

Southwest and IT: Are their any 'off the shelf' systems or sets of systems that WN could just buy? Integrating them into their systems, or their systems into them is likely at least a two year job, and up to a couple billion. As I understand it, the best systems are open to change and updates, as well as having protocols to bring in massive data from existing systems. It is incredibly complex to do it all right.

7673mech wrote:

Why hasn’t the management (CEO) resigned or been fired yet?

I believe there is enough IT brain trust in my Seattle surburb to fix their mess in short order.

You don't just let a CEO go like that. He 'just' started in February 2022. Even if he started on it Day 1, this is a project (fixing technology) that will take YEARS, not months and that is after you get to the root causes of the issues. Technology is clearly outdated, but it's far from the only issue.

Bottom line, the prior CEO should have started working on this. Bob Jordan inherited this mess, effectively. Now, he has an opportunity over the next several years to really make some structural changes that will make a positive impact, but there is also a cost in doing so. We'll see what happens, but it's a very complex issue and you don't fire the CEO this early on when there isn't really a lickedy-split thing he could do about it this quickly in his tenure.

Southwest is doing something pretty smart.

It's giving Rapid Rewards points to affected customers. A friend just got 25,000 points he did not ask for. Worth about $400. I have no idea how deep this goes.

Smart because it entices people back to the airline, and for those it does not entice it costs absolutely nothing.

bob75013 wrote:

Southwest is doing something pretty smart.

It's giving Rapid Rewards points to affected customers. A friend just got 25,000 points he did not ask for. Worth about $400. I have no idea how deep this goes.

Smart because it entices people back to the airline, and for those it does not entice it costs absolutely nothing.

I got it also. At the very least it sounds like anyone who had a flight canceled.

Well that’s nice to hear. What did the message in the email say?

Jshank83 wrote:

bob75013 wrote:

Southwest is doing something pretty smart.

It's giving Rapid Rewards points to affected customers. A friend just got 25,000 points he did not ask for. Worth about $400. I have no idea how deep this goes.

Smart because it entices people back to the airline, and for those it does not entice it costs absolutely nothing.

I got it also. At the very least it sounds like anyone who had a flight canceled.

Interesting. I haven't received any and got cancelled, twice, before outright cancelling the reservation.

AAPilot48Heavy wrote:

7673mech wrote:

Why hasn’t the management (CEO) resigned or been fired yet?

I believe there is enough IT brain trust in my Seattle surburb to fix their mess in short order.

You don't just let a CEO go like that. He 'just' started in February 2022. Even if he started on it Day 1, this is a project (fixing technology) that will take YEARS, not months and that is after you get to the root causes of the issues. Technology is clearly outdated, but it's far from the only issue.

Bottom line, the prior CEO should have started working on this. Bob Jordan inherited this mess, effectively. Now, he has an opportunity over the next several years to really make some structural changes that will make a positive impact, but there is also a cost in doing so. We'll see what happens, but it's a very complex issue and you don't fire the CEO this early on when there isn't really a lickedy-split thing he could do about it this quickly in his tenure.

And FWIW, he wasn't in a position such as COO which would be responsible for things like this. Bob also has a bachelors in computer science, so he at least has a reasonable familiarity with systems such as this. I'd be curious to know if he's been an advocate internally of IT upgrades. That might be one of the reasons why the board selected him.

Jshank83 wrote:

bob75013 wrote:

Southwest is doing something pretty smart.

It's giving Rapid Rewards points to affected customers. A friend just got 25,000 points he did not ask for. Worth about $400. I have no idea how deep this goes.

Smart because it entices people back to the airline, and for those it does not entice it costs absolutely nothing.

I got it also. At the very least it sounds like anyone who had a flight canceled.

I received them as well and I was booked on a rewards ticket anyways. So they refunded the miles back to my account and gave me another 25k. I ended up spending $268 to get a Delta flight the next day and went back to my parents house for an extra day. Not the end of the world and I submitted for reimbursement of my Delta flight. Southwest seems to be trying to make it right.

Some seem to be getting credit rather than a refund:

" Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) has been sued by a passenger who said it failed to provide refunds to passengers left stranded when an operational meltdown led the carrier to cancel more than 15,000 flights late last month."

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerosp ... 023-01-03/

ricq wrote:

Some seem to be getting credit rather than a refund:

" Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) has been sued by a passenger who said it failed to provide refunds to passengers left stranded when an operational meltdown led the carrier to cancel more than 15,000 flights late last month."

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerosp ... 023-01-03/

Highlight of the above article.

