Southwest Airlines kicks passenger off due to gripe on Twitter
Posted by: Jon Ben-Mayor on 07/24/2014 07:23 AM
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A man and his two kids were removed from a Southwest Airlines flight in Denver, CO., after a dispute with a gate employee angered the father, so he took to express his displeasure he took to Twitter - Southwest responded and took him off the plane. #bequietandtakeit
Watson said he was told this was because they had different boarding priorities, though this is something that hadn't been a problem in the past. He says the agent "rudely and dismissively" told him he couldn't do that because it was against policy and they would all have to wait.
"I said, 'is this a new policy? I'm not clear,'" said Watson. He says the gate agent replied, "No, that's the policy and we can stand here and argue about it all day, but I'm not going to change my mind."
When he and his kids were onboard he Tweeted - all in caps: RUDEST AGENT IN DENVER. KIMBERLY S. GATE C39. NOT HAPPY @SWA."
Not long after that there was an announcement over the PA system that all three needed to exit the plane.
As they were exiting the plane, according to Watson, the same gate agent told him that she "owns the boarding process for the plane and feels threatened because he used her name on social media, and that unless he deleted his post, she was calling the cops and the family would not be allowed back on the plane."
Ultimately, they were allowed back on the flight, but only after Watson deleted his Tweet.
Southwest acknowledges the incident and gave the following statement:
On Sunday, July 20, a Southwest Airlines Employee and Customer were having a conversation that escalated about the airline's family boarding procedures. The Customer was briefly removed from flight #2347 from Denver to Minneapolis/St. Paul to resolve the conversation outside of the aircraft and away from the other Passengers. Our decision was not based solely on a Customer's tweet. Following a successful resolution, the Customer and his family were able to continue on the flight to Minneapolis. We are thoroughly investigating the situation. We have reached out to the Customer and offered vouchers as a gesture of goodwill.
Watson said he was told this was because they had different boarding priorities, though this is something that hadn't been a problem in the past. He says the agent "rudely and dismissively" told him he couldn't do that because it was against policy and they would all have to wait.
"I said, 'is this a new policy? I'm not clear,'" said Watson. He says the gate agent replied, "No, that's the policy and we can stand here and argue about it all day, but I'm not going to change my mind."
When he and his kids were onboard he Tweeted - all in caps: RUDEST AGENT IN DENVER. KIMBERLY S. GATE C39. NOT HAPPY @SWA."
Not long after that there was an announcement over the PA system that all three needed to exit the plane.
As they were exiting the plane, according to Watson, the same gate agent told him that she "owns the boarding process for the plane and feels threatened because he used her name on social media, and that unless he deleted his post, she was calling the cops and the family would not be allowed back on the plane."
Ultimately, they were allowed back on the flight, but only after Watson deleted his Tweet.
Southwest acknowledges the incident and gave the following statement:
On Sunday, July 20, a Southwest Airlines Employee and Customer were having a conversation that escalated about the airline's family boarding procedures. The Customer was briefly removed from flight #2347 from Denver to Minneapolis/St. Paul to resolve the conversation outside of the aircraft and away from the other Passengers. Our decision was not based solely on a Customer's tweet. Following a successful resolution, the Customer and his family were able to continue on the flight to Minneapolis. We are thoroughly investigating the situation. We have reached out to the Customer and offered vouchers as a gesture of goodwill.
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