thanks to Frank Wright
The airline’s snaking preboard lines rankle frequent fliers, who believe some passengers are cheating the airline’s open seating system. Dawn Gilbertson Wall Street Journal,
Call it the Southwest side-eye. At Southwest Airlines gates across the country, preboard lines are piling up and the rest of the cabin is getting annoyed. Unlike most carriers, Southwest doesn’t assign seats. So while other airlines might see a handful of preboarding fliers – elderly or disabled people, or families with small children – more Southwest passengers attempt to board early.
Frequent fliers see it as a devious way to game the open-seating system for good seats and the pick of overhead bins without paying extra. Day in, day out, these fliers gripe to the airline about the problem. Some post photos on social media about what they view as potential abuses. The topic is so hot, Reddit moderators had to pin a notice about civility on the Southwest subreddit late last year. For now, Southwest is keeping the status quo.
Steve Maziarka, a national account manager who lives near Southwest’s hub at Chicago’s Midway Airport, counted about 30 preboarders in line on his Thanksgiving weekend flight from Denver to Chicago. He spotted almost as many on a business trip from Philadelphia to Chicago in February. Both instances limited his seat choices. (Exit-row seats are the only seats Southwest bars preboarders from grabbing.)
“People are taking advantage of the system,” says Maziarka, who has the airline’s top frequent-flier status. “It’s just gotten out of control.”
Southwest’s conundrum
Preboarding abuse is hard to prove. Southwest and other airlines are limited in what they can ask passengers who request preboarding. Sensitivity reigns, in deference to passengers with legitimate needs.
Airline spokesman Chris Perry said in a statement that under Transportation Department regulations, all airlines must offer preboarding to passengers with a disability who “self-identify” at the gate. They might need additional time or assistance to board, stow accessibility equipment or be seated, as well as specific seats due to a disability.
The airline’s website says passengers are asked questions to see if they qualify, but Perry didn’t disclose which questions. Those who aren’t approved but need extra time are allowed to board with families after the A group. Southwest executives play down the chronic overboarding complaints. Its quirky open seating has been a trademark for years and the airline says people traditionally have loved it.
“Preboarding is offered to customers needing assistance for various reasons. We work hard to maintain the integrity of the boarding process while providing accommodations for all who fly,” airline representatives say repeatedly on X. “Since many disabilities aren’t visible, we’re unable to question the validity of preboarding requests.”
Mike Worley, who travels weekly in his job as a fundraising executive, says he moved a chunk of his travel from Southwest to Delta Air Lines last year in part due to the boarding scrum. On Delta, he says, “you just never see preboarders go up to the counter en masse to get on.” Worley’s Southwest status gives him a good position in the first boarding group. That can still mean walking several rows back for an aisle seat if there are a lot of preboarders.
“Ten or 12 rows back is 10 minutes to get off the plane,” says Worley, who lives in Charleston, S.C. “That’s crucial time to me.”
Rising bad vibes
Some travelers fed up with the lines veer into public shaming, posting photos of what they believe to be preboarding cheats in gate areas. Others make snarky comments about “Jetway Jesus” intervening when passengers who preboarded in a wheelchair walk off the plane upon arrival.
The negativity got to be too much for moderators on the Southwest forum on Reddit. All preboarding posts are now screened for “ill-informed, unsympathetic” views. And videos of “alleged fakers taken by armchair physicians are going away,” according to the new policy. Passengers with legitimate disabilities cheered the move.
“While there is unfortunately a small category of people who abuse preboarding, there are tons of people with real and often invisible disabilities that truly need it for a safe and comfortable travel experience,” one traveler posted. Travelers concerned about preboarding abuses regularly suggest ways the airline could cut down on cheaters. They include blocking preboarders from seats near the front of the plane and deplaning last. But travelers who need the service would be penalized in the process.
“I have actually wasted plenty of time contemplating how they can fix the problem,” frequent flier Maziarka says. “I could never come up with a way to combat it.”
Disney theme parks, considered hot spots for cheats cutting long lines, is trying a new approach. Disney World and Disneyland announced a crackdown in April that includes a lifetime ban for those abusing the company’s Disability Access Service to cut ride lines. The service is for those with a developmental disability like autism. Southwest may find the answer as it fixes a more pressing issue: lackluster revenue. For the first time since 2006, the airline says it is seriously considering assigning seats.