TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
Southwest To Passenger: Lose T-Shirt Or Leave
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Published: October 5, 2007
TAMPA - Southwest Airlines on Friday was trying to contact a Largo passenger to apologize after an employee forced him to change out of a sexually suggestive T-shirt or risk getting thrown off the plane.
The incident Sunday in Columbus, Ohio, came after Southwest Airlines created a public uproar by telling a woman on a flight in July that her outfit was too revealing for her to fly.
Joe Winiecki, 39, a radiographer at Bayfront Medical Center, said he was sitting in the last row of a Columbus-to-Tampa flight when an employee told him he had to change his T-shirt, turn it inside out or get off the plane.
The shirt, bought in the Virgin Islands, uses sexual double entendre to promote a fictional fishing tackle shop. The largest lettering reads "Master Baiter."
Winiecki argued that the airline was violating his right to free speech but changed rather than risk getting kicked off the flight and missing a day of work.
"It's really disappointing in this country when I can't travel from Ohio to Florida with the clothes on my back," Winiecki said. "Who's to say what's offensive and what's not?"
Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said Friday the employee made a mistake because the Dallas-based airline does not have a dress code.
Mainz said the airline has been trying to get in touch with Winiecki to apologize since Thursday, when it left a message for him on his phone. It continued to call him on Friday but had not made contact with him as of early Friday afternoon.
"We're trying to reach out to Joe to apologize to him for the situation he encountered,'' Mainz said. "It's one of those things when employees make judgment calls, and sometimes we make mistakes. So when that happens, we definitely learn from it, and we want to reach out to the customer and make it right.''
The issue of in-flight attire moved into the national spotlight when San Diego college student Kyla Ebbert showed up for a Southwest flight in July wearing a denim miniskirt and a summer sweater over a tank top.
An employee objected and asked her to change or leave the plane and get new clothes. Ebbert was allowed to fly after agreeing to alter her outfit. The airline later apologized, offered Ebbert free tickets and tried to make light of the mix-up in humorous advertising. Ebbert declined the tickets.
After the Ebbert encounter, Southwest President Colleen Barrett sent employees a generally worded e-mail reminding them that the airline has no dress code, Mainz said. Southwest has more than 33,000 employees in 64 cities and serves nearly 100 million customers a year, Mainz said.
Southwest, like other airlines, has language in its contract of carriage it reserves the right to deny service to customers who are abusive or threatening, or whose clothing is "lewd, obscene or patently offensive."
Airline officials have discussed giving employees more specific examples of offensive and allowable dress, Mainz said.
Tribune Reporter Carlos Moncada contributed to this report.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( denmar ) on October 5, 2007 at 3:41 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I fly SW all the time, and I can't believe they would be so petty. The guy sat in the very back of the plane, which means in order for someone to see his shirt, they would have to completely turn around in their seat! Unless they are visiting the restroom or are extremely nosy, who does that? Lighten up, SW!
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Posted by ( reptaddict ) on October 5, 2007 at 4:08 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I wonder how many young middle eastern men boarded the plane while they were worrying about the shirt.
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Posted by ( RR ) on October 5, 2007 at 4:11 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I have had the same type of incident with an employer, I have a necklace thats reads SEXY B--ch and was told not to wear it to work because it offended other people. My problem with this is it says nothing about anyone but me so how can this offend other people??? My thoughts are that this FREE country we live in is not so FREE anymore!!!
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Posted by ( gina1108 ) on October 5, 2007 at 4:19 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
People are going to be testing SW Airlines now, seeing what they can get away with as far as clothes/accessories go. Not that this guy was doing that, but it's going to happen.
I think the worker was trying to do something good, but ended up hurting SW instead.
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Posted by ( Stcroix ) on October 5, 2007 at 4:30 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
SW pay more attention to the things that really need it. DONKEYS... you get what you pay.
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Posted by ( Charlie ) on October 5, 2007 at 4:50 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
If you're going to fly, you should wear something that looks good on tv, so that when they interview you after the crash your friends will be jealous.
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Posted by ( tmpas53 ) on October 5, 2007 at 7:55 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I do think that SWA overreacted in this case. The shirt was a little off colored but..SO? Who cares? It's funny. If you don't like it, don't read it.
But Roberta R., this was your work place you're talking about. At work, things are different. You can be fired for using profanity. You can get fired for wearing it. I don't think its something bad to wear out of work. But it isn't appropriate there.
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Posted by ( gina1108 ) on October 5, 2007 at 10:02 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
They do have the right to tell people what to/not to wear BUT they would need to make that clear when purchasing a ticket. People also have a right to fly w/another airline.
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Posted by ( newsflash ) on October 5, 2007 at 10:21 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Roberta R. Are you serious? You wear a necklace like that to work? I mean if you work in a bar as a stripper it may be o.k., but I cannot believe someone would wear something tasteless like that in public, let alone to work? Show some class! This is tacky!!
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Posted by ( Joker ) on October 5, 2007 at 11:26 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
If Southwest had not made the passenger change his shirt, they would be facing a lawsuit by some idiot who was offended by it. Remember the two black women who tried to sue Southwest because a flight attendant said, "Eeny meeny miny mo, Please sit down it's time to go"? If we want to keep what few freedoms we have left, we need to stop these frivolous lawsuits.
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Posted by ( MikeinSarasota ) on October 6, 2007 at 4:21 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Good For South West! It's about time someone fights for basic decency in this world. Exercise your "free speech" in a place were I have a right not to hear it or see it - or young kids for that matter. Im not interested in YOUR rights anymore, Im interested in MINE. Keep your suggestive clothing, your foul mouth, and cell conversations TO YOURSELF!
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