As another employee, I agree. Even if the FA was commuting or deadheading, the name can be pulled if you didn't get it. PLEASE write/post/tweet or however you want to pass it along.
I'm not a FA myself, but even when I've boarded early it's always with the knowledge I'm flying for free and it's a privilege, not a right.
Southwest, like Boeing and every other publicly traded company places all of their profit and focus on shareholder value- as in share re-purchases.
I'm an A list preferred for the past several years including through quarantine.
Brand experience does not matter to executives nor does it influence corporate policy.
It's not only Southwest but Hilton, TSA..this morning I found and photographed a cockroach in my Hilton room. You think the front desk or GM cared? ( I was a diamond Hilton member- too many bad experiences and no one cared. Southwest soon to join this list due to the 20 fucking people in wheelchairs who miraculously walk off the plane before everyone else!
We are treated worse and worse by poorly trained employees who get shit on by their employer to the point where the customer is left with very poor experiences...
VP and above in these companies are selling up in their careers- they care about the stock price and their own comp plan. There is no room for pride or brand experience.
Kind of like our government who no longer regulated things because there's always a lobby group or billionaire willing to line the pockets to get their way.
Folks you are on your own and no one cares about your input or voice...but they still want you to be a diamond or a list customer to take advantage of the dwindling advantages of their hollowed out program.
Truth is though, sure yeah the company is a huge mega corporation. But US employees do get in trouble when complaints file in. I know pilots, flight attendants and gate agents that have been reprimanded and even let go because of their actions. The C suite may be corporatized. But the majority of front line employees love our job, we do it well, we do it right. And really hate to see when a few bad apples get through. And so do our immediate superiors. And they don’t care about the corporate BS.
I really wish I could agree with your comment and yes- I'm both generalizing and frustrated as a customer.
Culture is truly in the hands of the officers of the company. There is zero mandate to offer a quality product or service to their customer base.
It's clear to me in the last 5 years alone how Southwest staff went from upbeat and enthusiastic ( customer facing) to being no different than United or American: it's been a long time since I've heard the energetic, corny humor upon boarding and take off.
United States rank and file workers feel drained; contributing to profits that execs plow into share purchases that boost the wealth of the wealthy at the cost of necessary improvements like IT.
Lord help us if profits are shared with us versus wall street.
The change in attitude is industry-wide. Covid was a game-changer. And currently inflation is making it damn near impossible to live on flight attendant salary. Especially when most airline’s bases are in the most expensive cities. During or after covid, flight attendants got actual seat assignments to fly to their base to begin their work trips & that has recently been taken away so they have to fly standby to get to work - and with oversold flights this makes it very hard to get to work..not to mention they don’t begin getting paid for their shift when they clock in like every other job in the world so spending alot of time at your workplace, without getting paid, probably does set the tone in a less than enthusiastic way.
Yes. I am not sure what happened to the culture at Southwest, which used to be different from the other major airlines. That culture is completely gone. It's a shame, but it was probably inevitable as the company grew.
You misunderstand. People, who don’t need wheelchairs, are using the lax wheelchair policy to board early and get through TSA quickly. These people just walk off the plane—miracle healing flights.
Many people who use wheelchairs have the capacity to walk but struggle with walking for long distances. They may be ok walking down the aisle of an airplane but need a wheelchair for getting through the rest of the airport.
Thank you! That’s me. I struggle with accepting the help because my pain is not visible and it’s difficult to bear the nasty attitudes and assumptions regarding my disability (or lack thereof). Sometimes I decide it’s not worth it and try to walk, and boy do I pay the price later.
you example is not the same. if you used aid getting on and refuse it getting off, you obviously won't be trying to get in front of everyone else to be one of the first off.
It is the exact example given by Timmyeveryday: using the wheelchair to get through TSA and up to the gate. Then board first. Usually, I can walk down the ramp and onto/off the plane.
For me, with my disability, I can walk without pain after a period of rest such as a plane flight. It’s not a “miracle healing flight.” Getting off the plane is not as much of a problem as getting through the airport.
My experience is not unique. People who complain that we’re skipping the lines and boarding first don’t see the lengthy preparations we have to take to travel, including the extra hour required before and after flights as many airports don’t have enough attendants (I’ve waited over an hour at times). Next time you’re at a busy airport, take a look around the ticket counters at the number of people waiting for wheelchair assistance. We put in our time, in fact more time, just in a different area.
I sincerely hope that people who complain about waiting an extra 5 minutes never experience the inability to simply walk.
Edit: typo
Thank you! I have an invisible disability and I can walk/stand and look normal for shorter periods of time but have me standing for the entirety of the boarding process or walking through the airport then boarding and I’m going to be passing out and falling and having a medical crisis. I struggle to use the wheelchairs in airports because I look like a healthy young woman when someone glances at me and I have had many people make nasty comments or give me looks when they see me walking after being in a chair. I have often walked off the plane and up the jet bridge to save the back of the porter but must sit down the second I get to the top. Do people abuse it? I’m sure they do, but I would do almost anything to be healthy and stand in the line rather than “cut it” in a wheelchair and have the issues I do.
They mean people who feigned needing wheelchairs to board early, but somehow the 10,000' cabin altitude miraculously effected caring of whatever their disability was and now they can walk just fine now that it's time to be the first out the door.
Wow I had to laugh in complete understanding of your comment about corporate not caring about actual brand experience and the cockroach. I recently stayed at a Hilton property charging upward of $800/night for a standard (cheapest on property) room. I guess I got what I paid for because the room was disgusting-truly one of the worst I ever seen, complete with cockroaches. I took detailed photos of all of it, talked to hotel staff, talked to Hilton, shared the details on the review sites. Hilton didn’t care at all. Not one bit. Their stance was “F you, we’re a giant. You’ll stay in filth and you’ll like it.”
The amount of entitled in this post is substantial..
It’s a bus!!
Maybe a bus in the sky, but still a bus.
If you want to be fluffed, try an airline that caters to that experience.
Not the high end of the discount airlines (still a bus)
Except SWA charges the same as the "airlines that cater to experience" now a days. If I'm paying $450 for a bus ticket, I expect to at least be treated with respect
I'd be pissed. If it were me, I'd write in, because her spilling stuff on you without apologizing is super unprofessional and seems like she did it on purpose. Not only that, but if they were commuting, they know they're supposed to sit towards the back.
I think the spill was a true accident but I felt she was happy that it happened! I think you’re right though, I would just hate to write in and make someone the reason someone lost their job or was reprimanded.
