A mother has hit out at an airline she claims ‘name-shamed’ her for calling her young daughter Abcde.

Traci Redford says a Southwest Airlines gate agent at John Wayne International Airport in Orange County, Florida guffawed on reading five year-old Abcde’s boarding pass earlier this month.

Redford, whose daughter’s name is pronounced ‘Ab-city’, told KABC: ‘The gate agent started laughing, pointing at me and my daughter, talking to other employees.

Traci Redford and daughter Abcde, whose name was mocked by a Southwest Airlines gate agent ahead of a flight earlier this month (Picture: KABC)

The gate agent shared a snap of Abcde’s boarding pass online (Picture: KABC)

‘So I turned around and said, “Hey if I can hear you, my daughter can hear you, so I’d appreciate if you’d just stop.”


‘While I was sitting there, she took a picture of my boarding pass and chose to post it on social media, mocking my daughter.

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‘It was actually brought to my attention by somebody who had seen it on Facebook and reported it to Southwest Airlines.



‘And after two weeks of doing a formal complaint, Southwest hadn’t done anything.’

The incident happened ahead of a Southwest Airlines flight from John Wayne Airport in Orange County to El Paso in Texas (Picture: KABC)

Redford, who was flying home to El Paso in Texas when the incident happened said she was trying to use it as a learning experience for her daughter.

She explained: ‘(Abcde) said “Mom, why is she laughing at my name?” And I said not everyone is nice and not everyone is going to be nice and it’s unfortunate.’

Southwest Airlines apologized to the Redfords, and said it had taken action against the gate agent.

A spokesman said: ‘We extend our sincere apology to the family.

‘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.

‘The post is not indicative of the care, respect, and civility we expect from all of our Employees.

‘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.’