In a Hawaii travel industry desperately trying to recover from Covid, you can expect the unexpected especially when it comes to marketing. And so it was again. We aren’t sure if this plane was headed to Honolulu or elsewhere. But, the video below was posted to Southwest’s Twitter which shared an incident yesterday at Long Beach Airport. The airline’s baggage handlers and the plane’s pilot reunited a passenger with their lost cell phone.
Southwest tweeted, “When our Employees at @LGBairport noticed a Customer’s phone left behind in a gate area after a flight that was already boarded and pushed back from the gate, they didn’t hesitate. #WorldKindnessDay”
Yesterday was coincidentally World Kindness Day.
That celebration is new to us even though it’s the 25th anniversary of the World Kindness Movement. We don’t know if this random act of kindness shown by Southwest was a publicity stunt or something they might do any day of the year. It shows how far airlines will go nowadays to either go the extra step to help you, get publicity, or both.
Have you lost your cell phone at the airport?
Somehow, in this situation, the phone was found by someone at the airport and was then ushered out to the already-moving plane. At that point, you see the cockpit window open, and the ramp agents and the pilot work together to get the phone onto the aircraft and return it to its owner.
Once the pilot released the brake, the plane would be considered “departed” by DOT, so a short delay in passing the phone to the pilot would not have impacted on-time performance.
Do planes still get held for people or things?
In recent comments, some of you described when flights were held for late passenger arrivals. On the other hand, editor Jeff reports having arrived at the already closed gate with the jetway still in place, yet he was not allowed to board when his connecting flight arrived late.
So helping the passenger out in this situation was unusual. And the fact that it was caught on video, well…
Comments on the World Kindness Day incident.
There are quite a number of comments that include:
“A SW pilot went and got my son’s water bottle that he left at the gate.”
“I wish they would had done that for me. As soon as I stepped onto the plane for A boarding, I knew I left it.”
“Huh. And here I sit in the wheelchair assist at HOU watching a supervisor and an employee fight about taking me to the gate while other people who came after me have been taken. I’ve never felt such discrimination EVER.”
“Southwest is very good about helping with your lost cell phone. They helped me get mine back after I turned on the alert. They reopened the gate door and brought it to me! I love Southwest Airlines!”
“Once, I lost my phone on a @SouthwestAir flight (I’d closed it up behind the tray table). A flight attendant who’d helped me look for it called my husband’s phone when they landed at the next airport, then shipped my phone back to me. She wouldn’t let me pay for shipping costs.”
“This story is so old!”
“Another kindness would be Bargaining in Good Faith with 8 of your Employee groups! Where are the proposed Pilot pay rates?”
Please add your comment here.
“When our Employees at @LGBairport noticed a Customer’s phone left behind in a gate area after a flight that was already boarded and pushed back from the gate, they didn’t hesitate”. #WorldKindnessDay pic.twitter.com/cf3gJy8Nmy
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) November 13, 2022
Hawaiian wouldn’t even have a clue about the missing phone.
About 7 years ago on a departing flight from Desert Palm Springs airport in Dec. I left my cell phone in waiting area and only noticed after boarding and seated. I frantically informed fkight attendant in southwest and she radio inside and before departure went to cockpit and got phone from inside.
So yes i am not surprised Southwest did this and thats why they are so successful. Just had to comment when I saw this story.
Sincerely,
Gregg
I was on a SWA flight that landed with only one engine working. Had no idea that there had been an issue. The gave me and my wife $100 vouchers. G ofigure.
Although customer service isn’t always right up there, it’s up there a lot more than other airlines. Remember, it’s individual humans making the decisions and Southwest encourages ans supports the right decision A LOT more than any other airline, including your faithful Hawaiian Airlines.
As a pilot of another airline, I can assure you this is not a SWA only incident. This happens more than you think, the general public usually just hears about only negative stories. Being kind and helpful is something genuine people don’t look to receive credit for from others.
I’ve flown SWA a good number of times over the years, & find their flight crews overall to be far friendlier & more helpful than any of the other airlines. I’ve seen them recognize veterans, wish Happy Birthdays or Anniversaries, hold them passengers while a young soldier’ coffin was offloaded and received by his family. I’ve seen countless videos of them helping out tough or special situations. Lots of folks like to bash them, especially here, but I’m most cases they do a very good (not perfect, but good!) job.
Looks like the plane was still at the terminal (Long Beach?). Guess it might have been up to the discretion of the pilot to accommodate the passenger. Southwest has a reputation for providing a different experience at times — humor during the mandatory pre-flight commentary, singing a group happy birthday to passengers, etc. So this might actually have happened. If it is good P.R., so be it.
I haven’t flown during Covid, but flew hundreds of flights, mostly Southwest, over the prior years. The attitude of friendliness/ exceeding expectations/ helping customers has long been encouraged by their management — not so much in expected ways, but creative, truly helpful, and often fun ways. This attitude and freedom seems to be enjoyed by the employees. I stress creative because I wouldn’t expect to receive exactly what someone else did. They might surprise me in another way.
I had the same thing happen for/to me on a United flight out of Sacramento about 20 years ago. I left a medical file in my seat at the gate and the gate and ground crew got it to the pilot about 1/2 way out to the runway. Of course, it may have helped that I was a 1K flyer at the time.