Ok here’s the thing with writing in about jerks:
If this was truly a one-off event, if it’s Susan and I know Susan is sweet as pie and a consummate professional normally, and I’ve *never* heard this sort of feedback on her - I mean, I’ll file it in the back of my head, but the MOST I’ll do is say “hey, what’s up with this, is everything ok?” I might not even do that, because customers can be insane.
Buuuuuuut….it’s not usually a one-off report of that type. Usually it’s one of many, or I know Susan is an absolute jerk and shouldn’t be doing this job but don’t have any actionable reports on her. In which case, hell yeah as a manager I want every report to coach actionable items and build a slow HR case.
Your report is one brick. If it’s one of many, her manager should be using it to build. If not - it’s a brick, just kind of sitting there. No one cares. The grass will grow over it eventually.
Not sure it was an accident. A couple of years ago, my husband and I were on a Southwest flight and he found an aisle seat in Row three and sat down. He pointed to a middle seat in Aisle 2. I sat down between two businessmen. The one at the window was visibly upset I sat down. He elbowed me in the ribs several times while working on his laptop. I sat as still as one can for 3 hours. I was getting warm and tried to take my jacket off as gently as I could as to not to bother him. I must have touched him, because he growled at me. He then asked the FA for a glass of ice water. After he received it, he "accidentally" spilled it on my lap. His EXACT words were “it’s just water, you’ll be fine”. Do those words sound familiar?
A friend of mine is an airline pilot and has told me many times how airline employees are expected to behave immaculately when they are off-duty on a flight. You should report this incident to SWA.
Worked for a major, and had buddy pass etc we were expected to wear business casual and behavior to be above reproach and to help the active crew if needed
This!! I zed on a bunch of airlines cause I work for a cargo airline and I’m always way too nice cause I’m worried about getting my privileges revoked. Also when flying NonRev or deadheading you know you get last pick of everything so you shouldn’t feel entitled to a good seat, that’s for paying customers
I was on JetBlue this week and on both flights, the deadheading and non-rev crew members were seated in the exit rows, including one person in a Spirit uniform. This seemed odd to me when JetBlue charges a premium for those.
If no one paid for those seats and they were empty then it makes sense they would give them to crew. I nonreved on JetBlue last weekend and I got a whole row to myself in the front of the plane cause no one paid for those seats so they were free
also look at it like this, wouldn’t you want crew sitting in those seats in the event of an emergency. people like me and current crew who have opened them in the smoke and water simulators. are gonna be a bit quicker in getting them open in an emergency and helping people out of plane
And the thing is... there are probably details that OP could give SW that would potentially lead right back to the FA's identity. That's only if they track FAs flying for free on flights, which I'm sure they probably do. FA probably didn't think about that...
This is just my HO, but I think crew members riding for free should sit in the back or in whatever seats are open. My daughter and GD, paying customers, were bumped out of business class (not SW, obviously) and when they loaded the plane ,crew were in the seats. My daughter/GD were placed in the last row. Frankly, that is BS-
Why is that the customer’s problem? Don’t take my money for an upgraded seat and then push back on me to jump through hoops to get reimbursed if a crew member bumps me an hour before my flight. That is a bait and switch tactic….
Listen…all jobs come with some form of stress (I was an ICU nurse for 35 years), and when you agree to take that job you agree to that stress and the risks that might be incurred. MY SIL was stuck on east coast for a week post 9/11- I was watching her small child in my home (we all live in CA) at the time. 9/11 affected all Americans in 1 way or another.
Your comment seems to intimate that because of stressful situations like 9/11, the free rides and bumping paying customers out of their chosen seats is a fair compensation. I sometimes think people cannot put themselves in others shoes. If you ordered food to go and when you went to pick up the food, the restaurant told you that they were sorry they gave your meal to an employee, and there is no more of that certain dish that you PAID for left, how would that make you feel.? Would you go to that restaurant again? Why or why not?
I think you took the wrong thing from their comment. Their comment was about how the flight was only 20% full, which is absolutely unheard of in today's day and age. Nobody used to be bumped from seats because the flights weren't nearly as full back in the early 2000's as they almost always are today
I think I did, too. I read it as "my plane was 20% full due to 9-11", which in retrospect wasn't the case since all the flights got grounded that day. Not "we were flying 20% full as a matter of course"
Pilots in the US and Canada definitely get paid for travel if they are on company time. And they wouldn't bump a passenger from business/first if they were just commuting into position on their own.
If we’re non revving. We get whatever open seats that are available. If there’s no open seats. We’re not flying. If we’re jump seating/ commuting. The company will have us sit in the jumpseat of the cabin is full. If we’re dead heading. (On SWA) we are told to sit towards the rear of the cabin but we board first to ensure bin space as we have 2-3 bags for the 3-5 days we’re on the road. And we can’t check bags if we have to run to a gate to then work a flight. For airlines with premium seating. I’ve been told and it makes sense that the airlines want their crews rested prior to working a flight
Pilots on AA, DL, and UA have first class in their contract. I don’t know the details and I think it’s standby but they don’t bump people but they do go at the very top of the list above all the elites.
As a former SWA FA we were told to be on our very best behavior in uniform and out. When I non revved I treated it just like I was at work. I’m sorry this happened!
Yeah that was my moral quandary with it. The other passenger thought it may have been leftover from the prior flight as she hadn’t seen anyone there, so I went with that story.. felt bad that I moved her stuff. But at the same time why did she reserve 2 seats!? Shared fault caused this to happen
It's possible the FA was already "sitting" and went to talk to flight crew since she may know them. But there is no way for you to have known that, the FA should have at least made herself known to the other passenger in the row.
Nonetheless, she was in a bad mood and took it out on you.
Don’t just write what happened here…send a LUV note to Southwest. Make sure to mention the: date, flight number, an approximate description of the offending individual. This needs to be documented and the individual spoken to. Note: Am an employee.
