Things I Observed at the Airport this Weekend

I flew Southwest to and from Dallas this weekend and had some time to spend observing things.

1. I don't understand what is so hard about the Liquids on airplanes rules. You can have 1 bag of liquids and everything has to be less than 3ozs. If you want more than that, check it in your luggage! As you entered the security line at Love Field they had huge signs explaining about the liquids and were handing out ziploc bags. Still when we got up to the scanners there was a group of 5 ladies arguing with the TSA because they were all being made to throw out all their toiletries that wouldn't fit into one bag - and were holding up the rest of the line. How can you NOT know about these rules?

2. It's the holidays people. Everybody is flying somewhere. Lines at security are going to be long. Plan ahead and be patient. I heard somebody complaining because it took them 30 minutes to go through security at Little Rock National Airport this afternoon. Of course, the fact that almost every airline that flies out of Little Rock had a flight at the exact same time meant that the airport was at its busiest at the time that gentleman was trying to go through security. Besides 30 minutes isn't long at all. The line for security wasn't even down the stairs towards baggage claim like it was the previous time I flew through there.

3. Not everybody has to check their bags with the skycaps outside. At Love Field the line was extremely long for the curbside check in, but if you walked. inside there was nobody at the counters inside.

4. Be prepared for anything. Friday was an absolutely gorgeous weather day in our area. Not a cloud in the sky, warm, calm. Yet, there were lots of people upset at Love Field on Friday afternoon. Not because of weather but because lots of flights were overbooked and the rest of the flights to those destinations this weekend were either full or oversold.

Oh, and to the gentleman on Friday who conned your way into the preboard group so you could get 3 seats together for your family because you'd checked in too late and were in the C Group, you've got real class.

Thanks for taking the time to post your observations.

In terms of the liquids before they went to the revised policy of allowing some liquids on planes we were on a flight from London Gatwick back to the United States and you wouldn't believe how many people had liquids in their bags and this was a few weeks after the policy that at that point banned all liquids had gone into affect. And, you wouldn't believe how many people had the wrong size bags as they were too large. What we learned from this is that many people either do not read the information that they are provided or they think it applies to everyone but them. Your observations are consistent with this.

You are absolutely right to allow more time at the airport particularly during busy travel times. We will get to the airport much earlier than we need to just not to have to hassle with the lines and so that if anything should go wrong that we still have time to make our plane.

And it's too bad that some people feel like they can make the rules up as they go along.

The good news is that the majority of folks are really good but there are some who think that none of the rules apply to them.

Keith

Oh, and to the gentleman on Friday who conned your way into the preboard group so you could get 3 seats together for your family because you'd checked in too late and were in the C Group, you've got real class.

I really hate when people do that. I fly southwest a lot and see if happen too often. Heres an idea: how about you check in online or get to the airport earlier!

I like just about everything about Southwest except for the boarding process ... though it is an intersting social experiment to see how early people will line up.

The boarding mess is exactly why I refuse to fly Southwest.

You can't check in online and get an assigned seat. It is often push and shove during boarding.