Southwest apologizes after mom says worker mocked 5-year-old daughter named Abcde
Traci Redford’s 5-year-old daughter pronounces her name “AHB-si-dee,” but when it’s spelled out on paper, like on a boarding pass, it looks a little more unusual.
It’s spelled, “Abcde,” she told KABC, and that’s the reason she says her daughter was mocked by a gate attendant processing the mother and daughter’s boarding passes before a flight from Orange County’s John Wayne Airport earlier this month.
Traci and Abcde were going through the pre-boarding process, as they do every time they travel, because Abcde has epilepsy, the station reported. They were headed home, to El Paso, Texas, on Nov. 2 when Traci says she heard the snickering.
Traci Redford says that she overheard gate workers making fun of Abcde’s name after handing one of them their boarding passes.
“The gate agents started mocking my child’s name,” Redford told KABC. “Laughing, pointing at me and my daughter, talking to other employees.
“I just turned around and said, “I can hear you, and if I can hear you, my daughter can, too, so I’d appreciate it id you’d just stop.’”
Another passenger tipped Traci off that one of the gate attendants had posted am image of Abcde’s boarding pass on social media, according to ABC News.
Southwest Airlines released the following “sincere apology to the family,” CNN reported:
“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. 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.”
The name Abcde is uncommon but not unheard of — 328 baby girls had been given the name Abcde in the three decades prior to 2014, according to Vocativ, which called the name Abcde “primarily a Hawaiian phenomenon” but also noted that the name might also be “relatively common within New Mexico and among Latino families.”
Nicknames for children named Abcde include Ce-Ce, Sidy, Abby, Xyzzie, Aebi and Seedy, according to BabyNameWizard.com.
