Hi everyone!
I am writing this anecdote to share with you what happened to me this weekend en route from LA to Vegas…. I am hoping in doing so to see justice done! Let me explain….
I boarded the plane, with my “business select” ticket as I am a frequent SW customer, excited for my romantic getaway weekend with my man.
After about 20 minutes of the 60 minute flight went by, I got up to use the restroom.
While in the restroom, the flight attendant started banging on the door saying “Miss! Smoking is NOT permitted in flight!”.
I was thinking – “Is she talking to me?” So, I replied…”Sorry?” – as I’m trying to do my business in peace!
Then, I feel her hands all but coming through the side of the restroom. There must be someway they can bust in or whatever. She’s banging and I quickly pause what I’m doing, pull up my jeans, and open the door. Can you say “feeling a bit violated?”
She was literally in my face yelling at me in front of everyone – accusing me, without premise, of smoking! I have nothing against smokers. It is a free country I just happen to be a non-smoker and have been all my life. And, If I was a smoker, I wouldn’t commit a federal offense by sneaking a cigarette in an airplane restroom!
So, I calmly said – “Ma’am, I am actually a singer and don’t smoke. And, if you’d like to pat me down you will find I do not have cigarettes, a lighter, matches….in fact, go into the restroom and look in the trash too if you’d like but, I’d like an apology because I was going to the bathroom in there, not smoking!”
She continued ranting and raving “I don’t HAVE to check, anyone can smell and see the smoke in the air!”
Again, I’m thinking – “Huh?!?”. Ummmm, there was no haze or smoke or anything in the air. To lighten the mood I said “Maybe what your smelling is gas? I AM a bit gassy today!!!”
She then abruptly said, “I will deal with you later!”
Again, I demanded an apology.
By this point, other passengers were whispering and pointing. A few knew me as I heard my name being murmured. Grrreat!
She then got on her phone and called what, at this point I thought may be the police to greet me upon arrival! I have to admit, now I was getting nervous because this woman was one hundred percent sure that I was smoking in that restroom! Innocent ’til proven guilty? I think not. I was actually kinda hoping there would be police and some kind of blood test or something to really show her!!!
She also pointed me out to her counterpart. I was a marked passenger!
This woman should be fired. She publicly humiliated an innocent person. The fact that she ruined my flight and I didn’t get to relax is beside the point. She was aggressive and accusatory with NO premise. It was absolutely ridiculous.
I even smelled my sweater this morning thinking “I was in my friend’s car who is a smoker the other night…maybe my sweater smells of smoke?”. It doesn’t! And, if it did, is it a crime to smell like smoke? I have nothing against smokers – I am simply not one. And, the fact that I had to defend myself for the better part of the flight is appalling. The irony is, when I eventually sat back down to try to cool off, I went back to my reading material….a health and fitness magazine as I am clean living!
I got her name on the way off the plane. Marion. Scottish or Irish woman. Flying daily from Burbank to Vegas. Beware!!!
I am not traveling Southwest ’til someone does something about this situation. A written or face to face apology from this woman would be nice.
For a 39 year old professional woman to be singled out for no good reason, and – for her not to take me at my word is an injustice. And, clearly I was not some teenage party girl/rebel heading out of town for a weekend of debauchery! It takes only a relatively aware and instinctual person to assess that!
So, that’s my story….. I will most likely be driving back to LA because I really do not want to even chance seeing that woman’s face again. I guess a badge and a walkie talkie make some people feel reeeeally powerful! And, to think I gave her courtesy laughs during her attempted comical take on the safety routine!
The good news is, I had fabulous French food with my fabulous boyfriend! Smoking was allowed on the patio. We sat inside : )
Safe and peaceful travels everyone!!
X DEBORAH
Hi Deb, i am Thomas from Germany,
did you hear anything about your complaint? I am very interested in this case, i felt very angry when i readwhat happened to you, Debbie stay as you are, you are perfect.
Sorry to hear you had such a horrible flight. Obviously, this woman got up on the wrong side of the cave that morning. And then to have her get even more upset when you tried to calm the situation really shows her lack of professionalism.
Just goes to prove that there is no authority like a small authority!
Hope your next flight is more enjoyable. Thanks for all the wonderful music throughout the years – looking forward to hearing more!
Hey Deb all I have to say is wow. I flew out to Sacramento from Ohio a week ago Saturday when all your drama was taking place. I flew Delta no drama I flew back tonight again on Delta no drama. We had a monster of snow storm the last couple of days in Lake Tahoe then came home to snow storm here but it was nothing. My friends and I were considering flying Southwest for this trip but got a better deal with Delta after your drama glad we didn’t. I checked two things off my bucket list on this trip snow mobiling and learning to ski. I have no desire to learn snowboarding .
