Southwest Airlines

We got to Denver at the end of boarding and when I scanned my boarding pass, the Attendant informed us that we were no longer on the manifest. We went to the ticket counter and the Attendant there gave me and my husband boarding passes to board the plane. We scanned our tickets and boarded the plane, got to the last 2 seats on the plane and put our seatbelts on. After about 5 min, we were asked to gather our belongings and come to the front. When we arrived at the front we were asked to Disembark the plane. We went back to the ticket counter and our friends who we were traveling with and were in the same situation informed us that a man had complained that we got on the flight instead of him. His complaint was on the grounds that his family was on the plane, even though more than half of his family had been left at the gate. Even though those were our seats.

We had checked in accordingly, and caused no disturbances on the plane. The agents at the ticket counter did not inform us of our rights or why we were asked to disembark, She only said sorry and gave us $100.00 voucher each. She stated that the only plane going out to New Orleans from Denver would be for the next day and had 2 additional stops arriving in New Orleans at 6:00PM. We reluctantly agreed since we had to get home to our 5 yr old daughter. When we got to the airport the next day I asked the Ticket Agent if there was a certain number I can call to file a complaint. She asked what was wrong and if she could help, I informed her of the situation and when she reviewed the notes she stated that there had been nothing in the notes detailing the events in which had occurred the night prior.

She added a note and informed me that I should definitely file a complaint and that she had never heard of something like that happening. She informed me where to submit a claim online (southwest online) and that they will be in contact with me within 10 days. I filed a complaint online on 2/24/23. And have yet to receive an acknowledgment of the notice of complaint. According to DOT Laws and regulations the company has up to 30 days to Acknowledge the complaint filed and up to 60 Days to send a written notice of Acknowledgement.

Furthermore, after reading the DOT rights and guidelines for aviation passengers and travel. Southwest failed to give a written statement, explaining the terms, conditions, and limitations of denied boarding compensation, and describing the carriers' boarding priority rules and criteria. Finally, In accordance with the Code of Federal Regulation, 14 CFR 250.7(a) Boarded Passengers - " A covered air carrier may not deny a revenue passenger traveling on a confirmed reservation permission to board, or involuntarily remove that passenger from the aircraft, once a revenue passenger has:

(2) had their ticket or boarding pass collected or electronically scanned and accepted by the gate agent.

I have reached out to Southwest numerous times and have yet to get a response, every time I call the service guest line I am told it is in a separate department and they are reviewing the incident. I have been flying with southwest since 1997, and am appalled at their lack of communication in the matter. I have also Filed a Complaint with the DOT against southwest.

We received some of the most unapologetic, uncaring, and disingenuous treatment from Southwest Airlines across the board. From the gate agent to the ticketing agent to the baggage agent to the customer service rep. After leaving the airport (because our flight was changed to a 5AM flight the following day), I called to inquire again if there were better flights, I had to wait ONE to TWO hours just to speak to a live person. Our options to return were an early morning flight or an evening flight for a non-stop flight. There was no way I was going to chance taking a flight with a layover anywhere, Southwest is not to be trusted and I didn’t want to get into a situation where we were then stranded at yet another airport.

I don’t know what is going on with Southwest and why their business model is falling apart. SW used to be my “go-to” airline (we even had the credit card but have since retired it due to the airline’s inconsistency with flights). If you read social media and travel sites, their complaint meter has increased substantially. If SW thinks it's ok to strand passengers in random places just to make their “customary playbook” profitable, then they are not focusing on what is important. They might be forcing people to miss weddings, funerals, births, deaths. This is not OKAY. Why would anyone fly them?

The local news received a disingenuous reply from a SW rep regarding our situation but also showed some telling facts: "Many of the flights we proactively canceled at the start of today were in anticipation of operational conditions in Denver..."

Southwest cancelled our flight IN THE MORNING and we were not notified until we were in the air on our way to Tampa. If we had been notified we would have chosen to stay (at our own expense) in San Juan to spend more time with our family, but we were not given that option. Other airlines always lets us know when a flight is going to be delayed or cancelled and they do this in advance and they let us change our flight to a time that works for us. SW does not offer this. Their system is antiquated and not user-friendly. We are disgusted with the treatment we received. They are losing loyal customers left and right. Why do they keep treating your passengers this way? Shame on you Southwest!

I got sick on the plane. Once parked again I got off the plane and tried to talk to someone, ANYONE, who could help but there was just one ticket person and a long line of angry customers. I never was able to schedule another connection in Ontario. At one point they said they would take my luggage off the plane and then said they wouldn't. So I got back on the plane preferring to be stranded with luggage rather than without. These Southwest people are rude and crude and have no idea what they are telling people! Why do they feel they have to tell people things that aren't true? Is it just some power trip and they enjoy wrecking the plans of their customers?

Anyhow, I eventually landed in Vegas and once again there was no one who knew what was going on. No one could tell me how to get home to Atlanta. I had a boarding pass for the flight to Atlanta but when I tried to use it they said the boarding pass was no good. Some SWA jerk grabbed it out of my hands and said "Hmm, it says it's for Atlanta". Anyhow, they told me to go talk to customer service so I lost my seating assignment. At "customer service" they printed out another ticket and said to go get on the plane. I tried and again the boarding pass was not working. The whole time they were acting as if this was my fault, even though it was their obvious flawed way of doing things.

Any airline this bad should not be allowed to fly. They are completely unsympathetic. Just rude and nasty if you express simple concerns about your schedule or luggage. In one breath they blame it on flight control, tell you what flight to get on, and then it all turns out to be bogus information. Keep in mind that Southwest perpetuated this mess over three days. Maybe somewhere someone was working on it but you could have fooled me. They looked like idiots and no one had any confidence in what they were saying. The FAA needs to shut down this type of operation because a loss of control like this is not just a headache for travelers but also inherently unsafe.

Southwest made a lot of people desperate for no reason. Ok, there was ice in Dallas but Southwest made the situation 10 times worse by telling people their flights were still taking off and convincing people to come to the airport. This made some people a bit panicky for no reason other than a few airline people wanting to look like they had all the answers. In fact, their systems were failing, their people were confused and untrained, and they reacted rudely and aggressively.

At around 9:30/10 am from sitting on the plane since we boarded at 6:10, we finally took off. Because of the major delay which caused a domino effect with all my bookings. But the main thing was that I missed a major holiday event that I planned, paid and scheduled for my whole family to attend together and share. That really saddened me more that it upset me. I had to pay extra costs for my scheduled bookings I made along with more waiting. Then later I find out that Southwest was compensating with points to customers who had major delays and cancellations,. But only for the people who flew starting from Dec.24th. Southwest sent me an email stating that my flight might be delayed or cancelled if I flew out on my original scheduled flight (Dec 24th) and gave me the free option to move it.

The date I moved it was the date Southwest had thousands of cancellations and major delays (Dec. 22nd). My flight coming home was also delayed. Southwest made no attempt to make it right for the passengers who went through the same nightmare as all the others who went through it on Dec. 24th. The holidays for some of us are the only time we get to spend and save up to get to see our family and a lot of that time was lost for some of us including having to spend additional funds that some of us don't have to spend especially during the holidays. Southwest needs to compensate everyone who had a major delays and/or cancellations during the Dec holiday flights and not just their selective dates starting on Dec. 24th. That day will be imbedded in my brain as one of the worse days I ever had traveling. Helen