Woman Thrown off Southwest Flight for T-shirt

[Elphaba]

Posted: 10/6/05 at 3:56pm

after my flight in September on Southwest, and the horrible way they treated me and another customer, why am I not suprised?



Woman bounced from Southwest flight for T-shirt

By Susan Voyles, Reno Gazette-Journal

RENO — A Washington state woman intends to press a civil-rights case against Southwest Airlines for booting her off a flight in Reno after fellow passengers complained about a message on her T-shirt.
Lorrie Heasley, of Woodland, Wash., was halfway home on a flight Tuesday that began in Los Angeles, wearing a T-shirt with the pictures of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a phrase similar to the popular film, Meet the Fockers.

Heasley said she wore the T-shirt as a gag. She wanted her parents, who are Democrats, to see it when they picked her up at the airport in Portland, Ore.

"I just thought it was hilarious," said Heasley, 32, a lumber saleswoman.

And she felt she had the right to wear it.

"I have cousins in Iraq and other relatives going to war," she said. "Here we are trying to free another country and I have to get off an airplane in midflight over a T-shirt. That's not freedom."

Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said the T-shirt became an issue after several passengers complained. She said the airline's contract filed with the Federal Aviation Administration contains rules on passenger conduct.

Heasley said no one from Southwest said anything about the shirt when she waited two hours near the gate at Los Angeles International Airport. And neither the pilot, nor other crewmembers, said anything when she boarded the aircraft, Heasley added.

After the plane stopped in Reno at noon Tuesday, she and her husband, Ron, moved to the front of the plane. Passengers began complaining about the T-shirt as they boarded.

After several conversations with flight attendants, Heasley agreed to cover the words by cuddling up with a sweatshirt. When the sweatshirt slipped while she was trying to sleep, she was ordered to wear her T-shirt inside-out or leave. The couple chose to leave.

McInnis said the rules filed with the FAA say the airline will deny boarding to any customer whose conduct is offensive, abusive, disorderly or violent or for clothing that is "lewd, obscene, or patently offensive."

Allen Lichtenstein, lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union in Nevada, said Heasley's T-shirt is "protected" political speech under the Constitution. The real issue, he said, is that the airline allowed her to wear the shirt onboard and then objected only when people complained.

"That they changed rules in the middle of a flight simply because someone didn't like it and it might be problematic," he said.

FAA spokesman Donn Walker said no federal rules exist on the subject.

"It's up to the airlines who they want to take and by what rules," he said. "The government just doesn't get into the business of what people wear on an aircraft."

"At any point when a passenger has a complaint against another and it becomes an issue that could disrupt the flight, our attendants have the discretion to take the appropriate action," said Phil Gee, spokesman for US Airways.

Heasley said she is in touch with ACLU lawyers in Seattle. She wants Southwest to reimburse the couple for the last leg of their trip and pay for her gasoline, a $68 rental car from Avis and a $70 hotel bill.

Before leaving the plane, she said she was told the airline would reimburse her for the tickets for the last leg of the flight. After they got off the plane, they were told they'd be reimbursed only for the taxes on the tickets. McInnis said customer services officials are looking into the matter.

After fighting over the ticket prices, the couple got a hotel room in Reno, rented a car and got home Wednesday afternoon — about 24 hours after they left the plane.

"I have always flown Southwest everywhere I go," Heasley said. "I will never fly with them again. They can disrespect somebody else."

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/6/05 at 4:05pm

You can have someone kicked off a plane for not liking their fashion choices? God, people wearing socks with sandals or fannypacks better watch out the next time I fly.

Elphaba, I know exactly what you mean, I think everyone has had a bad Southwest experience.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 10/6/05 at 4:11pm

Well, in the airline's defense, the shirt didn't say, "Meet the Fockers." It said, "Meet the Fu*kers." I mean, I think it is funny, but I wouldn't wear it where children were present. I have a New York F'in City shirt I love, but I only wear it around the house, or under something when I know I can flash it only to friends.

[The8re phan]

Posted: 10/6/05 at 4:18pm

"I have cousins in Iraq and other relatives going to war," she said. "Here we are trying to free another country and I have to get off an airplane in midflight over a T-shirt. That's not freedom."

She got off an airplane in midflight??? Damn, that's one hell of a step

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/6/05 at 4:29pm

I used to watch Airline, but they started just repeating the same episodes all the time. They make it seem like the airline is always the victim whenever someone complains, then show all the heart strings tugging stories where the Southwest people are the heros. Where were these heros when I was being knocked around by drinkcarts and ignored by flight attendants?

My favorite part was that she didn't get any trouble when she boarded at LAX, but when other people boarded in Reno, Nevada and complained, suddenly it was a problem. I'm wearing my "America is Scary" t-shirt the next time I fly into a red state.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 10/6/05 at 4:33pm

for a short time in my life I was a flight attendant for National Airlines (once Pan Am bought us, I ran!)
And I never, EVER treated people like I've seen Southwest employees treat people. Fortunately Southwest is not located here, so I will not fly them again....

