Cranky on the Web: Southwest and Its MAX Problems

Apr 13, 2019

More Reading on This Topic: Cranky on the Web, Southwest

The 737 Max is out until August, so how will Southwest Airlines handle it? – Dallas Morning News
Mitchell Schnurman dove into a variety of Southwest’s problems, some caused by the airline’s MAX fleet, and asked me to chime in on it. The biggest issue is the huge increase in cancellations at the airline, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by customers. (You can see the chart in the article.) But will it have a lasting impact on the airline’s reputation? Not if it can fix the problem sooner rather than later.

Brett

12 responses to “Cranky on the Web: Southwest and Its MAX Problems”

hk

Apr 13, 2019 at 4:56 am

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boeings-response-to-the-airbus-a320-revamp-is-simple-nothing/
I was amazed with the fact that you foresaw the problem nearly a decade ago. Boeing should have listened to you. (sorry for being off topic)

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Chuck

Apr 13, 2019 at 4:58 am

I had a CHS-BWI-OAK run last month (yeah, they fly Baltimore to Oakland, and with the pedal to the metal, apparently; it only took 5 hours!) and they had us swapped from a MAX 8 to an -800 weeks in advance. Maybe it’s because I was one of the lucky ones, but my experience was that they’ve handled this so well.

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mschoenmd

Apr 13, 2019 at 6:34 am

have to subscribe i.e. pay – to read this article

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1. Mike
  
  Apr 13, 2019 at 8:30 am
  
  incognito mode
  
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  1. Oliver
    
    Apr 13, 2019 at 10:33 am
    
    Did you actually try that? On my iPad in Safari “private surfing” mode the site says:
    
    “You’re using a browser set to private or incognito mode” and puts up a pay wall :)
    
    Reply
    1. mschoenmd
      
      Apr 13, 2019 at 4:36 pm
      
      agree – puts up pay wall when going incognito
      
      Reply
  2. mschoenmd
    
    Apr 13, 2019 at 4:38 pm
    
    used incognito, asked for $$ to subscribe anyway
    
    Reply
andersoncd

Apr 14, 2019 at 8:02 pm

Can’t read the SW story unless we sign up for the Dallas News???

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TriGal

Apr 15, 2019 at 4:24 am

One big issue that’s rarely mentioned in any article about Southwest’s cancellation issues is that SWAA doesn’t have reciprocity with any airlines, so it’s limited to rebooking only on its air carrier. Most air carriers have interline agreements and, while they don’t want to put their passengers on another air carrier, they will, and they do. Southwest absolutely will not. Southwest will refund your ticket and tell you to reserve a seat on a competitor, but by then, there are only expensive walk-up (and often one-way) fares available. Not good for many of SWAA’s passengers who don’t realize this until it’s too late!

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Rich

Apr 15, 2019 at 4:55 am

I’m on an iPad and just clicked on the link and had no problems reading it. 5 hrs bwi-oak? Did you ignore the 3 hr time difference?

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1. Chuck
  
  Apr 16, 2019 at 10:37 am
  
  No? The nonstop has a 6-hour block time, and we had light headwinds. Announced flight time was right at 5 hours BWI-OAK.
  
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Colin

Apr 16, 2019 at 10:26 am

hey Cranky

First time long time

I could read the article due to the Dallas news pop ups on my mobile.

Just thought you should know.

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