Delta: Fly the ignorant skies

No. Way.

I was completely taken aback when I read this. My first reaction was disbelief; my second was disgust and anger. Take a moment to read this story pasted below this message, which I cut and pasted from MSNBC.com. If you have the same reaction I did, please email Delta and let them know how you feel.

I encourage you to pass this along to others who need to know what kind of company they are dealing with when they fly Delta, as well.

What makes me the maddest is that rather than immediately saying the flight attendant was in the wrong and the mother had every right to nurse her child, the airline basically said it was okay to blatantly discriminate against a nursing mother because she wouldn't smother her child with a blanket while she nursed. I fail to see how sitting by the window in the next-to-last row with her husband in between her and the aisle was so offensive they needed to be removed from the flight. It sounds to me like the individual flight attendant, roaming the aisles, had some sort of backwards personal objection to naturally feeding a child and decided she didn't want them on there. It sets an extremely dangerous precedent if flight attendants are allowed to remove paying customers simply because they are made uncomfortable by their own ignorance.

Confront the ignorance. Email the airline, and if you feel so compelled, take your business elsewhere.

thanks,
alyson

Woman kicked off plane for breast-feeding baby

BURLINGTON, Vt. - A woman who claims she was kicked off an airplane because she was breast-feeding her baby has filed a complaint against two airlines, her attorney said.

Emily Gillette, 27, of Santa Fe, N.M., filed the complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission late last week against Delta Air Lines and Freedom Airlines, said her attorney, Elizabeth Boepple. Freedom was operating the Delta flight between Burlington and New York City.

Gillette said she was discreetly breast-feeding her 22-month-old daughter on Oct. 13 as their flight prepared to leave Burlington International Airport. She said she was seated by the window in the next-to-last row, her husband was seated between her and the aisle and no part of her breast was showing.

A flight attendant tried to hand her a blanket and told her to cover up, Gillette said. She declined, telling the flight attendant she had a legal right to breast-feed her baby.

Moments later, a Delta ticket agent approached and said the flight attendant had asked that the family be removed from the flight, Gillette said. She said she didn't want to make a scene and complied.

"It embarrassed me. That was my first reaction, which is a weird reaction for doing something so good for a child," Gillette said Monday.

A Freedom spokesman said Gillette was asked to leave the flight after she declined the blanket.

"A breast-feeding mother is perfectly acceptable on an aircraft, providing she is feeding the child in a discreet way," that doesn't bother others, said Paul Skellon, spokesman for Phoenix-based Freedom. "She was asked to use a blanket just to provide a little more discretion, she was given a blanket, and she refused to use it, and that's all I know."

A complaint against two airlines was filed with the Vermont Human Rights Commission, although Executive Director Robert Appel said he was barred by state law from confirming the complaint. He said state law allows a mother to breast-feed in public.

The Vermont Human Rights Commission investigates complaints and determines whether discrimination may have occurred. The parties to a complaint are given six months to reach a settlement. If none is reached, the commission then decides whether to go to court. A complainant can file a separate suit in state court at any time.

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Update: hehehe

Here's an automated response I received after blasting Delta at that handy little link shown above (the emphasis is mine):

Your email to Delta (KMM14287997I41L0KM)
1 message
Customer Care Tue, Nov 14, 2006 at 10:34 PM

Thank you for taking the time to get in touch with us. We appreciate
every opportunity to listen to our customers and act upon what we hear.
Our response to your e-mail may take a little longer than usual due to
the high number of customers who have contacted us recently. In the
meantime, thanks for your patience.

AS THIS IS AN AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED MESSAGE, PLEASE DO NOT REPLY.

Sooooo...what are you waiting for? Let them know their actions and response are unacceptable!