Southwest Airlines Surprise at Boarding

Southwest Airlines is known for their unique approach to air travel. I’ve written about them before regarding their in-flight safety spiel. I’ve flown Southwest a lot. I remember in the early years of my travel with them they had a family-style seating arrangement where individuals could face each other on the plane. I don’t know why they got rid of that configuration, perhaps travelers didn’t like flying backwards. I thought it was great.

Their brand is about making flying fun, which is tough to do these days. It seems like every airline is the same experience. There is nothing to differentiate one from another. When I fly on business I’m not a big fan of Southwest. I prefer having an assigned seat since I can’t always check-in exactly at the 24-hour pre-flight mark. And I’ll admit too that with the miles I’ve accrued on Delta I’m often upgraded to First-Class. My status also allows me the opportunity to pre-board the aircraft – another perk I enjoy. Sure I’ve been spoiled, but those little perks make my flight experience just a tiny bit better than usual.

If I have to fly Southwest Airlines, I do enjoy their inconsistent, but delightful surprises they do along the flight. Their safety spiel is delivered in an entertaining fashion. One one recent flight I boarded the plane and sat towards the back. Generally when one boards a plane the doors to the overhead bins are up. This was the case on this flight that I took.

Just before we were about to leave the gate the flight attendant walked down the aisle and closed all the doors. When she did, the plane looked like this.

Along the center aisles were children’s coloring sheets taped on the doors. They were there the entire flight. I’m sure they spent the rest of the day taped on those doors on the remaining flights that that plane had. I think for a brief moment everyone on that plane had a child-like smile on their face. Even if just for a moment, they forgot about the lack of legroom, the kicking and screaming infant behind them and the rude middle-seat traveler who was hogging two arm rests! For that brief moment, everyone remembered what it was like to be a child again.

Since that flight I’ve never seen Southwest do this again. Maybe it was a single idea from a lone flight attendant never to be replicated. Or maybe the airline is trying to save money and can’t afford the crayons anymore. Whatever the reason, I would love to have that experience again, and I hope you have the pleasure of that surprise that I did.