US airline Southwest apologises after staff mock 5yo named 'Abcde'

  • 30/11/2018

US airline Southwest has apologised after staff members mocked a five-year-old girl named 'Abcde'.

Mother Traci Redford told news network ABC7 the incident took place while she was waiting at the gate for a flight from California to Texas.

Her daughter, whose name is pronounced "Ab-si-dee", could hear them clearly.

"The gate agent started laughing, pointing at me and my daughter, talking to other employees," said Ms Redford. "So I turned around and said, 'Hey if I can hear you, my daughter can hear you, so I'd appreciate if you'd just stop."

But it wasn't enough to stop the woman from taking a photo of Abcde's boarding pass and posting it on social media for further mocking.

Southwest told ABC7 it expected more from its employees. 

"The post is not indicative of the care, respect, and civility we expect from all of our employees," it said.

"We have followed up with the employee involved, and while we do not disclose personnel actions publicly, we are using this as an opportunity to reinforce our policies and emphasise our expectations for all employees."

Ms Redford says she used the experience to teach her daughter that not everyone is nice.

Newshub.