Southwest Airlines is involved a decency debate that may lead to a lawsuit.
The case involves flight attendant Kyla Ebbert, described by a KNBC-TV television station as “a blond, shapely 23-year-old San Diego coed who also works shifts at a Hooters restaurant.”
She boarded the flight to Tucson, Ariz., on a one-day round-trip visit to an Arizona doctor’s appointment. She had settled into her seat when a flight attendant confronted her about what was later described by the airline as “revealing attire.”
Ebbert’s so-called objectionable attire included a white, tight-fitting shirt, a green cropped sweater, and a white denim skirt cut high on her thighs.
Ms Ebbert said that she was told she would have to catch a later flight because she was showing too much skin and Southwest is a “family” airline.
The flight attendant, she said, suggested that she go to a gift shop to buy clothes. She offered to pull the top of her sweater tight over her breasts and her skirt down as far as possible, a compromise that was accepted.
The airline does not dispute the confrontation, but stands by its decision to “adjust” her outfit.
“Southwest Airlines was responding to a concern about Ms. Ebbert’s revealing attire on the flight that day,” the airline said in a statement. “As a compromise, we asked her to adjust her clothing to be a little less revealing. She complied and traveled as scheduled.”
Though she accepted the compromise, Ebbert said she was left embarrassed by the situation, which she said played out in front of fellow passengers — so embarrassed she requested a blanket to cover herself for the flight.
Report by David Wilkening
