Mum's fury after airline worker 'mocks' five-year-old daughter's name

A mother has expressed her fury after an airline staff member ‘mocked her daughter’s name’ before posting a photo of her boarding pass on social media.

Mum Traci Redford, from Texas in the US, said she was at California’s John Wayne Airport when a Southwest Airlines gate agent started “pointing and laughing” at her daughter.

Ms Redford’s five-year-old is named Abcde – pronounced “ab-city”.

The mother said they were boarding early as Abcde suffers from epilepsy and they need to be first on the flight.

“The gate agent started laughing, pointing at me and my daughter, talking to other employees. 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’,” Ms Redford told ABC7.

She claims the agent then took a photo of the little girl’s boarding pass and shared it to social media.

The post was brought to Ms Redford’s attention after someone else got in touch with her, saying they reported it.

In a statement, Southwest Airlines offered a “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,” it read.

“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 emphasise our expectations for all employees.”