SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

GrimPrecise I'll tell you why so serious

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

15231 I never liked to fly the cattle carrier that is Southwest Airlines, but after seeing this series, I want to avoid it like the plague.I cannot fathom how SWA thought this would be something good for its image. Most of the show is made up of unhappy, frustrated, angry passengers who are given an opportunity to show the audience how they are the victims of unstated SWA's policies and just how rudely SWA employees treat them. Most of the employees come across as insincere, judgmental, condescending, uncaring, disrespectful and eager to exert whatever little power they perceive themselves as having. The results are appalling examples of how not to conduct customer service. Sometimes the detached artificiality of an employee's apology for whatever happened to the passenger is so blatant that it is a wonder the employee still had a job after the episode aired.Scattered between these atrocious scenes are uninteresting "human interest" pieces showing SWA employees bowling or going on cruises, passengers competing in beauty or dance contests, and other assorted items having nothing to do with an airport or airline. Also scattered here and there are examples of SWA employees going above and beyond their jobs to help a passenger, but those are the rare spots on the show and they hardly balance or neutralize the nastiness displayed by these same employees in other episodes. (Actually, some employees NEVER are seen being nice.) Watching this show is like watching a plane crash. It is horrible to look at, but somehow you cannot turn away.

liquidcelluloid-1 Network: A&E; Genre: Reality/Documentary; Content Rating: TV-PG; Classification: Contemporary (Star range: 1 - 4)Seasons Reviewed: Series (1+ seasons)On paper 'Airline' might have seemed like a funny and interesting idea for a reality series. The boardroom at A&E probably brook out into applause when somebody proposed it. It's also a reasonable excuse to get a lot of mileage out of corny airplane puns for the show's promotion. We've all been there. Passengers on airplanes having to deal with crowds, delays, racing from one ridiculously far apart terminal to the next and, of course, a favorite living joke, snotty flight attendants. On the show cameras document the other side, going behind the scenes with the customer service, boarding and flight attendants of Houston based Southwest Airlines. Because the show's a documentary, on A&E and not another dating contest we're all supposed to look at it with a belief that it is automatically good. It's a nice attempt, but the show doesn't work in nearly every aspect.The people in the show are often running frantically through the airport and the show (mistakenly, I think) wants to give that discombobulating sense to the viewers, bouncing frantically from each story. There is enough high-tension stress here to make NBC's occupational documentary 'The Restaurant' look like a stay at the Betty Ford Clinic. The problems the poor Southwest employees encounter range from so mundane to so realistically annoying we'd hate to deal with in real life so much it's hard to fathom watching it as entertainment for 30 minutes on TV. We see people missing their connections, people marooned in the terminal with lost tickets or heavy plane delays, passengers complaining so rudely over this stuff it is hard to imagine these people function in their everyday life, and a cavalcade of crazy people – walking around in short kilts, diapers and massive BO. The show opened its first scene in the first episode with the most entertaining bit in which a women blames her ticket trouble on all the white people behind the counter and in management who are trying to oppress her. None of it is particularly funny and the show is slingshoting between the vignettes so quickly we aren't given a chance to be wrapped up in any of the personal drama. More concern is put into the show's presentation than allowing us to languish in a sense of actually being there. An ideal quality in a reality show. The regulars being documented might be interesting personally, but outside of following home a gay flight attendant who doesn't care what anyone thinks, the show is edited so heavily we never get to know them personally. Most curious, and distracting, is the inclusion of an omnipresent narrator telling us what we are seeing or about to see on the screen. If you really dig the flight service profession or your TV with a little trauma, than this is the place to be. * ½

ajkonig Having watched every episode of this series, I have to express my thanks to both Southwest Airlines and A&E for the courage to allow the world to see the real world as it applies to airline operations in the 21st Century.I have enjoyed the realism of the staff and crew of SWA in the production of this show, and, as a pilot who at one time was trying to fly with a major airline (with many friends in the industry) I have enjoyed the exploits, the conflicts, and the professionalism exhibited by the Flight Crews, Attendants, and Ground Operations Crew of SWA in the unappreciated execution of their daily duties, and also the stories of those passengers who show respect for these underpaid, overworked people who are attempting to combine safety, service and duty in this difficult age.Also, I must compliment the ability of Southwest Airlines to show criticism to not only their clientele but also to their own staff, as this is the epitome of realistic television.

M_INC_KW I must admit I HATE having to travel when it comes to flying. 99% of that hatred comes from having to deal with crowds, close connections, sitting at gates, sitting on runways, losing baggage, weather delays, crying babies, etc., etc., etc...but, this new special on A&E has really opened my eyes to the kind of crap people who work at the airline have to put up with.Now, maybe it's just Southwest Airlines, or maybe it's just the fact that they knew that they were being filmed, but, it seems that the staff really cares and goes out of their way to be accommodating.***Possible SpoilerWhether it be helping clean up a bathroom accident for a man with Alzheimer's, to getting clean clothes for a man who reeks, to having to deal with people who are going to sue over a lost bag that's worth tons of money, only to have it reappear as a duffle bag that you'd carry to the gym--I think I'd quit on the spot, but, somehow they carry on. My only complaint is that it isn't the normal hour long series that A&E normally runs, but two back to back half hour installments are OK.