‘Only in Florida’ 30 Wheelchair Passengers Preboard Southwest Airlines Flight, 28 Walk Off Freely After Landing – View from the Wing

On one Southwest Airlines Tampa flight, 30 passengers boarded early and got better seats for free because they said they needed wheelchair assistance. Then they walked off the plane and all the way out the terminal themselves on arrival. They didn’t all need a wheelchair, but cracked a code. It’s always the Florida and Puerto Rico flights!

Typical @SouthwestAir flight to Florida! I counted 30 pre-boards needing wheelchair assistance. When we get off the plane 28 of them walk off! @FAANews @FlyTPA @FoxNews @cnnbrk @MarkWilsonTV pic.twitter.com/YHprcho55Z

— Brian Hudson (@BocaHudson) December 29, 2024

Southwest lets passengers pick their seats on a first-come, first-served basis. You board earlier if you buy the most expensive tickets, if you’re a frequent traveler, or if you pay for early boarding. Or if you fake the need for a wheelchair.

• That’s why Southwest Airlines has more wheelchair passengers than any other airline.
• It drives up the airline’s costs (they pay for the wheelchair service!) and cheats other customers out of better seats. Those higher costs also mean higher average airfares.
• And it makes a tremendous spectacle: the “Jetbridge Jesus” flight where passengers come on with a wheelchair to get the best seats, and miraculously walk without any assistance when the flight is over.
• This is terrible passengers who really need wheelchairs, with people who don’t need them taking up the scarce service. Those with a real need are forced to wait longer.

Typical @SouthwestAir flight to Florida! I counted 30 pre-boards needing wheelchair assistance. When we get off the plane 28 of them walk off! @FAANews @FlyTPA @FoxNews @cnnbrk @MarkWilsonTV pic.twitter.com/YHprcho55Z

— Brian Hudson (@BocaHudson) December 29, 2024

Of course, this will all change in the first half of 2026, because Southwest is moving to assigned seating. Wheelchair passengers may board earlier but it doesn’t get them better seats.

@SouthwestAir 15+ preboards. These all walked on. Fix this please. TPA 9/17 1650 hours. Check the video. Abuse of privilege. pic.twitter.com/2hkni1Z5T8

— Fred Vollinger (@fred_vollinger) September 17, 2024

That’s also going to be a huge help with misbehaving passengers. Right now when law enforcement comes on board the airline doesn’t know the identity of the problem passenger. If there are more passengers on the plane than there are supposed to be, you don’t know who is supposed to be there and who isn’t. If a passenger in a specific seat is causing problems, you don’t immediately know who it is. If a problem passenger doesn’t identify themselves, you need to take everyone off and reboard them to know who’s still on the plane.

This is also going to mean the end of seat saving. No more claiming 13 seats for your group or using a bag of donuts to claim a whole row of seats, and the ensuing conflict that comes from taking more space than your ticket allows.

With one simple change – assigned seating – Southwest will solve many of the problems that turn boarding a Southwest Airlines flight into an exercise in game theory. While I’m one of the few that actually likes part of how Southwest does seating today (but not lining up at the start of boarding), I don’t see the change as all good.

A friend shares a not-uncommon sight from Puerto Rico:

55 “handicapped” during pre-boarding, including 25 wheel chairs

On his return flight, 15 used wheelchairs to board, only 1 to deboard pic.twitter.com/gHgIsnzsq7

— Bachman (@ElonBachman) February 19, 2023

Another flight on @SouthwestAir, and I’m happy to report being witness to more miracles. These poor souls came seeking a flight, and instead were healed. 🙌🏻🙌🏻

Always grateful for witnessing the miraculous healing power of flight. pic.twitter.com/7TCYn2T6BB

— Dave Ruminates (@dave_ruminates) April 5, 2023

It’ll help Southwest’s bottom line, and not just on the revenue side selling premium and assigned seats. Wheelchair services are costly. This is going to save Southwest at least $30 per wheelchair passenger. Multiply that out across every flight and it’s the unexpected reason that Elliott Capital turns out to be right in pushing Southwest Airlines to assign seats.