Southwest Airlines Feels the Wrath of Twitter (And Kevin Smith)

Within 48 hours of reporting that he was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight because a flight attendant deemed him too fat for his seat, director Kevin Smith's Twitter tsunami of anger hit many media outlets around the country. And Southwest, from its first public and snotty pseudo-apology, only seemed to get it wrong. So they had to apologize twice.
Perhaps it has to do with the fact that Smith came to fame by making films about outsiders -- lovable slackers and other misfits, trying to find love or some other kind of validation -- so many of his fans and followers were willing to side with him over a corporate entity. Add to that the controversy was about the subjective (and embarrassing, but always fascinating) topic of weight, and the entire incident was made for mainstream media.

"Wanna tell me I'm too wide for sky? Totally cool. But fair warning: IF YOU LOOK LIKE ME, YOU MAY BE EJECTED FROM @SOUTHWESTAIR," he tweeted (some words, spelling and punctuation have been changed for clarity.) "Why wait until my bag is up and I'm seated WITH ARM RESTS DOWN. In front of a packed plane with a bunch of folks who'd already ID'd me as Silent Bob? -- I broke no regulation, offered no 'safety risk.'" (In a more touching admission, Smith said he asked the flight crew, "Please don't do this.")

Smith, who also played the character Silent Bob in his films, continued the Twitter rage for a couple of days until today when he declared himself finished -- possibly after a Good Morning America crew showed up on his doorstep -- but not before cursing and calling Southwest liars and "anti-fat."

Southwest's first public apology on its blog reeked of lawyers and its tone was far from apologetic, starting from its title, "Not So Silent Bob," to asking him/the public to check out their Customer of Size policy which was then reiterated for all to see. If the goal was to stir up sympathy for Southwest, they missed the target.

"Our pilots are responsible for the Safety and comfort of all Customers on the aircraft and therefore, made the determination that Mr. Smith needed more than one seat to complete his flight. Our Employees explained why the decision was made, accommodated Mr. Smith on a later flight, and issued him a $100 Southwest travel voucher for his inconvenience," wrote Christi Day on Nuts About Southwest.
Smith acknowledged in his blog that someone named Linda contacted him at his home from Southwest and gave a sincere apology, but he asked Southwest Airlines to admit that he was not too fat to fly. He wasn't going to get that admission.

Linda Rutherford's second apology, also on Nuts About Southwest, was much different in tone. She wrote of the conversation:

I told him we made a mistake in trying to board him as a standby passenger and then remove him. And I told him we were sorry.

Now, 48 hours later, after talking to many involved, we know there were several things going on that day and that our Employees were doing their best to get his flight out safely and on time, including finding seats for everyone and trying to accommodate standby passengers. The Captain did not single Kevin out to be removed, but he did ask that the boarding be completed quickly. At that time, our Employees made the decision to remove Kevin after a quick judgment call that he might have needed more than one seat for his comfort and those seated next to him.

Southwest's flight crew were likely brusque with Smith because they wanted him out quickly, perhaps saying everything from rote memory -- but they kind of forgot a little humanity along the way. They likely didn't know that Smith was a well-known director -- a celebrity who often shows up on late-night talk shows -- and so they didn't think their actions would be held under a microscope. They were wrong.

In some ways, this may help improve customer service at Southwest. Perhaps now, flight crews will think twice before being insulting or unnecessarily cruel to passengers. Too bad it takes coverage by TMZ to get a decent apology.

Photo of Kevin Smith courtesy of Kevin Smith via Twitpic