Southwest flight takes off, leaving 2 blind Florida women behind in New Orleans

7 News Miami ^ | 08/08/2025 | ivia DiVenti, Belkys Nerey, Sebastian Cuervo, Kevin Boulandier

[DFG]

Two blind women from Florida are outraged at Southwest Airlines after, they said, they were left behind by their flight.

Southwest Airlines forgot to board passengers Camille Tate and Sherri Brun, who are both blind, on to their July 14 flight out of New Orleans to Orlando before taking off.

“I was angry and frustrated,” said Tate.

According to Southwest, the flight the women were on was delayed by five hours.

By the time the airline realized the mistake, the plane had already landed in Florida.

Southwest proceeded to send the jet back to pick up the women, with the pair being the only passengers on board.

“You’re the only two people on this flight because they forgot about you,” said Brun.

The duo shared that the travel nightmare began with delays and was only made worse by poor communication from Southwest Airlines staff.

“Nobody at B6 told us anything, nobody came to get us at B4,” said Brun. “The time passed.”

They said no one told them boarding had begun. Without sight, they couldn’t see the gate activity and were left behind because they didn’t get re-booked.

“That airplane took off, and our boarding pass had not been swiped,” said Tate.

The pair says the incident shows that Southwest needs to make changes moving forward.

“The way they help their customers that require additional assistance needs to change,” said Brun. “There needs to be follow through:”

“There needs to be some improvement in how they communicate with their passengers, especially those that have disabilities,” added Tate.

In a statement, Southwest Airlines apologized, offering the women a $100 voucher for a future flight because of their delayed trip, and promised to provide better service for those with disabilities.

[Jane Long]

Well, they’re blind .... so, there’s that.

[Vaduz]

It’s why they have a guide to tell them about it.