Recently, a father and his two daughters were traveling from Denver to Minneapolis-St. Paul on Southwest Airlines. This is not especially newsworthy as I am sure it happens at least 100 times a week. In the case of Duff Watson, he is no ordinary flyer but a very frequent flyer; what Southwest may refer to as an A-list flyer. Southwest is no different than any other airline; frequent flyers get top priority.
On ordinary days, Mr. Watson gets right to the head of the line. And on almost all days, several times a day, he uses our good old friend “Social Media.” It looks like “several” times a day could be much more than “several.” For example, when he checked in to Denver International, he told his many followers on Twitter how much he liked the person who had checked them in and had taken their baggage. It was nice of him to do, but as we shall see, it didn’t matter all that much.
I might add that Southwest Airlines uses the social media too; they use it as do many, many companies to see what you think about them.
I learned this lesson many, many years ago. I bought some blinds for the house from a “Big Box Store.” The blinds were ill-fitting and the entire customer service experience was terrible. I sent a tweet out and within 10 minutes, they sent a tweet back from their headquarters or computer command bunker or wherever it was that they were sorry. At the time, it felt like a case of cyber-bullying or Big Brother or Cyber Brother.
Yes to you, a big “no” to the daughters
The A-lister and his daughters get to the gate filled with love for Southwest airlines. The gate agent, whom we will call “Emily,” did not take kindly to him boarding his kids. They got into a tiff. It was the usual, “Do you know who I am?” stuff. After a back and forth, they let the family on but not before he fumed he was going to send a negative tweet (oh my, what silliness our society has become!).
The tweet was (I have modified the name and gate), “RUDEST AGENT IN DENVER. EMILY M. GATE C –. NOT HAPPY @SWA.”
The family was finally seated where the A-listers sit, and as the aircraft was being readied for take-off, an announcement came over the PA asking where the Watson family was sitting. After they identified themselves, they were escorted off the plane…and the father was given the ultimatum of either deleting the tweet or missing the flight. It seems that “Emily M.,” in mock outrage, felt threatened by the negative tweet.
We don’t know who first saw the tweet, we only know the outcome. The tweet was deleted and the Watson family continued on their journey. The big-wigs at Southwest and their PR department reached out to Mr. Watson and made nice. The airline said they would “counsel” the employees involved and – I guess – Emily M. in particular. However, I am not so sure.
Tread lightly, everyone
The fact that Mr. Watson wanted to get his daughters early boarding is understandable. In his mind, he travels a lot and should be entitled to most anything. As I sit here, I wonder what might have happened if the daughters had been 17 and 18 rather than young children. Suppose he had four daughters or seven?
He was offended because he felt he deserved privileges. He ultimately dealt with his frustrations by using his friend, “Social Media. Should he have been able to board with his kids? I don’t know; what are the rules Southwest has created for such situations?
The gate agent was offended because she felt threatened; not so much physically, but her authority and her interpretation of the rules. It looks as though she might have checked her friend “Social Media” or someone in corporate might have contacted her almost in real time to talk about the offending tweet. I don’t know that either.
I do know that being a gate agent for any airlines in this day and age is miserable work. Many passengers, while not hostile, suspend any semblance of proper behavior because they feel they can. Gate agents must often become parents, teachers, supervisors and security officers. There is no telling what collection of jerks and dummies confronted her that day before seeing the Watson family.
The ethical responsibilities here are three-fold. Southwest Airlines takes a huge chunk of responsibility here. Do they have an iron-clad policy in place for such situations? How much latitude do they give their employees?
Mr. Watson must assume some responsibility here as well. He is no hero. If there is a policy perhaps he might have asked the airline about it ahead of time. I am pretty sure I can’t bring a pet Schnauzer on board with me and even if I’m an A-lister, and my guess is that I can’t early board my grandson’s baseball team. If I know the policy, and they politely tell me “no,” I should not huff, puff and tweet because I did not get gratification. What about the other A-listers on that flight?
The gate agent, if latitude permitted, could have let the family on and been done with it. If there was a black and white situation and the rules were strict, she was within her rights, but please stop being offended.
We are also talking about an airline that boards passengers in a modified cattle call fashion. The Watson family could have undoubtedly found three seats together – maybe not where the A-listers sit, but close enough.
It all circles back to the airline. It seems as though they backed the passenger and sold out the gate agent. Should they have done that if she sincerely followed the rules? I don’t think so.
Finally I blame Twitter. Not Twitter so much as our reliance on this form of expression to take the place of civility and social discourse.
They were just little girls. I don’t blame their dad for not wanting them to be squished within some strangers some where else on the plane. And if he was A-List, then he paid extra for that. Shoot I think anyone would had been upset.