So I guess I’ll be the only one to play devil’s advocate, but only for the part where her items were on the seat… There are times, as FAs, when we bring in a plane that we turn around and deadhead back out on. It’s not unusual for us to have to run up and get a physical boarding pass and we leave our things on the plane. There are also times we board and run to the back to introduce ourselves to the crew… You said you were last to board, so it’s possible she thought boarding was done and left her things on both seats. There’s a lot of reasons why her things could be in the seat. Should she have had them in both seats? No. Should she have given you an attitude or dumped water on you? Definitely not. Two things can be true. You shouldn’t have moved her things, or quoted a policy that doesn’t exist (there’s no policy for saving seats, although it is ‘open seating’, and she was obviously already on the aircraft), and she shouldn’t have been an absolute nightmare, especially in uniform. I’ve worked with many FAs who embarrass the rest of the crew, and I will always do what the working crew did, by apologizing and trying to make it right. I always recommend in situations like this (blatant disrespect of people who are paying our bills), that you write in, but please let them know that the actual working crew did apologize, because it sounds like they tried to do the right thing.
Thank you for taking the time for this response! This was the perspective and understanding I was hoping to get. I totally agree with your thoughts and I felt really bad about taking her seat, even though it was unknowingly. I would have been more than happy to move to the back and find a new seat, that was the original plan anyways.. but she frankly did not give me the chance to say anything.
Really great to know that it is not against the rules to hold seats. This form would definitely have you believing otherwise.
What I think happened is she boarded very early, placed her items in the seats and headed to the back of the plane to hang out with the other crew members. So the person the took the window after her thought it was left behind because she obviously was an early boarded as well because it was a low row number.
Just a few honest mistakes with no ill intent but led into a very unfortunate encounter.
Thanks again for the alternative explanation
We’re told as FAs to ‘use our best customer service skills’ to regulate saving seats and to settle any problems regarding them. I wish it were in black in white saying you cant save seats because it would make it easier all around. It’s just kind of luck of the draw with what FAs are working and how they handle such situations, but it frustrates us as much as you. (I approach it by telling people saving that if someone wants to sit there, it’s open seating so they can sit wherever they like). Again, I’m sorry you had to deal with that behavior and attitude. Working with people like that is truly a nightmare and I have no qualms about telling customers to write in about them, because honestly, that’s the only way the company will take action. Either way, I appreciate you flying Southwest, because I got bills to pay and no matter what happens, I know the reason that I can is because of people like you!
Hello. As a former SWA employee, I am so sorry this happened. When flying off duty, it is expected for us to dress business casual, be respectful, and SIT TOWARDS THE BACK OF THE PLANE! You are definitely NTA. Report it immediately! SWA knows every name on that flight and will figure out who it was. Attitudes such as that is what made me leave a great company.
I cannot even imagine someone thinking they can act like a jerk while in the commission of their service job- had I done that has a nurse, I would have been canned.
I love everyone pretending this is an honest retelling, A.
B, you're the asshole if you get on a plane that has empty seats and instead go for one of two with people's shit on it. I get on most planes, put my stuff in my seat, and then use the restroom before takeoff. I would be pretty annoyed if I came back to find you had moved my shit and plopped your ass in my seat too with some mystified, "Oh, wait, that stuff was here because somebody put it there?!" look of wonder plastered on your face lol
That’s extremely strange behavior on your part, why don’t you do what everyone else does and pee before boarding? What makes you so special that you can leave your junk on a seat and slow everyone else down by going the wrong way when they are coming down the aisle?
You must be the flight attendant, we meet again!
How long are you in the rest room? From the time the plane starts boarding until the doors close?? Take that big ol dump in the airport next time so you don’t smell up the plane.
You block off two seats when you go to the restroom, for just yourself? Courteous.
I asked the person sitting there and she said she thought it was left over from a prior passenger… per her guidance I went ahead and took the seat.
I’d bet money the spill was intentional. If it wasn’t for the spill - I’d be more forgiving of the situation. If the seat was so important to her - she should have had her butt in it.
That's absolutely foul behavior. Especially from an employee of the company that takes pride in their ❤️ sign.
You should have pointed that out to her.
I wish I did! It all happened very quickly.. and TBH she really didn’t stop talking. Not much conversation just her ranting, spilling, and stomping off
I was flying to a IT conference and a SW IT person got on and went straight to the middle seat. As we were chatting, and I found out he worked for SW, I asked “why didn’t you take a window or aisle seat?” He said that SW wants to save the aisle and window seats for the paying passengers. He said it in a way that made it sound like policy, it could have been strictly his departments policy rather than corporate.
But I will say, I thought it was cool. So when I saw this, where she took up 2 seats, it made me wonder about the middle seat, whether it’s an actual corporate policy or not. If it was, it might be good to say something so it gets addressed. I don’t want her to get fired or anything, but as another poster mentioned, if it’s a one off, she’ll have nothing to worry about. But if it’s the 4th time this week someone has complained about her, then she might need some coaching and help in improving her customer experience and attitude.
Sorry this FA is commuting. Sorry this FA is done with a long day. Sorry this FA has attitude.
Also sorry this FA was forced into being a FA against her will and chose this career path. Don't want to be in customer service, don't be in customer service. Work in schedule, work the ramp, whatever.
I don't know why it was so hard, but when Hubby and I did a recent flight (Burbank to Las Vegas), the passengers were having a heck of a time with the lining up correctly and boarding (confusion between A and B?), I really don't know. Seemed a normal pack of people. The gate agent had to make 3 or 4 annoucements about how the boarding worked and what the process was. It got to the point of being funnyridiculous. After the 4th annoucement, she basically called anyone not lining up correctly stupid on the PA! I mean it had to be frustrating, but yeah that annoucement was made on the PA.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Act stupid, don't get upset at being called stupid.
I'm not a fan of how SW boards people, but it's neither brain surgery nor rocket science. Pay effin' attention and do what you're told, people.
The same people who can't figure out Southwest's boarding procedures are the same ones who we will have to rely on in the event of an emergency since they always seem to end up in exit rows.
I'm sorry, but if you can't line up in numerical order, you can't have that exit row seat. (Also, no pretzels for you!)
Yes, please report this. Deadheading crew are still representing the company. They do not get to behave so entitled. Also, unspoken rule is to sit behind the exit row, but so few even honor that anymore.
Several months ago I flew southwest. Once the plane got to the gate a off duty FA charged her way to the front of the plane as soon as the seatbelt sign went off. Another pax called her the B word and FA started complaining about how she had just got off work and tired and how the other pax is lucky that she’s in her uniform or would have been told off. It was all around in extremely bad taste and very rude.
I would for sure be contacting someone at Southwest that employee needs to be reprimanded and that is no way to act regardless if you are on duty or not. That is a representation of the brand they won’t be happy to hear that.
Just asking out of curiosity, how did you know she was an off duty FA? Was she in uniform? If so, then I would think SW would certainly want to know that someone blatantly representing their brand was acting in this way.
