Monday, December 26, 2011

Dear Southwest

Hi guys,

Just read this, and I have to say, that's not Christmas.

A child is given a medical device that allows him to sit up without someone holding him, and your flight attendants insist that he instead sit with his parents keeping him from falling over for a flight.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm intimately aware that you have to follow all FAA regulations.  I understand that most child seats are indeed inspected by the FAA and approved for airliner use.  However, I think that something that's being used as a medical device falls outside those guidelines.  It probably would have been better to follow the same rules as you do for someone who is strapped into a wheelchair without use of the lower part of their body.

I see that you are already apologizing and trying to make things right for this family, and I give you full credit for that.

Hopefully you learn from this.  Southwest is one of the last good domestic airlines left, and I'd hate for y'all to lose that reputation.

Sincerely,

Daddy J. Bear

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I suppose they could try to come up with a policy for every possible eventuality. Or they could use their use their brains and trust that (maybe a few) doctors occasionally give medical orders for good reasons.

45er said...

My first thought was: How much safer is having someone hold a person vs having them sit with the assistance of a device in their own seat? At some point common sense has to prevail.

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