Sad but less than surprising during unprecedented circumstances. This passenger-related Southwest Hawaii flight diversion couldn’t come at a worse time.
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45 thoughts on “Altercation on Southwest Hawaii Flight Causes Mid-Pacific Diversion”
We’re flying into Oahu January 9th, via Southwest. We’re assuming things will be straightened out by then. Any tips? I thought about re buying via Hawaiian Air but I really don’t want to re buy tickets.
My daughter and her family are going to Oahu in January and rebooked on United. She rather have a credit on SW than have problems.
Check the weather forecast a few days in advance Debbie, if it looks bad on the mainland you might consider buying the HA tickets and saving the SWA credit for another flight. The inherent problem in SWA’s system isn’t going away soon.
Thank you for your responses!
From what I understand, Southwest is doing okay right now on arrivals and departures.
Yes, I could rebuy my tickets but I’m going to go on faith and just go. A friend just arrived from Oahu to CA with 0 problems on SW.
I’m checking the weather and it looks 👍🏼.
I will give you all an update after our arrival.
Thanks again,
Debbie 🌺🌴🌺💕
Good luck Debbie, keep a sharp eye on the the West Coast weather, if it continues to be bad SWA is obviously the most vulnerable.
This time of year after the holidays you are likely to find some last minute bargains if you need to make a late switch.
Debbie, if you are still wavering, you will hear Kilauea just erupted, if you are uncertain obviously HA has the local knowledge to deal with it best, however if you are not traveling to the big island you shouldn’t have to worry about it. Whatever you decide you’ll have a good trip!
SW has offered to extend your 2022 companion pass to January 2023. And maybe your A list status-not sure on
that ? What an insulting tone deaf response which demonstrates how senior management just ‘doesn’t get it’ as to the carnage they unleashed on their customers !!! If you already qualified this is meaningless. If this is what their CEO meant about ‘making it up’ to customers they have grossly underestimated the damage they have done to their brand and to the lives of so many who trusted them. I’d suggest the Board and Senior management spell out the ‘entire’ package of benefits offered from this avoidable fiasco ASAP.
I totally agree anyone who causes an airline disturbance should be arrested, fined, and put on a no fly list.
Southwest has run its course, the no frill no service no low fares is what they are all about. Why people fly them is beyond reason.
Still doesn’t excuse the behavior. I have flown with several hundred passengers this last week and their behavior was great. They were frustrated but acted as civil people.
From what I’m reading, SW is going to try and get their system up and working Fri the 30th. And they’re doing it with some old employees who returned to help them out in this time of need. Just maybe there is some love for SW.
After reading about another altercation in-flight, I have a solution for all aggressive behavior in flight. Simply, when the flight lands the person is arrested, fined $1,000 and put on a no fly list for 5 years effective immediately. The person would also forfeit their ticket with no refund. Let the person take a barge home from Hawaii! With the right publicity of this new policy, I believe it would eliminate all problems. Even extend it to within the airport.
Just my two cents worth.
Southwest like all of the airlines offered a good retirement package to its employees during the pandemic, that package was taken by a good many employees. SW didn’t believe the travel market would return with such a vengeance and they didn’t have the employees to handle the numbers. That was their first problem. Their second problem is they are operating with a very old IT system and it does not have the capacity to handle the big holiday season numbers combined with the ugly weather. And so their system completely broke down. Now it appears that they are forced to use fewer numbers of people to get the system up and working.
The SW plane that had to return was probably caused by a drunk, all the airlines have had that problem.
Roy, the final straw with all their misjudgments is they tried to aggressively expand when they didn’t have the tools to handle it.
Just a little scary their disregard for necessary investments in their infrastructure…. they have always pushed the envelope of productivity vs infrastructure
John, I don’t think SW tried much of anything. Our first use of SW was just before the pandemic. They seemed to be fairly well plugged in at that time. I’m not particularly a fan of SW. Their routing just works for us.
I haven’t traveled through Philadelphia for a few years. During that time they renovated the airport. The designer is a complete idiot! Who the heck puts a bar ten feet from the gate? Everyone wonders why there are problems with drunks. I flew out on American and if at all possible, that will be the last time from Philly. Also at the gate, they removed the rows of seats (you know, where you sit to wait for your group to be called) and replaced them with a few tables & uncomfortable chairs bolted to the floor where you can pay to use their tablet. Oh, and a bar ten feet away that had more seating than the gate waiting area. No One used the tablets – a good idea maybe 20 years ago.
Southwest is overbooked and overcrowded. The flights to Hawaii are 6 hours long from California, a very long time. It was a mistake (among many mistakes caused by State Agencies here) to allow Southwest to fly to Hawaii, especially to the neighbor island Airports like Maui and Hilo. Hawaiian Airlines never overbooks. I was at Hilo International the other day picking up a passenger and the line at the Southwest counter was insane. State Government needs to revisit its decision to allow Southwest to fly to Hawaii.