‘You’re Not On This Flight!’ Southwest Agent Boots Wheelchair Passenger After Heated Clash Over ‘Jackass’ Remark – View from the Wing

A video is being shared on a number of online forums showing a woman being removed off of a Southwest Airlines flight after an outburst ‘disrespecting’ a gate agent. Most commenters seem to stand with the agent, finding the passenger rude and wishing that airlines upheld standards for civility.

The passenger is in a wheelchair and preboarding. She is being taken onboard by a contractor. The agent scans her boarding pass, he begins to push her onto the jetbridge, and then the agent calls them back. The woman apparently called the agent a “jackass” after he scanned her boarding pass. This was the tipping point that led him to remove her from the flight.

• The agent explains she’s being denied boarding for calling him an “idiot”
• She denies it
• He concedes that, in fact, she hadn’t said idiot: “Ok, fine, it was jackass”

Lady gets kicked off flight for being rude to the boarding agent
byu/I_may_have_weed inPublicFreakout

Now, we need more gate agents paying attention to passengers as they board – stopping people who are drunk or under the influence of this-or-that substance. They could be a danger to other passengers or to the aircraft.

Unfortunately, with airlines cutting back on staff, too often there’s only one gate agent working a flight. With all of their duties to see it off on time, from dealing with standbys to answering questions, to boarding passengers and enforcing carry-on rules there’s often not enough time for this.

We don’t know what precipitated this exchange between agent and passenger. Apparently they’d interacted earlier, with his inquiring whether this was her flight. Not having the full context, I won’t judge whether his reaction to a personal incident takes things too far.

The internet does have an opinion. The passenger is called “the Leon Lett of Karens” referring to the former NFL player known for a notable blunder during a game. His line “You’re not on this flight” is especially appreciated.

I’m not 100% certain the airport where this occurred, but it looks to me like Las Vegas? I’m not overly familiar with the Southwest gates there but that’s my bet.