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SWA Changed Flight or Not?

DSteven
Explorer C

Today I received an email "Your change has been confirmed" about a flight in June. I didn't make a change, and there is no indication how it came about or definitely stating that it's due to the MAX 8 grounding, but it's an inconvenient one to a longer flight with a layover. Are such notifications supposed to be this vague? Help?

5 REPLIES 5

Re: SWA Changed Flight or Not?

Passenger1C
Aviator C
Solution

@DSteven  I can relate to your frustrations. All of us who fly with SW are feeling it too. I would say that you are one of the lucky ones since you received the notification far in advance. 

 

I pulled this information off of SW’s Contract of Carriage:

 

Flight Schedule Changes. Flight schedules are subject to change without notice, and the times shown on Carrier’s published schedules, Tickets, and advertising are not guaranteed. At times, without prior notice to Passengers, Carrier may need to substitute other aircraft and may change, add, or omit intermediate stops. Carrier cannot guarantee that Passengers will make connections to other flights by the Carrier or by other airlines. In the event of flight schedule changes or service withdrawals, Carrier will attempt to notify affected Passengers as early as possible.

 

https://www.southwest.com/assets/pdfs/corporate-commitments/contract-of-carriage.pdf

 

I know that SW is doing all they can to work out all the changes. Personally, I would rather be inconvenienced if my safety was possibly at risk. 

 

Have a a great trip in June! 

 

 


SWA Passenger, Community Champion

Re: SWA Changed Flight or Not?

DSteven
Explorer C

Thank you. I didn't mean to sound prickly, as the change isn't  horribly inconvenient (except that this will be my only week in 2019 back in the U.S. with friends/family); but the email I got is identical to those I've gotten when I change a flight myself, so I had no idea if my account had been hacked or what. SWA can't prevent fleet recalls, but they could be a bit more specific in their communications.

Thanks to all again.

Re: SWA Changed Flight or Not?

SWDigits
Aviator A

I've now received a similar message for a July flight and the implementation is definitely clunky and confusing. Posting here as it happens for awareness for others.

 

  • Apr 22 at 10:18 PM Eastern time -- received the email with the change notification.  Note that the email notification stated that we would be able to rebook, if desired, "between the hours of 12:00pm (CDT) April 23, 2019 and 11:59pm (CDT) April 28, 2019."
  • Apr 23 even now at 8:57 AM Eastern time (before the rebooking window stated above) the original flight that we were booked on is still showing as available for sale.  I'll be curious to see what happens at noon CDT to see if that flight goes away.  If it doesn't then I'll inquire and post an update.

The confusing part is that the message says we were rebooked but our original flight is still showing in the system with seats for sale.  I assume it's a timing issue between different systems but that's just a guess.

 

-- Edited to post this update --

 

Our original flight (leg 2 of 2) was NOT cancelled, the flight times just moved to earlier so I'm not sure why the system moved us to a later, different flight that had an extra stop.  I tested the chat functionality within the app and Sarah (thank you!) was able to get us back on the original leg 2 flight.

 


Customer | Home airport DCA

Re: SWA Changed Flight or Not?

dfwskier
Aviator A

@DSteven wrote:

Today I received an email "Your change has been confirmed" about a flight in June. I didn't make a change, and there is no indication how it came about or definitely stating that it's due to the MAX 8 grounding, but it's an inconvenient one to a longer flight with a layover. Are such notifications supposed to be this vague? Help?


Well, all aitlines do this sort of thing. Maybe 7 years ago I booked a Delta flight about 7 months in advance. In th 7 months before the flight I received 4 of these notices, each one of which changed my flight.

 

My advice to you is to look at available flights for your day of travel, and if you see a better option with available seats, contact Southwest to let them know that the change it made is not acceptable, and you want to be put on flight XXX instead.

Re: SWA Changed Flight or Not?

chgoflyer
Aviator A

Unfortunately, that is how they are notifying customers of the schedule changes due to the MAX aircraft grounding. I agree that the communication should be better. In general, Southwest makes less schedule changes than most carriers, and these ones -- often dramatic -- are unfortunately unavoidable. As suggested your best bet is to check the schedule online and see if there's a better option for you. If not, you can request a full refund.