A white passenger’s racist verbal attack on a Black flight attendant was caught on tape.
A statement issued by Southwest Airlines stated, “On Flight #5593 with scheduled service from Chicago Midway to Houston Hobby on Saturday morning, our reports indicate that a Customer refused to comply with our Flight Crew’s instructions after boarding and before the flight departed Chicago. The customer became unruly and verbally abusive toward our flight attendants, and the decision was made to return to the gate to deplane the Customer, where she was met by local law enforcement officers. Our employees handled the situation professionally with grace and class, and we do not condone or tolerate such profane and unruly behavior on board our aircraft. Once the customer deplaned the aircraft, the flight resumed to Houston Hobby, arriving about an hour later than originally scheduled.”
Other passengers stated that the irrational passenger became belligerent after being asked to put her tray table in the upright position. It’s not an unreasonable request but apparently the rules didn’t apply to “Privileged Patty.” Airline companies should implement a permanent ban on passengers who resort to hate speech in flight.
After the plane landed, the woman was met by law enforcement officials but no arrests were made.
