Airline Mocks Childs Name
- B-Man
- Jul 14, 2024
- 1 min read
In a less than recent incident at California's John Wayne Airport in 2018, a mother named Traci Radford and her daughter, Abcde, encountered an unfortunate situation while boarding a Southwest Airlines flight. Abcde, pronounced 'ab-cidy,' has epilepsy, which required them to pre-board the flight.
During the boarding process, a Southwest Airlines gate agent allegedly laughed and mocked Abcde's name. To make matters even worse, the gate agent took a photo of Abcde's boarding pass and posted it on social media, where others joined in ridiculing the little girl's name! Ouch!
Traci Radford confronted the gate agent, expressing her disappointment and requesting them to stop the mockery. Despite her efforts, the airline employee's actions continued to cause distress to Abcde and her family.
After the incident gained attention, Southwest Airlines issued an apology to the family, acknowledging the inappropriate behavior of their employee. They reassured their commitment to treating all customers with respect and ensuring proper conduct from their staff.
News article on the incident below
While Abcde's name is uncommon, it is not unique with over 328 babies given that name in the US alone.
That article brought back a funny moment from a flight I took last year. The gate agent was joking around with passengers' names, not in a mean way—just trying to lighten the mood. But it reminded me how easily things can go sideways if someone’s sensitive. When I booked that trip, I had a minor mix-up and needed to get support, breeze airways customer service actually handled it better than expected. No long holds, no cold responses—just clear info and a quick fix. Not every day you get that from an airline.