Southwest Apologizes To The Frequent Flyer Who Was Suddenly Too Big To Fly
Southwest Airlines has apologized to Chip, the frequent business traveler who was denied boarding because he was too big to fly. If you recall, Chip, a self-described "big guy," does not use a seat belt extender and says he has no trouble fitting into a standard airline seat.
Southwest Airlines says (to Chip):
Certainly, your history as our Customer would suggest that our Employees haven't identified you as a Customer of size in the past, and we regret the inconsistency you experienced in Las Vegas. As a very frequent Customer who notes he is a "huge fan," you're no doubt aware that the primary key to our success over the past 38 years is our workforce. And, of course, our workforce is made up of humans who are, unfortunately, fallible. As you describe yourself as "barely" fitting into our seats, it isn't unreasonable (as you acknowledge) for our Employee to approach you about your seating needs.
However, once your situation escalated to a Supervisor and you explained again that you've traveled many, many times without being approached, our Employees should have reevaluated the situation.
I assure you that the appropriate Leaders have been made aware of your concerns. Although we will be unable to share any specifics with you, we are confident our Leaders will address the situation appropriately.
Additionally, as a tangible expression of our apologies, I have issued you [redacted] in travel credit, the value of which equals that of your roundtrip fare. The travel credit will arrive via e-mail within a few days.
As you're aware, Southwest Airlines is a very good airline with an excellent performance record; friendly, capable Employees; and a strong commitment to Customer Service. We regret making you feel otherwise on June 15, and I hope that your faith in our Company continues and that we can look forward to future opportunities to have you on our flights.
Chip says:
Although this wasn't about money, I accept your offer.
It is probably worth mentioning that I have already flown on Southwest four(4) times since last Monday. Many many people have suggested that I switch airlines, but that would be foolish. I already fly the best airline in the US, so there's no need to change. I know that the two employees that hampered my travel plans last Monday are the exception to Southwest's fine customer service, not the rule. Hopefully they are being dealt with accordingly.
We love a happy ending. You can check out Southwest's full letter and more of Chip's thoughts about the incident, here.
Thank You Jim Ruppel at Southwest [Chip's Blog]
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Comments:
Does anyone else think that the letter reads like a form letter?
The hatred against fat people in this country has become scary. I've heard people who are as little as 20 lbs. overweight say that they are discriminated against. I really hope the people who did this are fired.
And he doesn't look even remotely big enough to need 2 seats.
The only time I've flown on Southwest, they lost my luggage and it took them three days to get it to me in a six-day trip. I've heard a multitude of good things about them, but I'll remain cautiously skeptical.
Companies love arbitrary capitalization b/c they are guided by the notion that capitalization equals importance. It drive me nuts.
@computerwiz3491: Sections of it, sure. There's certain to be boilerplate language they have to use that has been reviewed by their lawyers. And Southwest has its own lingo anyway ("Customers" with a capital C instead of "passengers," and such things). But they also specifically cited things he wrote in his own letter. I don't find it too bad.
@azsumrg1rl: Agreed. Capitalizing "customer" is meaningless, without the actions to back it up.
Oh, and: "customer of size"? Ackkk...I didn't expect that kind of PC nonsense from Southwest.
@Kimberly Gist-Collins:
Anything to make you feel superior to those around you...
Racism is a no-go nowadays, so fatism is the new way to discriminate. Too bad it is socially acceptable, if not cool. :(
I dunno, getting free travel credit...that's like if I complained about the pain after a root-canal, and the dentist said my next one is free.
@Kimberly Gist-Collins: I am about this guys size, a bit broader up top as I was a power lifter in high school. My HIPS, like the actual BONE part not fat, is what forces me to squeeze into an airline seat, unless fat somehow increases the distance in width of my legs from the inside out.
People tend to insult fat people but not to their face, in my case I find they tend to me a bit more frightened of me as opposed to this guys jolly face. I really think that if you allow yourself to be insulted then it is bound to happen more often.
