A MAN AND his family were kicked off a plane after he angrily tweeted about a ‘rude’ check-in attendant.
Duff Watson was about to board a Southwest Airlines flight from Washington to Denver when a check-in attendant refused to allow him to take his two young children in the priority boarding queue, a perk he receives as an ‘A-list member’.
Watson told ABC news they had always been allowed in the past:
I am not trying to game the system. I’m not going to leave my kids alone to board. That doesn’t make sense.
When Watson asked if it was a new policy, he claims he was simply told that the attendant wouldn’t change her mind.
I thought she was very rude and wanted to complain to customer service, so I asked her, ‘Can I get your last name?’ She told me, You don’t need my last name for anything. I told her, ‘Real nice way to treat an A-list member’.
Once on board, Watson said he tweeted ‘something like’, “Wow, rudest agent in Denver. Kimberly S, gate C39, not happy @SWA”.
Soon after, his name was called over the system requesting he disembark the plane immediately. The agent said he was a ‘safety threat’ and the police would be called if the tweet wasn’t deleted.
I was shocked. There was no use of profanity, there were no threats made. How was I a safety threat?
Once the tweet was deleted, a shook Watson and his kids were allowed back on.
Southwest Airlines confirmed to CBS Minnesota that a customer was removed for a short time and the incident is ‘under review’.
Watson has vowed not to fly with the airline again, despite being offered a $50 voucher for the inconvenience.
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