[annette.white]

On February 23rd my 10 year old son, Gabe flew to Dallas to spend the weekend with his older brother Isaac. He flew on Southwest. We stood in line less than 5 minutes to check-in before heading to security. Even though my son had packed a toy Nerf gun and several other cosmetic items that were not allowed that had to be unpacked and taken back to the car, all in all everything went pretty smoothly. The gate agent was very kind, had a big smile, and took extra time to chat with the unaccompanied children before boarding.

My son’s return flight was a different story. February 25th my 23 year older son, Isaac, showed up at the airport 2 ½ hours early to put his younger 10 year old brother, Gabe, on an American Eagle plane back to Lubbock. They stood in line at the ticket counter in an attempt to check-in 2 hours and moved 2 feet. Everyone around was complaining about the wait and several missed their flight.

Afraid that Gabe would miss his flight Isaac, inexperienced and unaware (as all of us were) of the proper procedures and policies, decided that he would check his little brother in electronically. Isaac kept and careful eye on Gabe as he went through security and then kept in contact with him up to the gate by phone. Everything seemed to be going well until the gate agent discovered that Gabe was an unaccompanied minor without paperwork and that the additional $60 child fare had not been paid. She then called her supervisor who proceeded to rudely and harshly interrogate my 10 year old son which unnecessarily scarred him to the point of crying. Because it scarred him so bad, he called me in Lubbock from his phone. He was so upset I couldn’t understand what he was saying. All I could do is ask if there was a grown-up there with him. He answered NO and then his phone went dead. I can not even convey to you how helpless I felt when I could not reach him. Even though your supervisor and gate agent were standing there beside him, he DID NOT perceive them as “SAFE” grown-ups!

Fortunately the supervisor was able to reach Isaac and made arrangements to correctly get Gabe boarded but not without being rude and acting totally unprofessional. Instead of handling the situation kind and professionally your supervisor proceeded to chastise BOTH my sons and then while walking by later with a fellow worker, after the whole incident seemed to settled, point at my sons and laugh. I can guarantee you this was not something we planned to happen and certainly was not a laughing matter! OH! By the way, when the supervisor was asked what his name was he gave a bogus name.

After making contact with my two sons, my husband and I started out to the airport to meet Gabe’s arriving flight. Along the way my husband tried to convince me that perhaps the rude and unprofessional conduct of your supervisor and gate agent was an isolated single incident.

When we got to the airport we found that thought was far from the truth. Again there was a long line with lots of angry passengers. Although there were two ticket agents, one announced that the other one was the only one handing out boarding passes. I came up to the counter and told her that all I needed was a security pass. I explained what had happened but was told to go to the back of the line. Several passengers, even though they were late themselves, allowed me to cut in front of them. When I got to the counter the agent that I first spoke with whispered to the other “There she is.”

It was now time for Gabe’s flight to arrive. I, panicky and now even more agitated, tried to explain that I wanted to be at the gate when my son arrived. I thought I was helping by trying to hand her a copy of his ticket. I was told rudely NOT to place that in front of her. She abruptly sit it aside. Then there was total silence. Afterwards she callously announced the flight was delayed and flung the paper ticket back at me off the counter. I asked what her name was. She told me Janice. But when I asked her what her last name was she offensively told me that she didn’t have to tell me her last name.

I recently saw a TV commercial for American Airlines that centered around smiling agents and children passengers. It was nothing like we experienced. Our family members have been flying back and forth across the nation, several times a year for the past 20 years. In all those years, even though there’s been the usual delays and mishaps, we have never been treated rudely by the employees of Southwest Airlines. Your employees should take classes from them.

Sincerely,

Annette White
2212 95th Street
Lubbock, TX 79423