Southwest Airlines racks up three black marks

I flew to Albuquerque Dec. 30-Jan. 4 to visit my sister, brother-in-law, and young niece and nephew.

First, my outgoing flight from Dallas Love was about 30 minutes late Dec. 30.

Second, my return flight Jan. 4 was 15 minutes late.

Third, and worst of all, was bad customer service from Southwest.

When my flight arrived at Albuquerque Dec. 30, our checked luggage was never placed on a baggage carousel. Instead, it was just dumped on the floor in the baggage claim area.

Before other airlines started charging for checked bags, I rarely flew Southwest. While Love Field is closer to my house than D/FW, I never bought all the PR spin about Southwest. And, its agreeing to slow terms in phasing out the Wright Amendment at Love shows that it has no problems playing airline duopoly with American.

That said, not all airlines charge for the first checked bag at least. And, with Wright slow in phasing out, I doubt I'll give any bonus points to Southwest in planning future flights in the near term.

Oh, and a separate bitch: Why, why, does Southwest STILL not let people at least initiate customer service comments/complaints by e-mail?

For years, they have said the same thing on their website:

We are hard at work designing a system that will allow us to accept and respond to e-mail, yet maintain that personal touch that you have come to expect from Southwest.

Bull. Southwest might be in danger of becoming Just.Another.Company.