Southwest Airlines

My family of three flew on Southwest Airlines for the first time last December.We flew out of Baltimore, MD and traveled to Orlando International Airport in Florida.We were scheduled for a 9:00 pm flight on a Thursday night, which was the last flight leaving from Baltimore that night.

We arrived early, then moved very quickly through security.We were waiting at the terminal an hour and 30 minutes before our scheduled flight.My husband and I were watching the weather outside, because a snow/ice storm had been forecasted to arrive that night.At 9:00 pm, there was still no plane on the terminal, but the board never showed a delay.Finally, at 9:15, the flight listed as "cancelled."No prior warnings, no announcements, nothing.The terminal beside us was scheduled to go to Chicago, and all of the flights there were cancelled, so all of the customer service people were busy scheduling the people from there, and no one seemed too concerned with all of us waiting to go to Orlando.I waited in line at customer service for 45 minutes, only to be told that we MIGHT be able to leave that night, but they had no idea when or how yet.Not much consolation when you are waiting with a cranky 2-year old, and a husband who is terrified to fly.Plus, we are still watching for the impending storm.

After waiting another hour, trying to find a local hotel in case we were stuck, a man from Southwest started walking around, telling us they were bringing in a new plane to take us, because our scheduled plane had never left the runway in its last destination due to weather.We were a little upset that no one could have answered these questions earlier, but grateful that we may not have to spend the night at the airport.The Southwest employee also handed out free McDonalds coupons to all of us waiting, so we could get a snack, and they were very generous in the amount they handed out, which was a very nice gesture.

After another hour of waiting, we finally boarded a new plane, and all went smoothly the rest of the way.The flight attendants were nice and helpful, but didn't go out of their way to tell stories or sing songs like I heard of them doing from other people.

Another thing I noticed was that they seemed short on drinks and snacks, but they may not have been prepared for that flight since they were not really scheduled for it.They would use the same can of soda for a few cups to make it last longer, which I found odd.

The airplane was clean, althought it looked a little old and worn in some of the seats, but this is a "no-frills" airline, which is how the prices stay so low, so I can't complain about that.

Overall, the experience was ok; everyone on our flight was nice enough, but I feel that customer service left a little something to be desired.I probably would not use Southwest in the future, because I didn't like how the airlines waits until just a few months out to release flight information to book reservations, but I think some people would appreciate waiting so long, because there are generally less changes to the schedule once it is released.