Southwest starts sale in nod to scantily-clad passenger

DALLAS -- Southwest Airlines, after getting grief for telling a young woman her outfit was too revealing to fly, is now using the brouhaha as a marketing ploy -- announcing a fare sale to honor miniskirts.

Ebbert took her case to "The Dr. Phil Show" on Friday. Host Phil McGraw read an apology from Southwest chief executive Gary Kelly during the show, which is scheduled to air Tuesday.

Ebbert said she was on a Southwest plane ready to take off from San Diego on July 3 when an airline employee asked her to change her miniskirt, top and sweater or get off.

In a compromise, the 23-year-old Californian was allowed to stay on the flight to Tucson, Ariz., after pulling her skirt down a bit and her top up.

Ebbert's account, and a similar one by another young California woman this week, led to unfavorable news coverage and Internet chatter about Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co.

So Kelly decided to change the tone Friday by issuing another apology to Ebbert -- company president Colleen Barrett was dispatched to phone her -- and announce a lighthearted fare sale pegged to the controversy.

"It is quite humorous, given that we were born with hot pants," Kelly said. "We're trying to be good-humored about all this."