Southwest Airlines has some mighty savvy folks working in its public relations department. The airline has turned the tables on the TV talk-show jokes about a recent incident in which it asked a young woman to cover up her legs while on board a flight because a gate agent thought her mini-skirt was too revealing. The embarrassed passenger, Kyla Ebbert, covered her legs with a blanket, but later showed she wasn't all that shy by talking to reporters and appearing on TV to show off the offending garment.
Today, Southwest used the incident to make the most of a routine announcement of a round of fare discounting -- something the airline does weekly. CEO Gary Kelly issued an apology to Ebbert as she taped the show. A bit later, Southwest put these words in Kelly's mouth in a news release announcing the fare sale:
"Some have said we've gone from loving hot pants to having hot flashes but nothing could be further from the truth. The publicity caught us with our pants down, quite frankly. The story has such great legs, but we have an even better sense of humor, so we're going to jump out there and lower our fares to match the mini-skirts we've all been hearing so much about."
What a good way to start the weekend!
Here are links to Southwest's press release and to the overplayed, overdone CNN story on YouTube that prompted Southwest's response.
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