Well glad everything turned out okay,
Erica
Seems as though Deb is not the only one who had a problem with SW lately . I found this article online today. Just another example of their fab customer service:
Director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight for “being too fat to fly.” Kevin was able to put both armrests down and buckle his seatbelt without and extender. But a stewardess told him the captain said he was a safety risk. This was after he had already flow Southwest airlines into his destination earlier in the week. Kevin had checked his bag and was seated in front of an entire planeload of passengers when he was escorted off the plane. Naturally, he tweeted about it — extensively and hilariously. Southwest Airlines tried to respond by Twitter, but Kevin is not accepting their apology just yet.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith, fresh from delivering a speech at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, unleashed his fury on Southwest Airlines after the pilot on Smith’s flight from Oakland to Burbank ejected him for being “too fat to fly” Saturday evening.
“I’m way fat, but I’m not there just yet,” Smith wrote on his Twitter.com account after the incident, adding that he was able to lower both arm rests at his seat. “I broke no regulation.”
Southwest Airlines measures whether a customers too large to fly based on the passenger’s ability to lower both armrests while sitting on the plane. If the passenger cannot lower one or both armrests, the carrier typically requires the passenger to purchase an additional seat or make arrangements on other flights that may accommodate for extra space.
“Wanna tell me I’m too wide for the sky?” Smith inquired on his Twitter account. “Totally cool, but fair warning folks: If you look like me, you may be ejected from Southwest Air.”
Eventually Kevin was later put on another Southwest Airlines flight. After Kevin reached his destination he tweeted: “Hey @SouthwestAir! I’ve landed in Burbank. Don’t worry: wall of the plane was opened & I was airlifted out while Richard Simmons supervised.”
Bestselling author Neil Gaiman tweeted that he would be happy to sit next to Kevin on a flight based on the photo that Kevin uploaded during the incident (posted above) “even though they are mortal enemies.”
@ThatKevinSmith http://twitpic.com/1340gw – Dear @southwestair, *I* would gladly sit next to @thatkevinsmith on a plane. We are mortal enemi[es]
Kevin was appreciative of Neil’s support, but noted that it changed nothing between them, referring to him as “Hair-Bear…” (Neil is known for his fabulous, if at times a bit unruly, mane of hair.) And no, we have no idea how this mock-feud began.
But Kevin is planning on addressing the incident again on his podcast tonight. He has promised to tweet about Southwest Airlines once a day for the foreseeable future.
We say: Kevin fit fine in the seat and didn’t even need a seatbelt extension. And even if he did, how dare Southwest Airlines humiliate a passenger by frog-marching him off a full plane after he had been seated and his luggage checked? Southwest Airlines has the smallest seats in the business — even skinny people with long legs are in for a world of misery on their flights.
I sent a letter to Southwest Airlines today. I asked for a public apology to Deborah from this employee and from the airline. I also stated that I will no longer fly Soutwest and will tell everyone I know about this story. No one should be treated this way, its time we all stand up and demand good customer service from companies. It’s very sad that companies allow this kind of conduct from employees.
as a life-time fan of yours deborah i whole-heartedly sympathise with you!! this marion person should certainly be fired for her outrages conduct and southwest airlines ows you a big apology deborah!! God bless you deborah!!
I was just recently accused of this on AMERICAN AIRLINES 10 minutes before landing I popped into the loo for a quick pee, (as they announced the seatbelts and seats upright – after a 6 hr flight) and was accused of smoking in the bathroom! I was SHOCKED as I don’t smoke.
I made a big deal out of it, asking what the attendants name is as I was being accused of a federal offence. When I said I did not smoke, she then said not cigarettes, but marijuana! I said I didn’t smoke either, I smoked NOTHING, but was further intimidated, threatened and treated as if I was guilty (what happened to innocent until proven guilty?) — it was 1am in the morning by the time we landed and I’d had 6 glasses of wine. I was told that if I just admitted it, the whole thing would be dropped!!!
i felt like i was about to be carted off t Guantanamo Bay, or some prison in China i.e. the flight crew were a law unto themselves…frankly even if the police came I did not really want to spend another minute ‘proving’ my innocence! i should never have been accused or humiliated on the flight— I was in First Class too!!
Seriously, “at the highest level”? The culture of SWA is that you are automatically friends with those at the “highest level”. As a former employee of SWA, I had the right, as you the customer do as well, to email the CEO, Gary Kelly, any time I wished and he would respond. So, my point is that the only “highest level” employees SWA has are Herb, Colleen and Gary.
By now Debbie, I hope your situation was addressed by the airline. One of the posters is correct in that it is about the $$$ and the airline will compensate you for your trouble. However, they will not $$$ if you don’t complain. The airline has people on the payroll who’s only job is to surf the web for stories such as this and to respond to the passenger. Why? Because they do care about you and your return business.
The best thing to do would have been to speak with the customer service supervisor as soon as you exited the flight. Most likely, the flight attendant received a tongue lashing and nothing more. She smelled something and her job was to stop it and report it, which by the sounds of it, she did, however badly.
I hope you continue to fly SWA. It is the best domestic airline operating today and every once in a while you have a knucklehead who messes things up. It doesn’t mean the whole airline is the same.
Take care and I wish you well,
Mark