@computerwiz3491: Nah, not really. Like Leela, I think it's carefully worded for legal reasons, but it was definitely personalized to this particular incident.
@Kimberly Gist-Collins: Same goes if you look underweight too, even if you aren't. If you aren't the so-called norm, people are going to make comments. Not fun.
@computerwiz3491: It reads like the author was coached by HR, PR and Legal. Then proofread by all.
Then rewritten to make it all fit.
It looks like it's well done and has a sympathetic ring from a professional doing their job.
I'm glad that SWAir has come forth and apologized in this manner instead of mailing him some coupons and a form letter.
Thanks for posting a follow up! I was wondering what the outcome of this would be. In fact there are a lot of stories that I'd love to see follow up on.... Thanks!
The main problem is the over-reaching sense of authority that some airline employees seem to possess. They capriciously decide something, and we "the public" are too stupid to contradict them with facts.
It's funny that Chip thought he could reason with the woman at the gate. She's the boss, dude, and isn't going to change her mind. And the more upset you get with her version of reality the more you become a problem to her. Then all the more intractable she becomes, regardless of what the truth is, or what's fair.
@computerwiz3491: "I assure you that the appropriate Leaders have been made aware of your concerns. Although we will be unable to share any specifics with you, we are confident our Leaders will address the situation appropriately."
Sure.
Can someone tell me if anyone addressed this before? OP said he flies out of Vegas 2 times a week. Thats 4 times a month. Out of the same airport same airline. I did this out of Phoenix for 6 months and I actually knew the various gate agents by name. They even recognized me and would say things like, "missed seeing you last week". My point is, if he is flying that often out of the same airport, with the same gate agents that are stationed (home based) there, you would have thought some agents would have been around that could have recognized him from past encounters and helped out here.
While I feel deceived by the tag line "Happy Endings," I'm still glad Chip got this resolved. Southwest is by far my preferred airline. I dread having to fly places they don't go. I'm glad to see they took this seriously.
I'm kindof surprised that since Chip flies so often, he doesn't encounter the same gate agents fairly often at his home airport. Maybe he's not flying the same route or times often enough, I obviously don't know his situation. Although, they'll almost certainly all recognize him *now*. And hopefully get the same good service he usually gets...
If you read "Nuts", the wonderful management theory book that examines Southwest's corporate culture and management style, it explains it.
Southwest always capitalizes Employees and Customers because they believe that both groups are absolutely crucial to the success of the airlines, and by highlighting those words in that way, they constantly remind everyone at Southwest how important those groups of people are to the success of Southwest.
It is also why Southwest refers to people who fly their airline as Customers and not as "passengers", and why Southwest's HR department is known as the People Department.
Unlike a lot of companies, Southwest doesn't just use words, but backs up the words with actions and behaviors, and that's why they are as successful as they are.
@Saboth: But not only does this guy like Southwest, he's a frequent traveler, so this is of great value to him
@Featherstonehaugh: One's weight is (for the vast, vast, vast majority of people) controllable; one's race isn't. In that sense, "fat" people aren't a protected class, so I wouldn't rush to call it discrimination. Heck, Southwest has every right to boot me if they don't like the shirt I choose to wear (or in this case, the weight I choose to put on), but not because I'm black/white/Asian/etc.
"As you're aware, Southwest Airlines is a very good airline..."
...I'm a bit surprised this actually showed up in the response. When an airline has to actually tell someone they are 'very good', rather than letting their services do the talking, it makes me wary... then again I haven't flown in ages. As a kid Southwest was always my favourite because everyone there seemed so friendly...once, the captain and stewardesses alternately got on the intercom during the flight and told jokes, and have us all ring our call-bells if we thought it was funny. I'm not sure if they allow stuff like that anymore though.
@bilge: Exactly...fire them! I want them and their families to starve and go hungry and become homeless....relax. Reprimand the employees and move on.
I decided a long time ago that while at times it may NOT be "about the money" for me, for a big company, it's ALWAYS "about the money". Therefore if they aren't giving me something tangible they aren't really "taking it seriously".
