Husband shocked as cabin crew threaten to kick wife off flight
British journalist Mehdi Hasan was furious as he watched his wife leave the flight in tears after she was told she would be “escorted off the plane” allegedly because she wanted to sit with her family.
The horrific incident took place on a Southwest Airlines flight between Houston, Texas and Washington DC and was shared online by her husband.
Hasan explained that him and his family were flying home when the incident occurred.
The airline in question operates on an open-seating policy, which means that here are no allocated seats. Passengers can sit in any available seat on a first-come-first-served basis.
Hasan explained that his wife had asked another passenger “politely” if they could switch seats so that the family could sit together, which the other passenger agreed to.
The Twitter thread, which has now gone viral, explains the situation as it happened.
“Hey @SouthwestAir: not a good look for your flight attendant on SW5539 to DC last night to loudly tell a brown woman in a headscarf she’ll be “escorted off the plane” for making people feel “uncomfortable” – because she wanted to sit with her husband & kids!” he wrote.
“The flight attendant called ground staff onto the plane, complained about the Muslim woman – my wife! – to them, & escalated rather than de-escalated the situation – simply because my wife politely asked a guy if he’d give up his seat for our family (which he was fine with!).”
Hasan added that another flight attendant who was called to the incident agreed with the family.
“Even her own @SouthwestAir colleague from the ground staff who came onboard to check things wondered why the flight attendant wouldn’t shut up & let things go so we could take off,” he said.
He then sarcastically thanks the airline for “ruining the end of our Thanksgiving trip”.
“Thanks @SouthwestAir for ruining the end of our Thanksgiving trip and leaving my wife in tears – because she wanted us all to sit together as a family while your flight attendant wanted to single her out and humiliate her. Thanks a lot.
“FYI: @SouthwestAir flight staff seem to have form when it comes to mistreating brown/Muslim passengers. Hadn’t flown with them for years and, at this point, don’t plan to do so again anytime in the near future. Not worth it.”
Hasan’s thread struck a chord and received many messages of support.
“I’m so sorry this happened to your wife. How upsetting for her & distressing for your children to see,” one person wrote.
“I hope the airline takes action against their staff member. @SouthwestAir Isn’t it quite normal for a family to want to sit together? This is totally unacceptable behaviour.”
An airline spokesperson said that they had started to “gather information internally” about the incident.
“Once we learned about the customer’s social media message, we began to research the flight and gather information internally.
“We also reached out to the customer directly to discuss his family’s experience prior to departure.
“From our initial discussions, we understand that some passengers on Flight 5539 were involved in a disagreement over seat selection near the end of boarding. (Southwest does not assign seats; customers select their seats as they board the aircraft.)
“The flight crew requested a customer service supervisor come on-board to help address the situation, and the conversation was resolved before the plane left the gate.
“The family was able to sit together, and the flight arrived safely in Washington, D.C. on Sunday night. We remain in communication with the customer who sent the tweet and are working to address his concerns directly.”
Hasan has rejected this statement entirely, saying that the airline have made up a “totally false narrative”.
“Update & a new thread from me: @SouthwestAir have apologized privately but refuse to apologize publicly; offered travel vouchers to fly with them (!) that don't cover the costs of our flights; & have made up a totally false narrative,” he wrote.
“.@SouthwestAir told The Sun "we understand that some Passengers...were involved in a disagreement over seat selection." This is false. There was no disagreement, only a flight attendant who was trying to incite passengers against my hijab-wearing wife.”