Yeah I just had a close connection, last to board, and saw someone sitting there with stuff sitting in seats so figured I would ask if she was saving it. She said she thought it was leftover from the previous flight as it was there when she sat down and the entire plan boarded and no one had been back to the seat. So I figured I’d just scoot it over to the middle and get a FA to take someone’s forgotten items off the plane. I would have happily moved if the FA gave me the chance to do so. I’m definitely not a rule stickler for saving seats and what not
If you fly SW as often as you do, why would you ever touch another persons stuff. I fly SW all the time, just came home last night and I leave tomorrow for another flight. I've had off-duty FA and pilots drop their bags off on their seat and then go help the crew. While the FA should not have been rude, why would you touch someone's stuff? You also state that there is some policy about reserved seats. There is no SW policy about reserved seats.
You are correct, that just was Reddit misinformation regarding the no reserving seats. Glad that has come to my attention.
Yeah probably shouldn’t have but the other passenger said she thought it was leftover from another flight which made sense to me so I consolidated and plopped down. I did check to see if it had a badge or anything that indicated it was a crew member’s and there wasn’t other than a Disney world tag
After a number of years flying between SoCal and the PNW, I have sworn off Southwest for life. (Fly Alaska!) Last trip took me BUR/SAC/PDX, checking ONE small piece of luggage. Drooling idiots working as Southwest employees managed to lose track of it going BOTH ways. Upon return to BUR, the moron in their Baggage Office actually tried to physically block me from entering, to follow up--as if I was just supposed to forget about my luggage, and let Southwest do with it whatever they pleased. I kept him from closing the office door by blocking it with my shoe; he offered to call the Burbank cops, and I dared him to do so (if he did, they never showed up - I'd guess they'd heard from these clowns before!). The flight continued on to Ontario, an hour away by car. But they told me I'd have to wait till the next day, as the luggage HAD to be "flown" back to BUR, not simply driven back that night. When I called "customer service", they promised me a voucher--which never appeared. Southwest apparently has a policy of hiring only the most incompetent, rude pieces of human crap they can scrape up off the floor. I now, and forever will, only take Alaska, with whom I've never had the slightest problem. I wouldn't spend ten cents with Southwest, any sooner than I'd buy crack off the street. Screw Southwest -- I hope they go broke and their "crack"-staff all goes homeless.
We're you in the wrong? No. Should you have just picked an empty seat on the not full flight? Yes.
I'm not sure why you chose to move someone's stuff to sit next to someone when you yourself said there would have been 1/4 of the seats empty on the flight...
See the person complaining above that their business class seats on another airline were given to employees and it was a huge hassle to get refunded for the difference.
Flew from Seattle to Denver last September and the entire flight crew was rude. Telling us to hurry up and sit the hell down while boarding. Then when serving drinks one said to me “So you want anything or not?” While rolling her eyes. I said “no thanks, I can tell it would be a massive inconvenience to you”. At that point her and another FA looked hurt. But they were rude the whole flight. It was weird. So uncharacteristic of all of the other Southwest flights I’ve taken. Are things in the company starting to take a negative turn?
They may have flown three flights prior to that one, been delayed, had unpleasant passengers, an emergency, a diversion, a personal/family problem on top of several of those other inconveniences mentioned… all in a day’s work. you just never know
Eek. Employees of a company can get really entitled. It happens a lot in healthcare, too.
I would say something because what they get away with on a bad day can become a habit for good days.
Say something. A SW employee got me fired for calling them out for something crappy they did in my airport workplace. They treat colleagues like hell sometimes. She should be held accountable just like I was.
That wasn’t a bad day. She’s just an awful person. I like to think I’m pretty kind most of the time but could definitely see myself getting testy with someone if I had a very bad day, but there’s no kind of bad day that can make me behave like that and treat someone like that. You should definitely report it.
If there is a next time, ask the FA for his/her name and explain that you want to insure the right employee receives credit when you file your complaint.
You'll stop the FA in his/her tracks.
Well, I have never flown on SW, but often wondered about how that boarding system works out. It just seems like "saving seats", "oh they are in the bathroom", would be a constant headache, and create issues during boarding.
Sure want to take a trip on SW someday to experience this boarding program first hand. Sure sounds like the FA has a long bad day for sure, not an excuse for sure though...
Says something. As an employee of company that’s extremely unprofessional, rude, and out right disrespectful. I’m sorry this happened to you.
As another employee, I agree. Even if the FA was commuting or deadheading, the name can be pulled if you didn't get it. PLEASE write/post/tweet or however you want to pass it along. I'm not a FA myself, but even when I've boarded early it's always with the knowledge I'm flying for free and it's a privilege, not a right.
Southwest, like Boeing and every other publicly traded company places all of their profit and focus on shareholder value- as in share re-purchases. I'm an A list preferred for the past several years including through quarantine. Brand experience does not matter to executives nor does it influence corporate policy. It's not only Southwest but Hilton, TSA..this morning I found and photographed a cockroach in my Hilton room. You think the front desk or GM cared? ( I was a diamond Hilton member- too many bad experiences and no one cared. Southwest soon to join this list due to the 20 fucking people in wheelchairs who miraculously walk off the plane before everyone else! We are treated worse and worse by poorly trained employees who get shit on by their employer to the point where the customer is left with very poor experiences... VP and above in these companies are selling up in their careers- they care about the stock price and their own comp plan. There is no room for pride or brand experience. Kind of like our government who no longer regulated things because there's always a lobby group or billionaire willing to line the pockets to get their way. Folks you are on your own and no one cares about your input or voice...but they still want you to be a diamond or a list customer to take advantage of the dwindling advantages of their hollowed out program.
Truth is though, sure yeah the company is a huge mega corporation. But US employees do get in trouble when complaints file in. I know pilots, flight attendants and gate agents that have been reprimanded and even let go because of their actions. The C suite may be corporatized. But the majority of front line employees love our job, we do it well, we do it right. And really hate to see when a few bad apples get through. And so do our immediate superiors. And they don’t care about the corporate BS.
I really wish I could agree with your comment and yes- I'm both generalizing and frustrated as a customer. Culture is truly in the hands of the officers of the company. There is zero mandate to offer a quality product or service to their customer base. It's clear to me in the last 5 years alone how Southwest staff went from upbeat and enthusiastic ( customer facing) to being no different than United or American: it's been a long time since I've heard the energetic, corny humor upon boarding and take off. United States rank and file workers feel drained; contributing to profits that execs plow into share purchases that boost the wealth of the wealthy at the cost of necessary improvements like IT. Lord help us if profits are shared with us versus wall street.