"In a Dec. 29 letter to Southwest Chief Executive Bob Jordan, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called the disruptions "unacceptable" and said the law requires refunds when carriers cancel flights unless passengers accept rebooking."

ricq wrote:

Some seem to be getting credit rather than a refund:

" Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) has been sued by a passenger who said it failed to provide refunds to passengers left stranded when an operational meltdown led the carrier to cancel more than 15,000 flights late last month."

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerosp ... 023-01-03/

I might be wrong here, but it seems like the passenger is impatient or was contacted by an ambulance chaser.

ricq wrote:

Some seem to be getting credit rather than a refund:

" Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) has been sued by a passenger who said it failed to provide refunds to passengers left stranded when an operational meltdown led the carrier to cancel more than 15,000 flights late last month."

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerosp ... 023-01-03/

From the article:

Though Southwest has promised to reimburse passengers for expenses, Capdeville said it offered only a credit to him and his daughter after scrapping their Dec. 27 flight to Portland, Oregon from New Orleans and being unable to book alternative travel.

The case was filed on December 30th. I'm not sure Southwest was given an appropriate amount of time to respond to the complaint.

I'm not one to usually say this, but this seems like ambulance chasing and then some. Southwest has committed to giving refunds, even though that isn't what they were doing initially.

The filing system for the Eastern District of Louisiana seems to be down right now, so I can't get to the complaint, but it should be at https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/66 ... rlines-co/ in the future.

A story about how Southwest become the largest airline in California, and is the #1 airline in 7 of 10 largest airports in the state.
WN now has more flights from California than from any other state including Texas.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/03/us/s ... ornia.html

Some might not know, but Southwest was modeled after and emulated many of the practices of then California intra-state carrier PSA.

I just heard that they just lost their dispatch system for obtaining weather.

32andBelow wrote:

I just heard that they just lost their dispatch system for obtaining weather.

Just now (3Jan) or during last week's meltdown?

USAirKid wrote:

AAPilot48Heavy wrote:

7673mech wrote:

Why hasn’t the management (CEO) resigned or been fired yet?

I believe there is enough IT brain trust in my Seattle surburb to fix their mess in short order.

You don't just let a CEO go like that. He 'just' started in February 2022. Even if he started on it Day 1, this is a project (fixing technology) that will take YEARS, not months and that is after you get to the root causes of the issues. Technology is clearly outdated, but it's far from the only issue.

Bottom line, the prior CEO should have started working on this. Bob Jordan inherited this mess, effectively. Now, he has an opportunity over the next several years to really make some structural changes that will make a positive impact, but there is also a cost in doing so. We'll see what happens, but it's a very complex issue and you don't fire the CEO this early on when there isn't really a lickedy-split thing he could do about it this quickly in his tenure.

And FWIW, he wasn't in a position such as COO which would be responsible for things like this. Bob also has a bachelors in computer science, so he at least has a reasonable familiarity with systems such as this. I'd be curious to know if he's been an advocate internally of IT upgrades. That might be one of the reasons why the board selected him.

1. Gary Kelly, the former CEO who made the strategic choices that created the problem, is Chairman of the Board. Politically there is only so much Bob Jordan can say internally or externally.

2. See the below post. The IT issue were known and a plan was in place. Bob Jordan needs to demonstrate how that plan, when implemented, will prevent a future similar meltdown — ie, build and maintain confidence in his strategic choices.

jviation737 wrote:

Hello everyone, happy New Year

Bob's communication definitely needs some work, though Southwest did plan to begin modernizing their infrastructure last year. During a media briefing and interview with the Dallas Business Journal several weeks prior to the meltdown, Southwest execs and Bob described how out of date some of their systems are and detailed a plan through 2026 to modernize. In Bob's own words, "the lack of technology upgrades and outdated processes are holding the carrier back..." and commented directly on the exact issue that caused the meltdown with crew scheduling, several weeks prior to the holiday meltdown. It's ridiculous that it's taken this long to improve, but they're aware and have a plan to modernize; ableit too little, too late.

The first year after Gary stepped down, Southwest unveiled these modernization plans and other long-requested improvements, like in-seat power. I'm sure that's no coincidence.

- https://twitter.com/David_Slotnick/stat ... 7753985053
- https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news ... ation.html

3. The BOD will act only if it believes Bob Jordan’s strategic plans are ineffective, receives pressure from investors or regulators.

While there is a united public front, no doubt behind the scenes people are protecting position. Southwest likes to play up its family-like culture, but with millions of dollars in compensation on the line in the executive suite no doubt there are some interesting dynamics at play.

LAXintl wrote:

A story about how Southwest become the largest airline in California, and is the #1 airline in 7 of 10 largest airports in the state.
WN now has more flights from California than from any other state including Texas.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/03/us/s ... ornia.html

Some might not know, but Southwest was modeled after and emulated many of the practices of then California intra-state carrier PSA.

