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More Great Press for SWA

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On Your Six

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 8, 2004
Posts
4,507
I hope SWA has a great PR firm -this seems to be a recurring theme. I thought SWA stews from the past used to wear super-short skirts, etc. - right? Are SWA employees given any sort of real training????? Read below:


Southwest Airlines makes Florida man change T-shirt or else

Updated: 18 minutes ago

TAMPA, Fla. - Southwest Airlines said it will apologize to passenger who was told he would be removed from a flight if he didn't change clothes, the second time in recent months the budget carrier has been forced to do so.
Joe Winiecki, of Largo, Fla., boarded a Southwest flight in Columbus, Ohio, wearing a fictional fishing shop T-shirt which featured the words, "Master Baiter."
Winiecki, who was traveling home, said he was in his seat when an when an employee told him he had to change his T-shirt, turn it inside out, or get off the plane.
Winiecki protested that the airline was infringing on his right to free speech, but changed his shirt fearing he would miss the flight and a day's work.
Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said Friday the employee made a mistake because the Dallas-based airline does not have a dress code.
The airline apologized this summer after a college student wearing a denim miniskirt and a sweater over a tank top was told to change her outfit or get off a flight departing from San Diego.
Kyla Ebbert, who was 23, told the story on "The Dr. Phil Show." She was read a printed apology from Southwest Chief Executive Gary Kelly on the show.
Ebbert was allowed to fly after agreeing to alter her outfit. The airline offered Ebbert free tickets and tried to make light of the mix-up in humorous advertising.
Ebbert declined the tickets.
After the Ebbert encounter, Southwest President Colleen Barrett sent employees a generally worded e-mail reminding them that the airline has no dress code, Mainz said.
Southwest, like other airlines, has language in its contract of carriage that states it reserves the right to deny service to customers whose clothing is "lewd, obscene or patently offensive."
Airline officials have discussed giving employees more specific examples of what is considered lewd or offensive, Mainz said.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 
He has just as much right to free speech as the airline has the right to refuse service to anyone.

Why Southwest continues to apologize to these people instead of sticking up for itself, I have no idea.

Oh wait, yes I do. Colleen.
 
Ever since the mini-skirt day, people have been trying to press the issue and make themselves into a headline. Some people thrive on pushing the envelope to get recognition.

Just another day at the office.
 
When you fly people for peanuts, you are bound to get passengers like these on a routine basis. Not suggesting that wealthy people don't act this way or wear potentially offensive clothes like this guy, but you are going to have more people from a wider demographic base flying on your airplanes. One person's sense of class may be vastly different from another's sense of class based on cultural or geographic background.

It reminds me of a ValuJet pilot I spoke with years ago (1995 if I recall) who complained about passengers on his low-cost airline - he said, "we fly scum because we are so cheap." With fares this cheap, don't expect everyone to know what "classy" or "appropriate attire" means.

The ironic thing is that SWA used to have stews who completely lowered the bar in terms of so-called appropriate attire (even though I wasn't complaining at the time about those hot pants, etc.). That said, that attire was considered appropriate for Texas at that time.
 
The right to free speech ends where the public domain ends. In private businesses, homes, churches, internet message boards and such the owner has the right to limit speech or expression. The constitution only prohibits the government from limiting the freedom of speech in the public arena.
 
The right to free speech ends where the public domain ends....The constitution only prohibits the government from limiting the freedom of speech in the public arena.


EXACTLY! Someone finally gets it.

Anyone or any business can discriminate against anyone person(s) provided they are not discriminating against the 'protected class' status.

Idiots wearing what someone may consider offensive is NOT a protected class.

Take note idiots.
 
More details on the shirt

Our local paper here had a picture of the shirt-- a picture of a fisherman that said "Captain Jack Hoff-- Master Baiter Tackle and Reel Repair... Let the professional staff at Jack's get you lubed up and master baited today! It's all done by hand." I think that the employee had every right to ask him to change shirts...
 
He has just as much right to free speech as the airline has the right to refuse service to anyone.

Why Southwest continues to apologize to these people instead of sticking up for itself, I have no idea.

Oh wait, yes I do. Colleen.