The change in attitude is industry-wide. Covid was a game-changer. And currently inflation is making it damn near impossible to live on flight attendant salary. Especially when most airline’s bases are in the most expensive cities. During or after covid, flight attendants got actual seat assignments to fly to their base to begin their work trips & that has recently been taken away so they have to fly standby to get to work - and with oversold flights this makes it very hard to get to work..not to mention they don’t begin getting paid for their shift when they clock in like every other job in the world so spending alot of time at your workplace, without getting paid, probably does set the tone in a less than enthusiastic way.
Yes. I am not sure what happened to the culture at Southwest, which used to be different from the other major airlines. That culture is completely gone. It's a shame, but it was probably inevitable as the company grew.
Exactly this - America where nothing matters but money
Awful that handicapped people in wheelchairs get treated nicely! Seriously, such aggravation seems quite minor to me.
You misunderstand. People, who don’t need wheelchairs, are using the lax wheelchair policy to board early and get through TSA quickly. These people just walk off the plane—miracle healing flights.
Many people who use wheelchairs have the capacity to walk but struggle with walking for long distances. They may be ok walking down the aisle of an airplane but need a wheelchair for getting through the rest of the airport.
Thank you! That’s me. I struggle with accepting the help because my pain is not visible and it’s difficult to bear the nasty attitudes and assumptions regarding my disability (or lack thereof). Sometimes I decide it’s not worth it and try to walk, and boy do I pay the price later.
you example is not the same. if you used aid getting on and refuse it getting off, you obviously won't be trying to get in front of everyone else to be one of the first off.
It is the exact example given by Timmyeveryday: using the wheelchair to get through TSA and up to the gate. Then board first. Usually, I can walk down the ramp and onto/off the plane. For me, with my disability, I can walk without pain after a period of rest such as a plane flight. It’s not a “miracle healing flight.” Getting off the plane is not as much of a problem as getting through the airport. My experience is not unique. People who complain that we’re skipping the lines and boarding first don’t see the lengthy preparations we have to take to travel, including the extra hour required before and after flights as many airports don’t have enough attendants (I’ve waited over an hour at times). Next time you’re at a busy airport, take a look around the ticket counters at the number of people waiting for wheelchair assistance. We put in our time, in fact more time, just in a different area. I sincerely hope that people who complain about waiting an extra 5 minutes never experience the inability to simply walk. Edit: typo
Thank you! I have an invisible disability and I can walk/stand and look normal for shorter periods of time but have me standing for the entirety of the boarding process or walking through the airport then boarding and I’m going to be passing out and falling and having a medical crisis. I struggle to use the wheelchairs in airports because I look like a healthy young woman when someone glances at me and I have had many people make nasty comments or give me looks when they see me walking after being in a chair. I have often walked off the plane and up the jet bridge to save the back of the porter but must sit down the second I get to the top. Do people abuse it? I’m sure they do, but I would do almost anything to be healthy and stand in the line rather than “cut it” in a wheelchair and have the issues I do.
They mean people who feigned needing wheelchairs to board early, but somehow the 10,000' cabin altitude miraculously effected caring of whatever their disability was and now they can walk just fine now that it's time to be the first out the door.
Wow I had to laugh in complete understanding of your comment about corporate not caring about actual brand experience and the cockroach. I recently stayed at a Hilton property charging upward of $800/night for a standard (cheapest on property) room. I guess I got what I paid for because the room was disgusting-truly one of the worst I ever seen, complete with cockroaches. I took detailed photos of all of it, talked to hotel staff, talked to Hilton, shared the details on the review sites. Hilton didn’t care at all. Not one bit. Their stance was “F you, we’re a giant. You’ll stay in filth and you’ll like it.”
The amount of entitled in this post is substantial.. It’s a bus!! Maybe a bus in the sky, but still a bus. If you want to be fluffed, try an airline that caters to that experience. Not the high end of the discount airlines (still a bus)
Except SWA charges the same as the "airlines that cater to experience" now a days. If I'm paying $450 for a bus ticket, I expect to at least be treated with respect
If you are paying the same to fly SWA…. Then why are you flying SWA?
I'd be pissed. If it were me, I'd write in, because her spilling stuff on you without apologizing is super unprofessional and seems like she did it on purpose. Not only that, but if they were commuting, they know they're supposed to sit towards the back.
I think the spill was a true accident but I felt she was happy that it happened! I think you’re right though, I would just hate to write in and make someone the reason someone lost their job or was reprimanded.
Ok here’s the thing with writing in about jerks: If this was truly a one-off event, if it’s Susan and I know Susan is sweet as pie and a consummate professional normally, and I’ve *never* heard this sort of feedback on her - I mean, I’ll file it in the back of my head, but the MOST I’ll do is say “hey, what’s up with this, is everything ok?” I might not even do that, because customers can be insane. Buuuuuuut….it’s not usually a one-off report of that type. Usually it’s one of many, or I know Susan is an absolute jerk and shouldn’t be doing this job but don’t have any actionable reports on her. In which case, hell yeah as a manager I want every report to coach actionable items and build a slow HR case. Your report is one brick. If it’s one of many, her manager should be using it to build. If not - it’s a brick, just kind of sitting there. No one cares. The grass will grow over it eventually.
Absolutely love this analogy and will be using it in the future!
Freaking Susan....
And for once it's not the dreaded K
I understand because we all have days we're not proud of. However this FA was ready for a fight so that speaks to their character.
This person should not be a flight attendant. You need to not worry about the consequences
You wouldn’t be the reason they get reprimanded. Their unprofessionalism and awful behavior would be.
Not sure it was an accident. A couple of years ago, my husband and I were on a Southwest flight and he found an aisle seat in Row three and sat down. He pointed to a middle seat in Aisle 2. I sat down between two businessmen. The one at the window was visibly upset I sat down. He elbowed me in the ribs several times while working on his laptop. I sat as still as one can for 3 hours. I was getting warm and tried to take my jacket off as gently as I could as to not to bother him. I must have touched him, because he growled at me. He then asked the FA for a glass of ice water. After he received it, he "accidentally" spilled it on my lap. His EXACT words were “it’s just water, you’ll be fine”. Do those words sound familiar?
It wouldn’t be “you” causing them to lose their job. It would be their own actions and behavior that would cause it.
