Kevin Smith and Southwest Airlines in New War of Words

Director Kevin Smith and a representative for Southwest Airlines traded blog posts late Monday, two days after Kevin was removed from a flight when he was deemed too large to fit into one seat.

First, a rep for Southwest Airlines, Linda Rutherford, blogged about a conversation she shared with Kevin earlier in the day. She wrote, in part, "I had the chance this afternoon to speak directly with director Kevin Smith. I let him know that in my 18 years here at Southwest, I have never dealt with a situation like what has been unfolding in the last 48 hours. I let Kevin know we have refunded his airfare. I told him we made a mistake in trying to board him as a standby passenger and then remove him. And I told him we were sorry."

She called Kevin a "reasonable guy," and explained about the decision to ask Kevin to leave the flight, "We know there were several things going on that day and that our Employees were doing their best to get his flight out safely and on time, including finding seats for everyone and trying to accommodate standby passengers. The Captain did not single Kevin out to be removed, but he did ask that the boarding be completed quickly. At that time, our Employees made the decision to remove Kevin after a quick judgment call that he might have needed more than one seat for his comfort and those seated next to him."