Wed, Sep 28, 2011
Airline Says Other Passengers Complained About The Public
Display Of Affection
Actress and musician Leisha Hailey, who was one of the stars of
the television show "The L-Word" and is a lesbian, says she was
escorted from a Southwest Airlines plane when it landed in St.
Louis Monday because she was kissing her girlfriend during the
flight.
Hailey took to Twitter to demand an apology from Southwest and
call for a boycott of the airline, according to several media
reports including the online PR
Daily.
Southwest reportedly heard about the call for a boycott through
the social networking site, and had to follow the celebrity to find
out what was going on. They quickly issued the following statement
on their website:
Initial reports indicate that we
received several passenger complaints characterizing the behavior
as excessive. Our crew, responsible for the comfort of all
Customers on board, approached the passengers based solely on
behavior and not gender. The conversation escalated to a level that
was better resolved on the ground, as opposed to in flight. We
regret any circumstance where a passenger does not have a positive
experience on Southwest and we are ready to work directly with the
passengers involved to offer our heartfelt apologies for falling
short of their expectation.
It's not the first time Southwest has had PR problems because
someone was removed from one of their planes. According to the
Associated Press, Green Day frontman Billy Joe Armstrong was asked
to leave a plane earlier this month because his pants were too low,
and the flight crew said he would not pull them up. Last year, film
director Kevin Smith was removed from a flight because he could not
fit into a single seat. He, too, expressed his displeasure on
Twitter.
Meanwhile, this most recent incident is perhaps a bit more
ironic because, on its website, Southwest says it is "the official
airline of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation."
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