Thanks for sharing the article.

“Two-thirds of all seats for sale on flights within California are on Southwest flights, according to Mike Arnot, a spokesman for Cirium, an aviation analytics company. (United is a very distant second with 13 percent.)”

That is pretty impressive in the world’s fifth largest economy.

Wasn’t capturing a significant share of the California market part of Virgin America’s strategy? Also, subsequently, Alaska Airlines strategy?

Wingtips56 wrote:

32andBelow wrote:

I just heard that they just lost their dispatch system for obtaining weather.

Just now (3Jan) or during last week's meltdown?

Tonight.

Many of us believe like in The Wizard of Oz, Gary Kelly is The Pay no Attention to that man behind the curtain and calling the shots.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/ ... index.html

Southwest informed some passengers affected by its Christmas travel meltdown that they would receive 25,000 frequent flyer bonus points as a "gesture of goodwill."
The 25,000 gift points are worth about $300, and the airline told CNN the offer is in addition to reimbursements and refunds.

readytotaxi wrote:

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/southwest-airlines-frequent-flyer-miles-meltdown/index.html

Southwest informed some passengers affected by its Christmas travel meltdown that they would receive 25,000 frequent flyer bonus points as a "gesture of goodwill."
The 25,000 gift points are worth about $300, and the airline told CNN the offer is in addition to reimbursements and refunds.

Discussed upthread, starting at reply #69.

To be honest, as an overseas traveller, I am pretty much done with Southwest. The last two times I travelled with them (or rather: intended to...) they cancelled my flights and were absolutely useless in getting me to my destination or refunding me (travel credit or miles are of no use for travellers from overseas). In both cases it was not force majeure, but simply utter incompetence by SWA (software glitch and a thunderstorm during which everone else was operating like a clockwork). I had to rebook myself on United / Alaska and the competition got me to my destination without any problems on the same day, albeit at considerable costs that I had to cough up. I am sorry to say that SWA is now on my no-fly list - I once really loved them for being a pioneer in aviation, but past glory only lasts so long..

vfw614 wrote:

To be honest, as an overseas traveller, I am pretty much done with Southwest. The last two times I travelled with them (or rather: intended to...) they cancelled my flights and were absolutely useless in getting me to my destination or refunding me (travel credit or miles are of no use for travellers from overseas). In both cases it was not force majeure, but simply utter incompetence by SWA (software glitch and a thunderstorm during which everone else was operating like a clockwork). I had to rebook myself on United / Alaska and the competition got me to my destination without any problems on the same day, albeit at considerable costs that I had to cough up. I am sorry to say that SWA is now on my no-fly list - I once really loved them for being a pioneer in aviation, but past glory only lasts so long..

I struggle with the recent situation as well. I'm a longtime WN loyalist with their credit card as well: living in AUS naturally makes them an ideal airline since they fly nonstop to many spots, and sitting in or near the front is a perk I value. Fortunately, this time over the past holidays we flew up on 21 Dec to YVR (my wife's hometown) instead of relatively-nearby SEA (my hometown) so we flew on UA via DEN. It started snowing that evening, and many UA flights after 8p were canceled. We were supposed to leave at 7:11p but finally left the gate at 9:30 once we got a deicing slot. What I found interesting was that we saw roughly a dozen other UA birds getting deiced and only a single WN bird, which I found odd knowing current WN numbers from DEN as opposed to UA's.

I've long grumbled about the inability to look up flight status by only flight number on their app/website (I mean, really, in this day and age?? Even NK, which I've never flown, has this capability), along other annoyances related to their below-par tech. The next few months will be make or break for me. If they actually fix their tech this time, I'll stick around...otherwise I'll cancel my card and burn the points I have with them and defect to probably AA primarily since they have a focus city here, which means nonstop flights to more points than other airlines at AUS.

Western727 wrote:

I've long grumbled about the inability to look up flight status by only flight number on their app/website (I mean, really, in this day and age?? .

Sure you can. Click on flight status. Input departure/destination cities and flight number (or leave flight number blank and see all flights between those points.

https://www.southwest.com/?clk=GNAVHOMELOGO

bob75013 wrote:

Southwest is doing something pretty smart.

It's giving Rapid Rewards points to affected customers. A friend just got 25,000 points he did not ask for. Worth about $400. I have no idea how deep this goes.

Smart because it entices people back to the airline, and for those it does not entice it costs absolutely nothing.

Update

This is apparently not just passenger based. I'm hearing reports of passengers who have received 50,000 RR points, so if people had multiple events, then they might receive more than 25,000 points.

