Is there such a thing as too gorgeous to fly? That’s the strange but true claim of two 18-year-olds from Oldsmar, Fla., who were escorted off a Southwest Airlines flight in Los Angeles recently. I’m not making this up. You can read the full story here and watch it here.
Nisreen Swedberg and friend Sarah Williams say the Southwest flight crew was rude to them “from the moment they stepped onto the plane” at Tampa International Airport.
Swedberg said she asked a flight attendant for a bottle of water and was told she could wait until the rest of the flight was served.
“And I patiently waited and then when they came around with water, they skipped me,” Swedberg said.
At one point, Williams had to use the plane’s bathroom. She saw another passenger in it, and when he hadn’t come out 15 minutes later, she knocked on the door.
When he came out, Williams says the man came over to her seat and yelled a profanity at her. Williams admits she yelled a profanity back at him but was puzzled when she says the flight crew only questioned her.
The girls suggest the Southwest flight attendants were jealous of their youthful good looks.
“I think they were just discriminating against because we were young decent-looking girls. I mean, nobody else on the plane looked like us except us,” she said. “[The flight attendants] were like older ladies. We were younger. Who knows, they could have been just jealous of us because we were younger.”
The girls say they’ve been banned from all future Southwest Airlines flights, including their scheduled flight home to Tampa. The TV station that reported this story suggests it’s “prejudice against the pretty.”
Considering Southwest’s prudish past behavior, that’s not entirely implausible. But I’ll let you watch the story and decide for yourself.
Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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