In California, a black woman alleges that Delta Airlines operated its airplanes in such a way as to bump her to the back of the plane so that two white passengers could sit down.
In a recent interview with ABC News 7, Camille Henderson described her journey onboard Delta flight 478 as an “incredible ordeal” that left her feeling helpless while in the air.
She boarded a flight that traveled from Atlanta to San Francisco on the 3rd of February and sat in her paid-for window seat at 15A that she had purchased and that she had the ticket for. The problem seems to have stemmed from the fact that when the two last passengers, both of whom were white, got on the plane, they clashed with the flight attendants about their seats, which caused further problems.
According to the three, after speaking with a Delta representative over the phone, the two were supposed to be flying first class, but found they didn’t have tickets to prove it – rather, the tickets indicated they were flying middle and aisle seats.
According to Camille Henderson, during the first hour of the flight as we are taking off, and while we are being served, the passengers were kind of going back and forth about how little space they were allowed, how they were inconvenienced since they were supposed to have first class seats.
When a passenger, a white woman, called the flight attendant in an attempt to explain what was going on, the flight attendant once again told the woman that they could not do anything because they couldn’t produce the first-class tickets.
Henderson was on board the aircraft trying to sleep when the flight attendant explained to her that if she moved, the two other passengers would have more space to lie down. Despite her apprehension, she agreed, saying that she did not want to cause any trouble.
In reference to Henderson, she stated that “the whole flight is looking at me” as she attempted to transfer everything she brought on board to the very back of the plane. She explained that she was offered a cocktail after moving, however, she does not drink any alcohol.
In addition, the passenger spent in excess of an hour trying to get in touch with Delta customer service after the incident, at which point a supervisor related to the customer that she shouldn’t have felt embarrassed by the incident.
As she stated earlier, her ticket was for the main cabin, and even after being moved you still had a main cabin seat,” a supervisor explained to her, adding that a refund would not be possible — despite her requests. Henderson decided to tell the world about her experience after she had an encounter with the women.
Apparently, the airline is investigating the incident. An investigation is underway at the moment.
This article penned by Jonathan P. Wright. Jonathan is a freelance writer for multiple mainstream publications and CVO of RADIOPUSHERS. You can read more of his work by clicking here.
