Racial Slur Delays Southwest Flight

A Southwest Airlines passenger was removed from her Houston-bound flight after a racist tirade in which she is alleged to have repeatedly referred to a member of the cabin crew as a “stupid [offensive racial slur].” The disruptive passenger’s hate-filled rant was reportedly motivated by a cabin crew member’s request that she stow her tray-table for takeoff.

There are plenty of unavoidable inconveniences associated with modern air travel, but on Saturday, Southwest Airlines made it clear that dealing with a fellow passenger’s open bigotry isn’t something customers or employees need to put up with at any point along the journey. One seething flyer on a flight preparing to depart Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) for William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) learned this lesson the hard way when her plane returned to the gate before leaving her behind.

Cellphone footage of a portion of the hard-to-watch exchange between airline employees and the angry passenger was obtained by Houston ABC affiliate KTRK. The short video shows the unidentified passenger promise that she was “not going to say a word,” before begging an airline employee to allow her to remain on board. Her pleas for leniency were soon replaced by raw rage. During the clip, the woman can be heard apparently calling one of the flight attendants a “stupid [offensive racial slur]” on at least two occasions.

The use of the N-word drew an audible reaction from passengers off camera. As the woman was later escorted from the plane, she is bid farewell with a spattering of mocking applause from the delayed flyers who remained on the flight.

According to eyewitnesses, the pre-flight unpleasantness kicked off when the unkind passenger became incensed after a flight attendant simply directed her to stow her tray-table in the upright and locked position in preparation for takeoff. The FAA-mandated pre-takeoff admonishment reportedly resulted in both physical objects and racial epithets being hurled at the crew member. The captain soon made the decision to return to the gate before heading to the Lone Star State with one fewer passenger on board.

“On Flight #5593 with scheduled service from Chicago Midway to Houston Hobby on Saturday morning, our reports indicate that a customer refused to comply with our flight crew’s instructions after boarding and before the flight departed Chicago,” the airline told ABC News in a statement. “The customer became unruly and verbally abusive toward our flight attendants, and the decision was made to return to the gate to deplane the Customer, where she was met by local law enforcement officers. Our employees handled the situation professionally with grace and class, and we do not condone or tolerate such profane and unruly behavior on board our aircraft. Once the customer deplaned the aircraft, the flight resumed to Houston Hobby, arriving about an hour later than originally scheduled.”

In the end, the unnamed passenger was kicked off her flight, shamed by fellow flyers and vilified on social media because of her vulgar behavior, but according to local media reports, she was not arrested after allegedly disrupting the flight.

[Photo: Shutterstock]