The very fact the company was forced into an embarrassing apology and rethinking of their own policy is testimony to its effectiveness and also their bloody mindedness for having such a policy in the first place.
The fact that they made an apology has nothing to do with the policy, and everything to do with "political correctness", the media beatup and attempting to minimise damage to their reputation.
The correct thing to do, would have been to sue the newpapers and media for defamation and to ban the troublemaker from flying on their airline.
We all know in this day and age, sometimes it is just not worth the time and effort, and the quickest and most expedient thing to do was to send in their
PR people so smooth over the troubled waters.