Once Again, Southwest Sings A Familiar Refrain... | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-09.15.25

AirborneNextGen-
09.09.25

Airborne-Unlimited-09.10.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-09.11.25

AirborneUnlimited-09.12.25

Sat, Oct 06, 2007

Once Again, Southwest Sings A Familiar Refrain...

'Change Your Outfit Or Get Off The Plane!'

Not this again. Yet another Southwest Airlines passenger is not a happy customer, after being asked to change their outfit, or get off the plane. The incident is the second time in recent months the airline has been in the news for an employee enforcing a dress code... which airline officials maintain it does not have.

As ANN reported, the airline apologized this summer to 23-year old Hooters waitress Kayla Ebbert, after she was booted from her flight from San Diego for wearing a denim miniskirt and a sweater over a low-cut tank top. Another young woman -- Setara Qassim -- came forward shortly after Ebbert took her story public, saying she was also approached by an employee as she was flying to Burbank last June.

Ebbert told her story on national television on the "Dr. Phil" show. Southwest Chief Executive Gary Kelly read her a written apology on the show... and later attempted to make light of the situation, with a "Mini Fares Sale."

This time around, the alleged victim was a man. The Associated Press reports Joe Winiecki, of Largo, FL boarded a flight in Columbus, OH, headed for home wearing an ostensibly fishing-themed t-shirt... emblazoned with the words "Master Baiter."

That's when things turned sour for the Florida resident. Winiecki says he was already in his seat when an airline employee told him he had to change his T-shirt, turn it inside out, or get off the plane.

Winiecki protested and told the employee it was an infringement on his right to free speech... but changed his shirt anyway fearing he would miss his flight and a day's work.

Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz says the employee made a mistake because the airline does not have a dress code and the airline will apologize to Winiecki.

After the Ebbert incident, Southwest President Colleen Barrett sent employees a generally worded e-mail reminding them that the airline has no dress code. However, Southwest, like other airlines, does have 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."

Mainz says the airline has discussed giving employees more specific examples of what is considered lewd or offensive.

FMI: www.southwest.com

Advertisement

More News

Classic Aero-TV: UAvionix - Transitioning Between Manned & Unmanned Technologies

From 2017 (YouTube Edition): ADS-B For Airplanes And Drones… ADS-B technology developed by uAvionix has come full circle. The company began with a device developed for manne>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (09.14.25): Dead Reckoning

Dead Reckoning Dead reckoning, as applied to flying, is the navigation of an airplane solely by means of computations based on airspeed, course, heading, wind direction, and speed,>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (09.14.25)

"The next great technological revolution in aviation is here. The United States will lead the way, and doing so will cement America’s status as a global leader in transportat>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (09.14.25)

Aero Linx: The Mooney Mite Site Dedicated to the Mooney M-18 Mite, "The Most Personal Airplane," and to supporting Mite owners everywhere. The Mooney M-18 Mite is a single-place, l>[...]

Airborne-NextGen 09.09.25: Textron Nixes ePlane, Joby L/D Flt, Swift Approval

Also: Space Command Moves, Alpine Eagle, Duffy Names Amit Kshatriya, Sikorsky-CAL FIRE Collab Textron eAviation is putting the development of its Nexus electric vertical takeoff an>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC