A blind student says she felt completely mistreated by Southwest Airlines, which allegedly did little to help her after multiple flight delays and cancelations.
(FYI, Southwest has been in the news lately for controversially canceling its long-standing two free checked bags policy.)
What happened to the college student?
In a TikTok, college student Maddy (@mylilmad) shares her now-complicated feelings about Southwest, which used to be her favorite airline. Her video has more than 2.6 million views.
Maddy goes to college in Western Massachusetts but is from Dallas, Texas. She says she takes an average of 12 Southwest flights a year to commute between college and home.
Maddy is legally blind and uses a white cane to navigate. She says her boarding passes label her as blind, and she has “meet and assist” at the airport. Meet and assist is assistance from airport staff to navigate around.
Maddy says she’s been loyal to Southwest because her customer service experiences with them have been “phenomenal up to this point,” and the airline has low crash rates.
But the tides turned on her most recent trip.
Maddy explains that she had a layover in Tampa, but the flight was canceled due to the weather.
“This is not the problem. I understand weather happens, and this was important. There were a bunch of tornados in the area. I would have wanted that flight canceled,” Maddy says.
Maddy says her flight was rebooked for her by a Southwest employee, and she was going to have to make a connection in Baltimore before getting to Texas. While she had to wait six hours at the airport with other delayed passengers, the attendants remained lovely and assured her that if she missed her Baltimore flight, they’d take care of her hotel and dinner, she says.
Things take a turn
But then, according to Maddy, another flight attendant stepped in and soured the situation.
“The response I got from the flight attendant was the first moment I ever had with Southwest where I felt uncomfortable. I was basically told by this flight attendant that I’m not special. That it doesn’t matter that I have flight to get to,” Maddy alleges.
“‘Everybody has a layover. Everyone has somewhere they need to be,’” she recalls the person telling her.
Maddy says she ended up crying the entire flight from Tampa to Baltimore.
While Maddy eventually made it to Baltimore, she says the plane was late and she missed her connection.
A fellow passenger steps in
When she spoke to customer service, with assistance from a fellow passenger with elite status with the airline, she says she was told there would be no accommodation given since it was a weather issue, not a mechanical one.
But she says that her fellow flier pointed out that, one, he was given accommodations, and two, Maddy was 19 and legally blind.
“‘What do you expect her to do?’” she recalls the man asking on her behalf.
“‘I’m expecting her to sleep on the floor; a lot of people are doing it,’” Maddy recalls the representative responding.
In the midst of all this, her bag, which had important pain management medicine, was not with her, she says.
Maddy says that her dad was able to book her a nearby hotel, but she had no access to food since all the restaurants in the area were shut down for delivery, and there was no open grocery store.
“My current issue with Southwest is the hostility I received from that flight attendant and the customer service agent,” Maddy says.
While she says she understood that the customer service person was just following orders, the tone in which you speak to people matters.
“And part of my issue is that in Tampa, I was told that I would be taken care of no matter what and that I would be compensated. And then suddenly I got to Baltimore, and I was not taken care of at all,” she says.
@mylilmad @Southwest Airlines #southwest ♬ original sound – mylilmad
Did Maddy make it home?
Maddy says she did eventually make it to her destination. But she notes it took 31 hours of travel time, four flights, as well as 12 delays and cancelations.
In a series of follow-up videos, Maddy explains that her original TikTok, which blew up, was actually her dad’s suggestion to film. She says they knew from previous experience that when you can’t get help from an airline via phone or email, they may only end up being helpful on social media.
Even if Southwest didn’t see Maddy’s video, at least she could get advice from people in the comments.
Maddy answers the most-asked questions
Why didn’t she have all her medication in her carry-on?
- Maddy explains that she uses her white guiding cane to help her move around. But that also means the entire left side of her body is engaged. Therefore, she only has her right arm to carry her carry-on and viola. It’s a lot to add a third item to the mix. And all her medications don’t fit in one bag, so she chose to put her life-saving medication in her carry-on and medication for pain management in the checked luggage.
Why did she think she’d get compensated for the delays?
- While Southwest typically only provides accommodations and compensation for flights whose delays were caused by mechanical issues, not weather-related ones. But because of her disability, she notes she was supposed to be properly accommodated.
“Because of my medical conditions, I cannot just sleep on an airport floor,” she says.
It is unclear on the Department of Transportation’s site whether an airline must offer accommodation due to a passenger’s disability.
Will she report the workers?
- No. Maddy says she couldn’t read their name badges. And in the whirlwind of it all, she didn’t think to ask for them.
Commenters react
“Southwest is always in the comments on this app so where are they at now???????” a top comment read.
“Tampa lied to you and Baltimore insulted you…” a person summarized.
“So now we aren’t offering baggage checks and we’re discriminating? Okay new airlines it is,” another added.
“Disability or not, no one should be treated that way. No one should be told to sleep on the floor. No one,” a commenter wrote.
The Daily Dot reached out to Maddy for comment via email and Instagram direct message and to Southwest via email.
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