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| - In general, I like Southwest Airlines. But my flight home from LAS to TPA this week left me hoping another airline steps up with a non-stop on this route before my next trip in May. In-flight service is so hit or miss, and it seems to not be improving.
First, boarding was delayed more than 20 minutes. We were told we were waiting on a flight attendant. I really appreciated knowing why, but now I have a few follow-up questions. Ultimately, we ended up pulling away from the gate about 30 minutes late, which made our arrival time in Tampa well after midnight.
After we boarded, my colleague noticed immediately that he couldn't connect to the WiFi. Neither could I, but other passengers were still boarding, so we assumed (hoped) it hadn't been turned on yet. Because my colleague was adamant about watching the Yankees playoff game, he had checked Southwest.com the night prior to confirm our flight had WiFi. He'd actually told me he would be changing his flight if WiFi was not available. Unfortunately, as the flight attendant made the usual pre-flight safety announcements, she mentioned we were on one of their brand new, just-delivered Boeing 737 Max planes... and the WiFi had not yet been installed. My colleague was beyond upset. As for myself, I hadn't downloaded any media because I expected to pay for & enjoy the WiFi. So I was also rather disappointed.
To make matters worse, for me, when I'm bored, I'd like to drink. However, the flight attendants only made one round through the cabin offering drinks, and instead spent most of the flight in the galley chit-chatting with each other. On a 4+ hour flight, I'm not sure why they thought everyone would be content with one beverage.
Overall, my flight from LAS to TPA was smooth, and the pilot made up a little time in the air. But the service was so lacking on this flight that I am definitely going to weigh my options for my next flight to Vegas. A layover might be worthwhile to not have to deal with the cattle-herding that Southwest always feels like.
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