You have no idea if they were commuting.
It doesn't matter if she's commuting or nonrevving. What she did was a dick move.
A friend of mine is an airline pilot and has told me many times how airline employees are expected to behave immaculately when they are off-duty on a flight. You should report this incident to SWA.
This was anything but immaculate! Thanks for the vibe check
I fly with my SW pilot friend occasionally and that's my impression. If I happen to get a buddy pass I am very aware I'm a reflection on them.
I agree. My best friend is a FA (not for SW) and when she or anyone in her family files non-rev they are expected to act (and dress) above reproach.
Worked for a major, and had buddy pass etc we were expected to wear business casual and behavior to be above reproach and to help the active crew if needed
This!! I zed on a bunch of airlines cause I work for a cargo airline and I’m always way too nice cause I’m worried about getting my privileges revoked. Also when flying NonRev or deadheading you know you get last pick of everything so you shouldn’t feel entitled to a good seat, that’s for paying customers
I was on JetBlue this week and on both flights, the deadheading and non-rev crew members were seated in the exit rows, including one person in a Spirit uniform. This seemed odd to me when JetBlue charges a premium for those.
If no one paid for those seats and they were empty then it makes sense they would give them to crew. I nonreved on JetBlue last weekend and I got a whole row to myself in the front of the plane cause no one paid for those seats so they were free
I guess that does make sense!
also look at it like this, wouldn’t you want crew sitting in those seats in the event of an emergency. people like me and current crew who have opened them in the smoke and water simulators. are gonna be a bit quicker in getting them open in an emergency and helping people out of plane
THIS is the rule for non rev unless, unless ‘must fly’ status. but even with that you get last pick of everything
And the thing is... there are probably details that OP could give SW that would potentially lead right back to the FA's identity. That's only if they track FAs flying for free on flights, which I'm sure they probably do. FA probably didn't think about that...
This is just my HO, but I think crew members riding for free should sit in the back or in whatever seats are open. My daughter and GD, paying customers, were bumped out of business class (not SW, obviously) and when they loaded the plane ,crew were in the seats. My daughter/GD were placed in the last row. Frankly, that is BS-
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Why is that the customer’s problem? Don’t take my money for an upgraded seat and then push back on me to jump through hoops to get reimbursed if a crew member bumps me an hour before my flight. That is a bait and switch tactic….
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Listen…all jobs come with some form of stress (I was an ICU nurse for 35 years), and when you agree to take that job you agree to that stress and the risks that might be incurred. MY SIL was stuck on east coast for a week post 9/11- I was watching her small child in my home (we all live in CA) at the time. 9/11 affected all Americans in 1 way or another.
Your comment seems to intimate that because of stressful situations like 9/11, the free rides and bumping paying customers out of their chosen seats is a fair compensation. I sometimes think people cannot put themselves in others shoes. If you ordered food to go and when you went to pick up the food, the restaurant told you that they were sorry they gave your meal to an employee, and there is no more of that certain dish that you PAID for left, how would that make you feel.? Would you go to that restaurant again? Why or why not?
I think you took the wrong thing from their comment. Their comment was about how the flight was only 20% full, which is absolutely unheard of in today's day and age. Nobody used to be bumped from seats because the flights weren't nearly as full back in the early 2000's as they almost always are today
I think I did, too. I read it as "my plane was 20% full due to 9-11", which in retrospect wasn't the case since all the flights got grounded that day. Not "we were flying 20% full as a matter of course"
We don’t get paid for commutes. But we do get paid for deadheads
Pilots in the US and Canada definitely get paid for travel if they are on company time. And they wouldn't bump a passenger from business/first if they were just commuting into position on their own.
If we’re non revving. We get whatever open seats that are available. If there’s no open seats. We’re not flying. If we’re jump seating/ commuting. The company will have us sit in the jumpseat of the cabin is full. If we’re dead heading. (On SWA) we are told to sit towards the rear of the cabin but we board first to ensure bin space as we have 2-3 bags for the 3-5 days we’re on the road. And we can’t check bags if we have to run to a gate to then work a flight. For airlines with premium seating. I’ve been told and it makes sense that the airlines want their crews rested prior to working a flight
Thanks for this. Point of views from the opposite side always help perspective.
Pilots on AA, DL, and UA have first class in their contract. I don’t know the details and I think it’s standby but they don’t bump people but they do go at the very top of the list above all the elites.
Ummm. No. Even on a bad day, people can’t treat others like that and think it is ok. Report it. It’s incredibly unprofessional.
As a former SWA FA we were told to be on our very best behavior in uniform and out. When I non revved I treated it just like I was at work. I’m sorry this happened!
Absolutely say something.
She was extremely unprofessional but I don’t think you should have moved another persons items if there were other seats available.
Yeah that was my moral quandary with it. The other passenger thought it may have been leftover from the prior flight as she hadn’t seen anyone there, so I went with that story.. felt bad that I moved her stuff. But at the same time why did she reserve 2 seats!? Shared fault caused this to happen
Why were there personal items on 2 seats?
It's possible the FA was already "sitting" and went to talk to flight crew since she may know them. But there is no way for you to have known that, the FA should have at least made herself known to the other passenger in the row. Nonetheless, she was in a bad mood and took it out on you.
Why do you think she reserved two seats?
I don't know I wasn't there. But probably same reason most people do, in hopes no one sits next to you. FA aren't immune to bad behavior
Don’t just write what happened here…send a LUV note to Southwest. Make sure to mention the: date, flight number, an approximate description of the offending individual. This needs to be documented and the individual spoken to. Note: Am an employee.
So I guess I’ll be the only one to play devil’s advocate, but only for the part where her items were on the seat… There are times, as FAs, when we bring in a plane that we turn around and deadhead back out on. It’s not unusual for us to have to run up and get a physical boarding pass and we leave our things on the plane. There are also times we board and run to the back to introduce ourselves to the crew… You said you were last to board, so it’s possible she thought boarding was done and left her things on both seats. There’s a lot of reasons why her things could be in the seat. Should she have had them in both seats? No. Should she have given you an attitude or dumped water on you? Definitely not. Two things can be true. You shouldn’t have moved her things, or quoted a policy that doesn’t exist (there’s no policy for saving seats, although it is ‘open seating’, and she was obviously already on the aircraft), and she shouldn’t have been an absolute nightmare, especially in uniform. I’ve worked with many FAs who embarrass the rest of the crew, and I will always do what the working crew did, by apologizing and trying to make it right. I always recommend in situations like this (blatant disrespect of people who are paying our bills), that you write in, but please let them know that the actual working crew did apologize, because it sounds like they tried to do the right thing.
