Letter to Southwest

Here's the text of my letter to Southwest Airlines, in case anyone would like to borrow the language:

September 21, 2007

Mr. Gary Kelly
Chief Executive Officer
Southwest Airlines
P.O. Box 36647 - 1CR
Dallas, Texas 75235-1647


Dear Mr. Kelly,

I was disturbed to read that you were discontinuing the policy to allow families with young children to board first. Your comment that it wasn’t fair shows how little you must have traveled with young children. That is similar to saying it’s not fair for someone to have to offer a seat to an elderly person on the subway. Traveling with very young children is simply more difficult than traveling with adults, which is why this policy was instituted in the first place and is respected by almost every major airline.

As flying has become more uncomfortable in almost every way over the past several years, this is a measure that will make it significantly worse for families to travel. I can tell you that this change in policy will affect my choice in airlines.

I urge you to reconsider the proposed change.

Sincerely,


Aeron Noe