Amen! I keep wondering the same thing.
 
oh please, it's a just t-shirt. What's the big deal. Go to cafepress.com and see the hundreds of t-shirts out there that will offend anything and everyone. This is Southwest Airlines, and I work for them, and we need to get off our high horse - we fly white trash and that's that - let freedom sound!

I think many of our Flight Attendants should be at Delta or United where they belong!
 
Is it a right?

It may be just a tee shirt. However there is no constitutional right to fly on SWA. If he doesn't like the way the company wants him to dress he can go fly on someone else.

I do not know why Americans seem to think it is their "right" to do whatever the hell they want, and that any company they do business with has to accept it. When a restaurant says no shirt no service, do people sue?

Maybe he should have been allowed to fly with the shirt on, but this is not news. If he doesn't like it, he has to deal with the consequences. I bet there are a lot of Americans that see this story and are glad someone is upholding standards of public decency.
 
Constitution? It's an airplane ride for God's sake! When you are wearing a shirt with the name "master baiter" on it you KNOW you're pushing the envelope.

Colleen needs to grow a pair.

Gup
 
The right to free speech ends where the public domain ends. In private businesses, homes, churches, internet message boards and such the owner has the right to limit speech or expression. The constitution only prohibits the government from limiting the freedom of speech in the public arena.


Quoted just because it needs to be said again...
 
we need to look at ourselves first. The stickers that pilots have on their flight bags are distasteful to say the least.
 
Constitution? It's an airplane ride for God's sake! When you are wearing a shirt with the name "master baiter" on it you KNOW you're pushing the envelope.

Colleen needs to grow a pair.

Gup

I know you guys love to bash on Colleen and all, and sometimes her decisions leave me scratching my head, but you might want to get your facts straight on this one. Based on all the evidence, it wasn't Colleen who was for giving any apology. Maybe y'all missed the speech she gave at a college where she said she wasn't going to apologize to the Hooters girl, because she believed the employee did the right thing and she wasn't going to question the employee's judgment?

Whatever caused SWA to ultimately issue the half-assed apology...I doubt it was based on her own personal preference.
 
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I know you guys love to bash on Colleen and all, and sometimes her decisions leave me scratching my head, but you might want to get your facts straight on this one. Based on all the evidence, it wasn't Colleen who was for giving any apology. Maybe y'all missed the speech she gave at a college where she said she wasn't going to apologize to the Hooters girl, because she believed the employee did the right thing and she wasn't going to question the employee's judgment?

Whatever caused SWA to ultimately issue the half-assed apology...I doubt it was based on her own personal preference.

She cannot afford not to back anymore employees after selling out the flight attendants who rightfully booted the disrespectful, cursing, obnoxious (middle eastern) Pepperdine professor. And then wrote her a check for $27 million.

You must be new.
 
My guess...

I suspect anyone who stands up for this x and r-rated crap on an airplane doesn't have kids. WS
 
Constitution? It's an airplane ride for God's sake! When you are wearing a shirt with the name "master baiter" on it you KNOW you're pushing the envelope.

Colleen needs to grow a pair.

Gup



No. The old Vermont hippie should call it quits
Face it. Gary Kelly is the one calling the shots. She's
nothing more than a figurehead, a throughback to the days when SW was a 3 plane intra-Texas airline. She should quit while she's ahead.

PHXFLYR:cool:
 
Or, teach the FA's to check their sensativities at the door and let stoopid people be stoopid people. We just got a memo saying, "Leave the pax alone."
However, I would not like my kid to ask me about his shirt.
 
I think it's BS,

Southwest should stop stabbing its folks in the back. They empower Flight Attendants and gate agents to make decisions like these past two incidents. Then when they complain, management folds like a house of cards and gives in to these losers
 
She cannot afford not to back anymore employees after selling out the flight attendants who rightfully booted the disrespectful, cursing, obnoxious (middle eastern) Pepperdine professor. And then wrote her a check for $27 million.

Actually...no check was ever written....that decision is going through the appeals process.
 
Actually...no check was ever written....that decision is going through the appeals process.

Well I hope that A-rab biotch never sees a red cent. But the damage CB did to FA morale by selling them down the river with that letter was worth much more that $27Mil.
 

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