Apology due after airline plays censor

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- A spokesman for Southwest Airlines said the company will apologize to a male passenger forced to change his T-shirt last weekend in Ohio.

The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Friday that after Florida resident Joe Winiecki was told to change his T-shirt due to its sexual suggestiveness last weekend in Columbus, the airline will now apologize for the act of censorship.

"It was inappropriate for our employee to approach Joe," Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said of last Sunday's event. "We don't have a dress code. Only in extreme situations would we want to address this to our customers."

Mainz added that the only extreme situations warranting censorship are extreme vulgarity, threatening language and indecent exposure.

Winiecki's T-shirt read "Master Baiter," a sexual double entendre referring to a fictional fishing shop.

While the airline has admitted it was wrong to censor his clothing choices, Winiecki said Thursday the entire situation was simply frustrating.

"It's really disappointing in this country when I can't travel from Ohio to Florida with the clothes on my back," Winiecki told the Times. "Who's to say what's offensive and what's not?"