A furious mother has accused an airline of mocking her five-year-old daughter for her name which is Abcde.
Traci Redford claimed a gate attendant at John Wayne Airport in California laughed and took a picture of Abcde’s boarding pass.
The employee even posted the picture on social media, Ms Redford told news channel ABC7.
“The gate agent started mocking my child’s name,” Ms Redford said, “pointing and laughing at me and my daughter and talking to other employees.
“So I turned around and just said: 'Hey, if I can hear you, my daughter can too – I’d appreciate if you'd just stop.’”
Abcde’s name is pronounced “Ab-city”.
Southwest Airlines told the channel in a statement that the rogue staff member had broken its “golden rule” of customer respect.
It said: “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 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."
