Father and Two Kids Get Kicked Off Southwest Airlines Flight After Twitter Rant

Airline said that they are investigating the situation

By Lily Harrison Jul 24, 2014 7:18 PMTags
Duff Watson, SouthwestCBS

Duff Watson had an unexpected change of plans after he and his two children were asked to leave a flight over the weekend.

The Twin Cities native was asked to exit the aircraft Sunday night after he criticized one of the airline's employees on Twitter.

Watson, who is able to board as an "A-list" passenger, was entitled to priority boarding while his 9-year-old and 6-year-old were told that they had to wait until their assigned zones were able to check in.

Watson took his frustrations out on his social media platform, which seemed to have clear consequences.

Watson told WCCO in Minneapolis that he wrote "something to the effect of, 'Wow, rudest agent in Denver. Kimberly S, gate C39, not happy @SWA."

Shortly after he and his kids boarded, however, they were asked to leave the plane.

When asked why, Watson was told that the Southwest employee felt "threatened" by what he had put on Twitter.

Eventually, the three were allowed to reboard the flight and travel from Denver to their hometown—but only under the condition that he remove his tweet.

Watson explained, "I was left, you know, very upset, very embarrassed, very humiliated."

But that's only one side of the story. Southwest claims that Watson and the employee engaged in an argument while on the plane that may have been a disruption to other passengers.

"We are thoroughly investigating the situation," the airline wrote in a statement online.

"We have reached out to the Customer and offered vouchers as a gesture of goodwill."