[Calvin]

Posted: 10/6/05 at 4:57pm

I've never used Southwest. Will Southwest throw off the nasty dude who always sits next to me, spills his drink on me, snores in my ear or tries to save my soul? If so, perhaps I should look into booking tickets with them next time I fly.

Oh, and orangeskittles: There are so many wonderfully subtle T-shirts you can use to piss of red staters when you arrive. I always like to wear a Mets jersey with Carlos Beltran's name on it when I fly to Houston to visit my parents. Really ticks them (the populus, not my parents) off, plus it makes me look really butch.

OK, slightly less femme.

Posted: 10/6/05 at 6:15pm

I flew Southwest once and didn't like it because they didn't have a closet so I could store my garment bag. I had to cram it into an overheard bin.

But on the issue, that's awful. I would've taken off the shirt and went around in my bra. (Assuming I was the woman in question.)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/6/05 at 7:07pm

You are not free to move about the country. Ding.

[Plum]

Posted: 10/6/05 at 7:13pm

Was it about the obscenity or the politics? If they're a little prudish, fine, that's their prerogative, I guess. Especially if there are kids on board. But I doubt it was about that. There's a reason I keep my "No W" gear at home.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/7/05 at 5:27pm

Southwest Airlines is to the aviation industry what The Clippers are to basketball...nobody goes unless they have to

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 10/7/05 at 7:07pm

I am sorry, but I can see not allowing her to wear the shirt, or at least asking her to cover it up. I wouldn't want my kids seeing a shirt with the F bomb emblazened on it. It wasn't about politics, it was about vulgarity.

Had it actually said, "Meet the Fockers," it would be very different.

[TheHumanTorch]

Posted: 10/7/05 at 7:20pm

but your kids don't have to look at it... these airplane seats are facing foward not towards you, it is your own personal choice to look at her shirt, just as it is her own personal choice and freedom to wear it

[Elphaba]

Posted: 10/7/05 at 8:11pm

what some of you seem to forget is the entire time in the airport, and half of the flight time, NO ONE SAID A word.......so obviously it was politics, and nothing obscene......I would have said, F U, arrest me, and sued the hell out of them.

[Magdalene]

Posted: 10/7/05 at 8:16pm

She has the right to her political opinions, and I do think the airline handled it incorrectly, but I'm not thrilled when anyone wears a shirt, hat, etc. with a vulgarity emblazoned on it. That's not freedom of expression, it's just plain bad manners.

[jgph]

Posted: 10/7/05 at 9:00pm

***Prude Alert***

[ConvinceMe2]

Posted: 10/7/05 at 9:10pm

I think it would have been funnier if they had thrown her off the plane whilst in flight!

[Calvin]

Posted: 10/7/05 at 9:17pm

By that same token, should I be kicked off a flight if I'm reading an issue of Out or Genre and the snotty bitch next to me is offended by the skantily clad men in the Absolut ads?

If they sell Penthouses in airport magazine shops, then that woman's shirt was hardly too vulgar.

[Plum]

Posted: 10/7/05 at 9:23pm

That's airport magazine shops, not necessarily the Duty Free selection of the actual airline.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 10/7/05 at 9:36pm

lildogs, I lived in San Diego when the Clippers started out....they REALLY sucked then..;...

[Auggie27]

Posted: 10/7/05 at 10:00pm

Namo nailed it.

Most of us at the 9/24 March on Washington saw that very same T-shirt at every turn; they were worn, they were hawked on Penn. Avenue. The idea that its being displayed on an airplane made travel prohibitive is ludicrous and yet another wake-up call. Amid a sea of them.

But me, I'm more worried about something that's slipping under the radar: Dobson of Save the Dysfunctional Family, or whatever core group of Bible-thumping Intelligent Design/Queers are Toxi neo-fascists he represents, has been soothed by the White House about the unknown POV and personal philosophy-dash-politics of that bland school marmish born-again SMU grad Bush is shoving on the court? Dobson has been provided more info about a justice to be than the rest of us? That's more frightening than a T-shirt.

[vbplayer]

Posted: 10/7/05 at 10:01pm

Yet, someone with a lighter may get on the plane. But 4 books of matches are ok......what the Fokkers is this world coming to? We need to sit down and think a bit, a bit more than G.W.Butch. He is swinging his manhood around for everyone to see (frightening thought). However we need the Hubble in order to see his manhood anyway....so what is the point? This is getting rediculous. What could be next? Fokkin' red states.

[Plum]

Posted: 10/7/05 at 10:09pm

Auggie, regarding Miers, read this:
Slate

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 10/8/05 at 12:50am

I am in no way a prude...lol. I am not a right-winger, and would own the shirt myself if I saw it for sale. I didn't say that she should have been escorted off the plane. She should have been allowed to remain onboard, but I can understand asking her to cover her shirt. Like I said, I have a t that has New York F**king City on it. I love wearing it to random gatherings, but I wear something over it when in transit. I wouldn't wear it in public when there might be children present. The airline could have and should have handled it differently, there is no question there. I would like to know if covering the shirt, or turning it inside out was given as an option.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 10/8/05 at 1:44am

This is insane. I shan't be flying Southwest anytime soon...