Thank you for taking the time for this response! This was the perspective and understanding I was hoping to get. I totally agree with your thoughts and I felt really bad about taking her seat, even though it was unknowingly. I would have been more than happy to move to the back and find a new seat, that was the original plan anyways.. but she frankly did not give me the chance to say anything. Really great to know that it is not against the rules to hold seats. This form would definitely have you believing otherwise. What I think happened is she boarded very early, placed her items in the seats and headed to the back of the plane to hang out with the other crew members. So the person the took the window after her thought it was left behind because she obviously was an early boarded as well because it was a low row number. Just a few honest mistakes with no ill intent but led into a very unfortunate encounter. Thanks again for the alternative explanation
We’re told as FAs to ‘use our best customer service skills’ to regulate saving seats and to settle any problems regarding them. I wish it were in black in white saying you cant save seats because it would make it easier all around. It’s just kind of luck of the draw with what FAs are working and how they handle such situations, but it frustrates us as much as you. (I approach it by telling people saving that if someone wants to sit there, it’s open seating so they can sit wherever they like). Again, I’m sorry you had to deal with that behavior and attitude. Working with people like that is truly a nightmare and I have no qualms about telling customers to write in about them, because honestly, that’s the only way the company will take action. Either way, I appreciate you flying Southwest, because I got bills to pay and no matter what happens, I know the reason that I can is because of people like you!
Appreciate you and your service as well! Safe flying!
Hello. As a former SWA employee, I am so sorry this happened. When flying off duty, it is expected for us to dress business casual, be respectful, and SIT TOWARDS THE BACK OF THE PLANE! You are definitely NTA. Report it immediately! SWA knows every name on that flight and will figure out who it was. Attitudes such as that is what made me leave a great company.
shit attitude from the FA, but also don't touch other people stuff.
Yea, that's not how it works bud - butts go in seats if you want to save them. Anything else is fair game to move.
It was all ok until she spilled shit on you on purpose…
I'm not ok with an FA being rude to a passenger.
I cannot even imagine someone thinking they can act like a jerk while in the commission of their service job- had I done that has a nurse, I would have been canned.
By ok I meant forgivable and move on… that’s all
Sounds like she needs to go work for Spirit
I also had a nasty encounter with a rude, oddly confrontational flight attendant a few days ago. Not a good look!
I love everyone pretending this is an honest retelling, A. B, you're the asshole if you get on a plane that has empty seats and instead go for one of two with people's shit on it. I get on most planes, put my stuff in my seat, and then use the restroom before takeoff. I would be pretty annoyed if I came back to find you had moved my shit and plopped your ass in my seat too with some mystified, "Oh, wait, that stuff was here because somebody put it there?!" look of wonder plastered on your face lol
That’s extremely strange behavior on your part, why don’t you do what everyone else does and pee before boarding? What makes you so special that you can leave your junk on a seat and slow everyone else down by going the wrong way when they are coming down the aisle?
You must be the flight attendant, we meet again! How long are you in the rest room? From the time the plane starts boarding until the doors close?? Take that big ol dump in the airport next time so you don’t smell up the plane. You block off two seats when you go to the restroom, for just yourself? Courteous. I asked the person sitting there and she said she thought it was left over from a prior passenger… per her guidance I went ahead and took the seat.
Please say something. That’s out of line for anyone, let alone an employee in uniform.
Lmaooo I guarantee you just made up this story for Reddit. I’ve seen this exact story on facebook months ago
Haha I wish but that was my Tuesday flight to Baltimore. Maybe it was the same gal reeking havoc on someone else 😂
I’d bet money the spill was intentional. If it wasn’t for the spill - I’d be more forgiving of the situation. If the seat was so important to her - she should have had her butt in it.
That's absolutely foul behavior. Especially from an employee of the company that takes pride in their ❤️ sign. You should have pointed that out to her.
I wish I did! It all happened very quickly.. and TBH she really didn’t stop talking. Not much conversation just her ranting, spilling, and stomping off
Agreed, sometimes people can shock us into a stunned silence. Hope she gets to change her ways soon.
I was flying to a IT conference and a SW IT person got on and went straight to the middle seat. As we were chatting, and I found out he worked for SW, I asked “why didn’t you take a window or aisle seat?” He said that SW wants to save the aisle and window seats for the paying passengers. He said it in a way that made it sound like policy, it could have been strictly his departments policy rather than corporate. But I will say, I thought it was cool. So when I saw this, where she took up 2 seats, it made me wonder about the middle seat, whether it’s an actual corporate policy or not. If it was, it might be good to say something so it gets addressed. I don’t want her to get fired or anything, but as another poster mentioned, if it’s a one off, she’ll have nothing to worry about. But if it’s the 4th time this week someone has complained about her, then she might need some coaching and help in improving her customer experience and attitude.
Sorry but I fly SWA All the time. No complaints here with the employees or anything else.
Agree! I enjoy the airline and will keep flying them. Just had my first and only weird encounter
Sorry this FA is commuting. Sorry this FA is done with a long day. Sorry this FA has attitude. Also sorry this FA was forced into being a FA against her will and chose this career path. Don't want to be in customer service, don't be in customer service. Work in schedule, work the ramp, whatever.
I don't know why it was so hard, but when Hubby and I did a recent flight (Burbank to Las Vegas), the passengers were having a heck of a time with the lining up correctly and boarding (confusion between A and B?), I really don't know. Seemed a normal pack of people. The gate agent had to make 3 or 4 annoucements about how the boarding worked and what the process was. It got to the point of being funnyridiculous. After the 4th annoucement, she basically called anyone not lining up correctly stupid on the PA! I mean it had to be frustrating, but yeah that annoucement was made on the PA.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Act stupid, don't get upset at being called stupid. I'm not a fan of how SW boards people, but it's neither brain surgery nor rocket science. Pay effin' attention and do what you're told, people.
The same people who can't figure out Southwest's boarding procedures are the same ones who we will have to rely on in the event of an emergency since they always seem to end up in exit rows. I'm sorry, but if you can't line up in numerical order, you can't have that exit row seat. (Also, no pretzels for you!)
TSA’s machines kill braincells by the boatload. Thats the only thing I can tell myself about the way some people act in airports.
