Southwest Airlines Apologizes After Child's Name Mocked

EL PASO, TX -- Southwest Airlines has issued an apology to an El Paso woman and her daughter after a gate agent mocked the 5-year-old's name Abcde (pronounced Ab-city). Traci Redford and Abcde, who suffers from epilepsy, were travelling home to El Paso from John Wayne Airport in California a few weeks ago when she saw a Southwest Airlines employee take a photo of her boarding pass to post it on social media, Redford said, according to ABC13.

" It was actually brought to my attention by somebody who had seen it on Facebook and reported it to Southwest Airlines. And after two weeks of doing a formal complaint, Southwest hadn't done anything," Redford added.

Southwest Airline was contacted after someone saw the Facebook post by the gate agent. The company, which is based in Dallas released the following statement Thursday.

"We extend our sincere apology to the family. We take great pride in extending our Southwest Hospitality to all of our Customers, which includes living by the Golden Rule and treating every individual with respect, in person or online," the statement read. "The [social media] post is not indicative of the care, respect, and civility we expect from all of our Employees. 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 emphasize our expectations for all Employees."

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