Southwest Airlines pushes back at Savannah Chrisley’s claims and says she was late and insulting

Southwest Airlines has taken a stand against reality star Savannah Chrisley after she was thrown off an airline flight in what she described as a “terrible experience” at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport.

An airline representative released a statement detailing her side of the situation, saying the 25-year-old reality star was late for her flights and was abusive to staff once she arrived.

“Our initial reports indicate a different story than that of the customer’s account, as she arrived at the gate late in the boarding process,” the representative said, according to People“and repeatedly insulted our employee after she was asked to check her bag at the gate.”

The airline said that ‘as a result’ of Chrisley’s behavior she was ‘denied boarding her original flight, and we booked her on a later flight the same day’.

The representative said the airline was “aware” of a video Chrisley posted to Instagram Stories on Thursday and was “investigating the situation.”

Chrisley took to her Instagram Stories on Thursday and revealed she was thrown off a Southwest Airlines flight for being an “unruly passenger.”

Chrisley – who recently discussed her struggles with depression – was on her way home to Tennessee when a flight attendant reportedly “threw her off the flight” after she refused to check in her carry-on bag.

“Okay guys, so I officially know why everyone hates Southwest so much. I mean he absolutely hates it – the worst thing in the whole world,” she said in the clip.

She then showed a flight attendant at the gate and said, “This man here… um, awful. I was boarding my flight and he told me to check my bag. I was like, “Okay, if you don’t mind, I’ll take my bag on the flight, see if I can’t get it fitted and if not, I’ll check it.”‘

When the attendant told her that was not an option and she had to check the bag, she said again that she would first check if there was room for her bag on the plane.

Then the attendant reportedly called her “an unruly passenger.”

Chrisley claims that at one point even the pilot stepped in and sided with her, telling the flight attendant to ‘calm down’ and that he would find a place for the bag. However, that did not help the situation.

“The Southwest attendant literally looked at the pilot — the man who was flying our plane and responsible for our safety — and said, stay out of it,” she said. “Now I’m not going to lie, when this Southwest valet told the pilot to calm down, I told him there was no need for him to be a *****e today and then he threw me off the flight. ‘

Chrisley told the attendant that ‘I had a 10-year-old that I absolutely had to go home to tonight and well, the Southwest caretaker said, ‘I don’t care.'”

“I told him I hope he finds a better purpose for his life. Maybe I shouldn’t have said it, but the devil came over me and Jesus didn’t come out,” Savannah said.

The child in question is most likely her niece, Chloe, who she became the primary guardian of after her parents, Todd, 53, and Julie Chrisley, 49, were sent to prison last November for tax fraud. She is also the legal guardian of her 16-year-old brother Grayson.

Savannah continued to update her fans on the situation and later returned to Instagram to praise the “handsome” pilot for defending her.

“Southwest you’re awful, but to the pilot who stood up for me and was a really handsome guy – my hat is off to you. You are great. Maybe switch airlines,” she said, adding that he was “kinda horny.”

She eventually managed to catch a connecting flight through Baltimore and seemed to find a silver lining in the drama, smiling as she showed she had a whole fight to herself.

Savannah stepped in to raise her younger relatives after her father Todd was sentenced to 12 years behind bars for $30 million tax fraud, while her mother Julie earned a shorter seven-year sentence.

She recently admitted that she has a hard time juggling romance now that she’s raising her brother and niece while chatting on Unlocked With Savannah Chrisley.

“It’s hard, it’s extraordinary…” she said as she discussed her dating life.

“I’m helping raise my 10-year-old sister and 16-year-old brother, and I’m trying to date. And I’m like, ‘What are you doing with it?’” she admitted. “The 16-year-old, he drives [and] all that, but the 10-year-old I’m like, “You might have to come over for dinner with me.”‘

Savannah is best known for starring in USA Network’s now-cancelled Chrisley Knows Best with her family, and spin-off, Growing Up Chrisley.