We’ve heard plenty of late about how the airlines have been mistreating passengers. Today, a story about one that got it right.
Peggy Uhle will be forever grateful to Southwest Airlines after they helped her through a recent family trauma.
When she boarded her flight from Chicago to Columbus, Ohio, she turned off her cell phone as the plane rolled away from the gate. But she and her fellow passengers didn’t get very far because the plane suddenly turned around on the tarmac at Midway Airport and taxied back toward the gate.
Peggy and the rest of the passengers had no idea what was happening.
Once the plane was anchored at the gate, a flight attendant approached Peggy and asked her to get off. You can imagine what Peggy was thinking given the airline news of late….was she on the wrong flight, had she been overbooked. Was she going to be dragged off?
It was none of those things, her husband had been trying to reach her to break the terrible news that their 24 year son had suffered a serious head injury and was in a coma in Denver, Colorado.
In shock and not sure what to do next, Southwest reticketed her on the next direct flight to Denver — at no cost.
Southwest also offered her a private waiting area, rerouted her luggage, allowed her to board first, and packed a lunch for her when she got off the plane in Denver. A short time later she received a call from Southwest asking how her son was doing.
Now, the really good news, her son has fully recovered.