Let's see how many of the "I'm never flying WN again" crowd uses their goodwill RR points.

bob75013 wrote:

bob75013 wrote:

Southwest is doing something pretty smart.

It's giving Rapid Rewards points to affected customers. A friend just got 25,000 points he did not ask for. Worth about $400. I have no idea how deep this goes.

Smart because it entices people back to the airline, and for those it does not entice it costs absolutely nothing.

Update

This is apparently not just passenger based. I'm hearing reports of passengers who have received 50,000 RR points, so if people had multiple events, then they might receive more than 25,000 points.

It appears to be reservation based. I had a cancelled reservation for myself, my wife, and two kids and received four codes worth 25,000 points apiece. Since we always redeem out of my account I deposited them all there; I don't think there's any restriction on where the points are deposited.

questions wrote:

LAXintl wrote:

A story about how Southwest become the largest airline in California, and is the #1 airline in 7 of 10 largest airports in the state.
WN now has more flights from California than from any other state including Texas.
s
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/03/us/s ... ornia.html

Some might not know, but Southwest was modeled after and emulated many of the practices of then California intra-state carrier PSA.

Thanks for sharing the article.

“Two-thirds of all seats for sale on flights within California are on Southwest flights, according to Mike Arnot, a spokesman for Cirium, an aviation analytics company. (United is a very distant second with 13 percent.)”

That is pretty impressive in the world’s fifth largest economy.

Wasn’t capturing a significant share of the California market part of Virgin America’s strategy? Also, subsequently, Alaska Airlines strategy?

Impressive, the California domination continues. Remember the build up during the 90s. The growth was organic.

bpat777 wrote:

Let's see how many of the "I'm never flying WN again" crowd uses their goodwill RR points.

After three months and the anger has subsided and you need to make reservations for Spring or Summer travel. And you have a free ticket to use? A majority will be flying SWA this Spring or Summer.

Anecdotal, but I’m looking at flights for trips in the 1st quarter of this year and WN out of DAL is considerably cheaper than AA out of DFW. WN appears to be losing the yield game at the moment in it’s home market.

bob75013 wrote:

Western727 wrote:

I've long grumbled about the inability to look up flight status by only flight number on their app/website (I mean, really, in this day and age?? .

Sure you can. Click on flight status. Input departure/destination cities and flight number (or leave flight number blank and see all flights between those points.

https://www.southwest.com/?clk=GNAVHOMELOGO

Please reread what I wrote: “by only flight number”. When I’m in a rush and know my flight number, I want to be able to type only that and get the info I need. It’s annoying to have to type in two airport codes when no other airline requires it.

bpat777 wrote:

Let's see how many of the "I'm never flying WN again" crowd uses their goodwill RR points.

Obviously a vast majority will. Who’s gonna throw $300 away? I’m pretty sure they mean they won’t spend money on an airline they’ve lost faith in.

Western727 wrote:

bob75013 wrote:

Western727 wrote:

I've long grumbled about the inability to look up flight status by only flight number on their app/website (I mean, really, in this day and age?? .[/quo

But, I herte]

Sure you can. Click on flight status. Input departure/destination cities and flight number (or leave flight number blank and see all flights between those points.

https://www.southwest.com/?clk=GNAVHOMELOGO

Please reread what I wrote: “by only flight number”. When I’m in a rush and know my flight number, I want to be able to type only that and get the info I need. It’s annoying to have to type in two airport codes when no other airline requires it.

Well no other airline flies point to point the way WN does.

So when WN flight 5567 could be flying BWI-BOS-MDW-DEN-LAS-LAX today, you kinda need to tell the airline more than just the flight number.

But I hear ya. Typing in 6 characters can be a HUGE burden. LOL

bob75013 wrote:

Western727 wrote:

bob75013 wrote:

Sure you can. Click on flight status. Input departure/destination cities and flight number (or leave flight number blank and see all flights between those points.

https://www.southwest.com/?clk=GNAVHOMELOGO

Please reread what I wrote: “by only flight number”. When I’m in a rush and know my flight number, I want to be able to type only that and get the info I need. It’s annoying to have to type in two airport codes when no other airline requires it.

Well no other airline flies point to point the way WN does.

So when WN flight 5567 could be flying BWI-BOS-MDW-DEN-LAS-LAX today, you kinda need to tell the airline more than just the flight number.

So let me look the list and find my segment. That’s easier and quicker than having to type in city pairs. And more WN flight numbers today (as opposed to years past) are single or two-segment. I’ve flown WN for many years and have long seen them as cheap for not implementing this ability which, as a tech professional, I know is relatively easy to implement nowadays for a company as big as they are.