southwest

We thought this issue was taken care of the last time a Las Vegas Southwest employee randomly stopped someone from flying without checking to see if they could actually sit in a seat with the arms down (per Southwest's policy), but apparently not. Now a Chicagoland man says he was stopped from boarding a return flight home to Chicago because he was too big (6'2" 350lbs), but he airline wouldn't allow him to prove that he could fit in the seat.  More »

The WSJ's latest "Middle Seat" column is about that holy grail for all internet-lovers — airplane Wi-Fi. It turns out that people love, love, love it... but pay for it? Nah.  More »

Here's an issue you probably didn't expect to run into on your flight from Oakland to Las Vegas. According to the SF Chronicle, a man exposed himself, then punched a passenger who screamed. After that, he decided to strip naked and resist while flight attendants and other passengers subdued him. The flight was turned around and both the man and the woman he punched were taken to the hospital. They apparently don't know each other, and the man is wanted on drug charges.  More »

Southwest says a test of Wi-Fi on its planes was successful, so they're going to expand the service to all of their planes next year.  More »

An early morning Southwest flight headed to Orlando from Connecticut only got as far as Long Island this weekend, after an inexplicable burning smell at the back of the plane forced an early landing. Turns out the unexplained smell was, well, something we're only too familiar with: airline coffee. The plane was quickly cleaned up and put back into operation. But let's call it a brewed awakening.  More »

Doug Herbstommer and his 10-year-old son were preparing to disembark from a Phoenix flight when a three-inch poisonous bark scorpion dropped from the overhead compartment and bit Doug on the hand. On closer inspection, five more scorpions were found nestling nearby. Passengers started to scream and jump up onto their seats. Why, is there something scary about a bunch of poisonous scorpions whose bite can cause extreme pain, frothing at the mouth, and temporary paralysis??!?  More »

Southwest Airlines flight 2298 made an emergency landing in West Virginia yesterday after a hole appeared on the top of the plane while in flight. "Passengers reported that they could see the sky through the rupture," writes the Washington Post. It left Nashville around 4:05pm, but landed only 50 minutes later. According to this WPRI video clip, Southwest spent the night inspecting 181 of its Boeing 737-300 jets, and they say there should be no delays today.  More »

Starting tomorrow, Southwest will fly out of New York's LaGuardia airport, which hopefully means that flying between New York, Boston, Chicago, and Washington is about to get a whole lot cheaper.  More »

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.   More »

Reader Mike cc'd us on a complimentary email to Southwest Airlines, which is something that usually doesn't happen when the words "lost and found" are involved. Long story short— he lost his camera and the airline lost his bags — but he managed to get everything back with a minimum of effort. Lucky guy!  More »

Southwest previously did not allow animals in the cabin unless they were there for medical reasons — but times are tough, so the airline that doesn't charge for bags is looking for ways to add revenue without "angering customers."   More »