Saturday, June 11th, 11:30 am… I am sitting at SFO in a bar… having a beer and a sandwich… I am supposed to be in the air… to Las Vegas, then on to Tampa…
I got to SFO at 9:50 for a 11:05 flight… I got in line to check my bags at about 9:55… (This is the “Express Baggage Check”) I finally checked reached the counter at 10:53… and finished about 10:55… In theory I was too late to check a bag… as was almost everyone else in line (one girl was crying)… While in line I had called Southwest Airlines customer service desk… the good news was my flight was delayed! Customer service asked if anyone had come down the line to expedite those who’s flights were drawing near…. (they hadn’t, they didn’t.) They suggested I just wait in the line and they would get me to my destination (apparently they will)… They said that there were no reported delays at SFO (evidence suggest there were)… the call was a waste of time… but others in line wanted to know what number to call… I gave them the number… I took photos… A line mate made a joke about posting one on Twitter… instead I posted one to Facebook… Instead of the “you check in on the computer, then we put the luggage tag on” system that they usually use, they were taking your boarding pass and entering the information for you. There were 3, then 4, then 3 agents… They didn’t have the staff to do things manually… yet they were doing it manually… They were rewriting many tickets (in the “Express Baggage Check” line)… taking more time… Once to the counter, my check-in process was mercifully quick… Staff was polite, not particularly concerned, and didn’t seem to share their passenger’s sense of urgency. (Someone walking down the line saying “we are running behind, but everything is under control” would have been nice… but it didn’t happen) Now, free of my bag, I ran for the gate, I bluffed my way through the First Class and Employee security line, and made the gate before the 11:05 flight time… for a flight that is now leaving about 1:20… 2 hours and 15 minutes late.
Luckily, I had a long layover in Las Vegas for the Tampa flight… now a short layover… eventually I will get to Tampa…
Of course, Southwest sent me an email at 9:51 telling me my flight was delayed… Kind of useless if you are supposed to be at the airport an hour or two before the flight…
SFO provides 45 minutes of free internet access… of course, I am trapped here for the next 2 ½ hours… I have eaten… I have burned my 45 minutes of free internet… I have another hour plus to burn… At least I got the email saying my flight was delayed…
I suspect much of my time here may be consumed complaining about Southwest Airlines… they are providing me with ample ammunition… This is a surprise… Southwest is generally a pretty good airline… Not exciting, not always cheapest… but generally pretty good… which makes today all the more surprising… I expect this (insert your favorite word for manure here) from United… (I will pay more not to fly United… I really dislike United) I wouldn’t be surprised on Northwest… There are jokes about how bad US Air is… but not on Southwest, they are usually competent.
I don’t like Southwest’s seating and boarding system… In the last year I have seen to incidents as fellow passengers fought over seats (including one where Grandma got taken off by the police.) On the other hand, I like their bag’s fly free policy… Generally their staff is pretty good, frequently humorous… I happen to like peanuts… They hand out peanuts… I like overnight flights… generally they don’t do red-eyes. I find myself flying Southwest about 1/3 of the time… I always check Southwest before buying a ticket.
It appears that the flight delay, and maybe the check in issues may be a result of weather, and resulting limits on landings and take-offs… If so, it may not be Southwest’s fault… but they didn’t handle it well today…
Now 12:37… still no big jet airplane… for Vegas or other destinations… the folks around me are getting frustrated… some think that Southwest is lying… they are hearing different stories from different employees…
I love to travel… Until next time… bye…
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