Southwest's system provokes hostility

In your article "Bracing to expand MacArthur" [News, April 9], you quoted Southwest Airlines chief executive Gary Kelly, who has apparently never flown his airline as a regular passenger without the perks of being the CEO. The airline still has the dumbest boarding system on the planet, which in my experience has caused in-line scuffles, and I'm sure its fair share of fistfights.

It starts with having to go on the Internet no more than 24 hours prior to your flight to download your boarding pass(es).

The passes are designated "A," "B" or "C." If you wait until you get to the airport to check in, you will most probably get a "C," which is the last to board the plane, and be forced to take the odd seats left over.

If you are traveling alone, that's fine, but try explaining to a 5-year-old why the family trip to Disney is starting with one (or both) of his parents or his siblings nowhere in sight. Even if you show up with boarding passes in hand, the lines system is confusing to many passengers, who then just cut into the line anywhere, then receive the seat selection intended for the passengers with lower numbers. The tone of panic created by the system of "first on board" seating when you're trying to keep a family together makes normally nice people turn hostile.

I know people who would rather travel to JFK to get an assigned seat on JetBlue than deal with the hassles of boarding Southwest.

Mark Weiner, Islip