@Kimberly Gist-Collins: I could certainly lose 20 pounds and I have never felt like I was treated badly because of it.
Perhaps I need to look harder.
A "person of size". Wow.
@PinkBox: Thank you for pointing out the underweight thing. I've had to fight my whole life against stupid "hur hur you never eat hur hur anorexia" comments, and then I get stomped down whenever I try to explain that I am naturally thin and that it's actually really hard for me to keep my weight to a healthy level with "Well, I would kill to be as thin as you" comments, which just make my weight issues seem stupid and frivolous. Just as some people are naturally husky or have problems keeping weight OFF, there are a lot of people who are naturally thin and have problems keeping weight ON.
However, even though there is discrimination and many people work very hard to keep weight off to no success, there are plenty of people who cry "DISCRIMINATION. FATISM!!!" when they are morbidly obese and do NOTHING to control their weight, content to just rail on others and throw a fit if someone says they need to lose weight. I have no sympathy for them.
@supercereal:
What does it matter whether or not it's controllable? That does not seem relevant to me.
Would it be ok to discriminate against blacks if they could choose not to be black? This implies that there is in fact something wrong with being black, but the only reason why we frown on racism is because the victims can't control their color. I always thought discrimination was inherently wrong. I guess not?
In the letter, SW restated their policy, conceded that the supervisor should have re-evaluated. Then apologized for the inconsistancy that he was treated and refunded his ticket.
As far as I can read, SW did not apologize for any wrongdoing. They also did not acknowledge whether Chip is or is not considered a big guy by SW policy and whether he would be required to purchase additional seat in the future.
"Traveler of size" is about the best euphemism I've ever read.
@jp: "OP said he flies out of Vegas 2 times a week. Thats 4 times a month"
thats 8 times a month...but your point is valid. Here in hawaii many people do daily flights to outer islands for work (my step dad flew out every morning at 5am to another island then back at around 7pm every week day for 3 months) and he knew every gate agent and many security guards. So either people just didnt care enough to say something, or he had some really bad luck.
I'm really tired of fake apologetic wording. They 'regret the inconsistency' - I would like to read something more like, "We apologize for our poor customer service". Regretting the inconsistency is more like they just regret that they didn't tag him as a fat person every single time he flew.
Really? You hope that these people lose their jobs, and cause themselves and their families to fall on hard times because of an error in judgement? Are you so perfect yourself that you haven't made an error in judgement?
I think that whatever internal measures they have (talking to the employees, retraining them, or sending them to sensitivity training) would be more than sufficient, without having to cause them the strain of financial hardship in this tough economy by taking away their job.
@computerwiz3491: The last one is almost definitely from a script. Especially the way it awkwardly adds in the date.
@Featherstonehaugh: It is completely relevant if you're going to complain about how you get treated about something that is very unhealthy for you and causes problems for others and by that I mean requiring an extra seat or being unable to fly at all. You can't claim "Oh, the idignity of it all" if you could just drop the weight and help yourself and others.
That being said, I do think that genetics plays a bigger role in obesity than most people would like to think.
@Featherstonehaugh: You can choose to be a man or a woman these days, so I guess under supercereal's theory, any women experiencing discrimination need to just suck it the hell up and get a sex change operation, or quit bitching.
(I exaggerate, I know, but I do think there's a point there.)
@supercereal: What about when I was told I had "ethnic hair" and to get hired I needed to dye it and straighten it and have it a different length?
Hair *IS* within my control, but it also serves as a marker for other things (such as ethnicity, apparently). Weight and body shape can too. What is the line between "in your control" and "not in your control"? Should I be allowed to have my natural hair color because it's natural, or be forced to change it because it's within my control? What about my natural weight set-point? What if my body type is curvier than the standard for American beauty because I come from a particular ethnic group and as a result I'm told I'm "too fat" for job X or store Y?
Um, their strange capitalization of employee titles is a little creepy.