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Comment by rewind | Hacker News Reader

Although I commend Southwest and everyone involved, I'm more bothered by why he couldn't have been afforded even basic additional attention to get him on the flight on time without having to delay take-off. I'm not saying they did the wrong thing, but once you delay a previously on-time flight, you start affecting other people on that flight who might have tight connections.

The fact that they couldn't get him pushed through in the two hours he was there before the flight is the problem. The pilot just fixed the problem that shouldn't have been an issue in the first place. The entire support/service system let this guy down until the very last possible moment.

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Pilot only waited 12 minutes and could probably make some/all of that up in the air. But you are right, 2 hours waiting in line is bullshit.

Do not complain about a two-hour security line for a domestic flight. Do you want the terrorists to win? I will wait 15 hours and submit to a TSA full body cavity search if it makes the flight safer.

Some may argue that waiting 15 hours and being submitted to a cavity search means the terrorists have already won.

And they would be very, very late in making that argument.

Yes, more people would die from stress than terrorists could kill.

It's hard to know these days, especially online, but my sarcasm detector went off for the grandparent post.

Is there a missing </sarcasm> there?

You know, the other day I got through security with a water bottle. Suppose it wasn't a water bottle!?

EDIT: I'm just saying. When it comes to airport security there hasn't been a right way they've done it. After the TSA patdown issues they're being so lenient now backing off that they're letting large canteen bottles of water slip by unnoticed. I mean, sure water bottles should be allowed, but, certainly not unnoticed...

I don't disagree, but who's "They?" who should have got him pushed through faster?

The airline doesn't control anything but the departure of the aircraft.

The issues with this guest getting TO the aircraft are in the hands of security and the airport itself.

THe ticketing agent could have been given an escort to put him to the front of the security lines. As little as two years ago this was done for me a couple of times. By no means was there any sort of emergency other than the possibility that the line may cause me to miss my flight. The airline was Mexicana (out of business now). They stopped doing that in favor of a "tough shit" in the past 18 months or so, and I end up having to pay ~$200 to reschedule.

I'm not saying they did the wrong thing, but once you delay a previously on-time flight, you start affecting other people on that flight who might have tight connections.

Hopefully if they were informed of the situation, every person on the plane would acquiesce to a 12 minute delay. I know I would.

That's not really the point though. These decisions are not made democratically with the passengers' input; passengers have no say in the matter, regardless of whether or not they are informed of the situation. A bit of extra attention should have been paid to this one passenger's situation, which would have made things better for him and had zero impact on the other passengers. The other passengers may have their own reasons for needing to be somewhere on time, possibly just as important to them as this man's situation was to him. A few extra minutes of service is all this guy needed very early in the process to make the whole situation a non-issue for everyone involved.

That's what makes this stuff so tough, tho. How many folks on that plane are in the midst of a personal emergency of their own? From my experience, it's rarely zero. Maybe someone on that flight is going to miss a connection to see their mother for the last time? Or the premature birth of a child? I've had both sit next to me on flights just this year. Not everyone lets the airline know what's going on.

As for why special accommodations couldn't be made for this guy, lets use what I like to call the "honeymoon principle." It used to be that when you went to Vegas on your honeymoon you simply had to tell everyone (from the desk clerk at the hotel to your waiter at dinner) that you were on your honeymoon. They went out of their way to make it special.

Then everyone found out about it. Two things happened: 1) a LOT more people went to Vegas on their honeymoon and 2) every couple told everyone that it was their honeymoon wether it was true or not.

So now, you might as well not even bother. Honeymoon's in Vegas aren't special, they won't even get you a room with a view.

It's the same thing here. In the course of a single day there are literally thousands of emergencies (both real and imagined) that people are tending to. How do you decide which ones get to skip the security line? How do you decide which ones get ride the golf cart to the gate? You can't, because as soon as you do everyone has a heartbreaking story to tell.

I wish it wasn't so, but lets face it, people suck.

I've never believed that this was an acceptable rationale for treating everyone the same. A lot of people suck. So what? Punishing the whole because of the depravity of the minority (or even the majority) is the kind of least common denominator nonsense that causes customer service to suffer in the first place.

Reminds me of when I got irritated at a long wait for my doctor's appointment. Dang it, I made an appointment! Finally the doc came out and apologized profusely for the delay, saying he had a patient come in with a life threatening allergic reaction.

My irritation promptly vanished and I told the doc he had no need to apologize for doing what was right.

My Dr is always 2 or more hours late, so I came to an understanding with her staff. I always ask for the last appointment of the day, get an ETA from the receptionist, and usually show up half an hour after that, say 7pm for a 5:30 appointment. Last time we spent 2 hours with the appointment and just chatting. (We like each other.)

The real advice: get a woman doctor. They are almost always more attentive, if not more punctual.

Out of curiosity, who would get to decide who gets "additional attention"? The airline? If that were the case then you could expect to see an "additional attention in screening for only $25" upsell on airline ticketing sites within a week...

Many airlines offer bereavment fares already, with straightforward requirements on providing documentation to legitimize the request.

It would seem to be easy enough to also offer "golden tickets" to expedite security screening under these specific circumstances.

I lost my father several years ago, three days before Christmas. My family and I flew to Nevada to lay him to rest at a family plot, I remember being hyper-sensitive to everything at the airport.

Holiday decorations? Terrible, tacky, and painful. Happy travelers made me think how long it would take to regain an enjoyment of the season. Travelers frustrated or annoyed for no good reason made me want to throw punches.

There are little things, and big things. Airport security and travel logistics are little things you want no part of while dealing with big things.

This is where you just need to give your employees the very BASIC ability to make decisions on their own. If someone comes up to you and says "My grandson is going to be removed from life support and I need to make sure I catch my flight", you should know the difference between that and "I'm late because traffic was heavier than I expected" and act accordingly. At the very least, employees should know an extreme case when they encounter one and at least take it to a supervisor for escalation, if needed.

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