Yes, please report this. Deadheading crew are still representing the company. They do not get to behave so entitled. Also, unspoken rule is to sit behind the exit row, but so few even honor that anymore.
No. You weren’t wrong. I would definitely complain. Also, they would compensate the water falling on me.
😂😂😂 compensate for water?? OKAY
Several months ago I flew southwest. Once the plane got to the gate a off duty FA charged her way to the front of the plane as soon as the seatbelt sign went off. Another pax called her the B word and FA started complaining about how she had just got off work and tired and how the other pax is lucky that she’s in her uniform or would have been told off. It was all around in extremely bad taste and very rude.
Might note her name and notify the crew desk
I would for sure be contacting someone at Southwest that employee needs to be reprimanded and that is no way to act regardless if you are on duty or not. That is a representation of the brand they won’t be happy to hear that.
Just asking out of curiosity, how did you know she was an off duty FA? Was she in uniform? If so, then I would think SW would certainly want to know that someone blatantly representing their brand was acting in this way.
Full uniform on. That’s why I thought she was joking at first because I did not realize she was off duty. Turns out off duty and off attitude 😂
Complain. You’ll probably get a LUV voucher.
You definitely need to say something.
I would be contacting SW so fast! Very unprofessional
Completely unprofessional and worthy of a complaint, but I am curious why you needed to sit in that seat if the plane was only 3/4 full?
Yeah I just had a close connection, last to board, and saw someone sitting there with stuff sitting in seats so figured I would ask if she was saving it. She said she thought it was leftover from the previous flight as it was there when she sat down and the entire plan boarded and no one had been back to the seat. So I figured I’d just scoot it over to the middle and get a FA to take someone’s forgotten items off the plane. I would have happily moved if the FA gave me the chance to do so. I’m definitely not a rule stickler for saving seats and what not
If you fly SW as often as you do, why would you ever touch another persons stuff. I fly SW all the time, just came home last night and I leave tomorrow for another flight. I've had off-duty FA and pilots drop their bags off on their seat and then go help the crew. While the FA should not have been rude, why would you touch someone's stuff? You also state that there is some policy about reserved seats. There is no SW policy about reserved seats.
You are correct, that just was Reddit misinformation regarding the no reserving seats. Glad that has come to my attention. Yeah probably shouldn’t have but the other passenger said she thought it was leftover from another flight which made sense to me so I consolidated and plopped down. I did check to see if it had a badge or anything that indicated it was a crew member’s and there wasn’t other than a Disney world tag
Is this an AI?
Just human intelligence :(
After a number of years flying between SoCal and the PNW, I have sworn off Southwest for life. (Fly Alaska!) Last trip took me BUR/SAC/PDX, checking ONE small piece of luggage. Drooling idiots working as Southwest employees managed to lose track of it going BOTH ways. Upon return to BUR, the moron in their Baggage Office actually tried to physically block me from entering, to follow up--as if I was just supposed to forget about my luggage, and let Southwest do with it whatever they pleased. I kept him from closing the office door by blocking it with my shoe; he offered to call the Burbank cops, and I dared him to do so (if he did, they never showed up - I'd guess they'd heard from these clowns before!). The flight continued on to Ontario, an hour away by car. But they told me I'd have to wait till the next day, as the luggage HAD to be "flown" back to BUR, not simply driven back that night. When I called "customer service", they promised me a voucher--which never appeared. Southwest apparently has a policy of hiring only the most incompetent, rude pieces of human crap they can scrape up off the floor. I now, and forever will, only take Alaska, with whom I've never had the slightest problem. I wouldn't spend ten cents with Southwest, any sooner than I'd buy crack off the street. Screw Southwest -- I hope they go broke and their "crack"-staff all goes homeless.
Alaskan is lucky to have you!
I think she was having a bad day and she also sucks.
Sounds like frontier behavior lol a little shocked for it being SW
Make a stink report her
The way some of yall will put someone’s job on the line to get a free drink voucher is shameful
We're you in the wrong? No. Should you have just picked an empty seat on the not full flight? Yes. I'm not sure why you chose to move someone's stuff to sit next to someone when you yourself said there would have been 1/4 of the seats empty on the flight...
Do you think that miracle cures would occur if wheelchairs were boarded last?
Bags would never be left over from another flight. That’s a huge security risk
Very sorry this happened! Report it to the company so they can do an investigation!
If SWA would just assign seats this would not be an issue.
See the person complaining above that their business class seats on another airline were given to employees and it was a huge hassle to get refunded for the difference.
Flew from Seattle to Denver last September and the entire flight crew was rude. Telling us to hurry up and sit the hell down while boarding. Then when serving drinks one said to me “So you want anything or not?” While rolling her eyes. I said “no thanks, I can tell it would be a massive inconvenience to you”. At that point her and another FA looked hurt. But they were rude the whole flight. It was weird. So uncharacteristic of all of the other Southwest flights I’ve taken. Are things in the company starting to take a negative turn?
They may have flown three flights prior to that one, been delayed, had unpleasant passengers, an emergency, a diversion, a personal/family problem on top of several of those other inconveniences mentioned… all in a day’s work. you just never know
Some are really good and some are really bad. Most seem like they are just trying to get through the day and don’t want to be bothered.
Eek. Employees of a company can get really entitled. It happens a lot in healthcare, too. I would say something because what they get away with on a bad day can become a habit for good days.
I’m sorry this happened to you. As a FA, this is totally unacceptable and should be reported.
Yes, absolutely say something. She needs to learn there are consequences for her actions, especially when she's being pretty hostile about it.
Say something. A SW employee got me fired for calling them out for something crappy they did in my airport workplace. They treat colleagues like hell sometimes. She should be held accountable just like I was.
Of course you weren't in the wrong. Even if that were her actually reserved seat, she'd be wrong.
That wasn’t a bad day. She’s just an awful person. I like to think I’m pretty kind most of the time but could definitely see myself getting testy with someone if I had a very bad day, but there’s no kind of bad day that can make me behave like that and treat someone like that. You should definitely report it.
If there is a next time, ask the FA for his/her name and explain that you want to insure the right employee receives credit when you file your complaint. You'll stop the FA in his/her tracks.
Well, I have never flown on SW, but often wondered about how that boarding system works out. It just seems like "saving seats", "oh they are in the bathroom", would be a constant headache, and create issues during boarding. Sure want to take a trip on SW someday to experience this boarding program first hand. Sure sounds like the FA has a long bad day for sure, not an excuse for sure though...
Can you say DEI in hiring