I was flying to Laguardia from Tampa on 10/15/08 and was scheduled to change flights in Atlanta. Upon boarding the plane, I stowed my luggage and headed towards the back of the plane to use the rest room. The Male flight attendant who was African American informed me there was currently no water pressure, so I went back to sit in my seat. About 5 minutes later, he walked by and I asked him if there was rest room available and he ignored my question. I politely asked him not to ignore my question and repeated it. He told me to put on my seat belt and said if this was going to be a problem, would I like him to remove me from the plane. I said no and asked him to ask the captain if there was going to be a restroom available throughout the flight. At this point, the flight attendant became agitated and scolded me to put on my seat belt. I informed him that the seat belt had nothing to do with my question, then clicked the seat belt around my waist and asked him again to ask the captain if there will be a bathroom available. It is important to remind you at this point that the seatbelt light had not been illuminated by the captain and the flight attendants had not performed their seat belt demonstration yet. Upon clicking and adjusting my sea tbelt and asking 1 more time, the flight attendant said he was removing me from the flight. He left for ~3 minutes and then I was escorted off the plane by two more managers, both of whom were African American. Once out, they informed me that the flight attendant told them that I refused to put on my seat belt, and that I "nudged" him and he felt I was a threat. Mind you, I NEVER even raised my voice was not cantankerous and I didn't I stand up in this supposed "confrontation". It is also important to note that security was never contacted.
I asked to make a formal complaint against the employee and was told by the manager at the boarding desk that I couldn't because the flight attendant was protected by federal authority. When I explained what happened to the management staff present, they rolled their eyes at me, gave excuses for the attendant and informed me that I was free to try to extract a refund from Hotwire where I purchased the tickets and find another carrier to take me home and asked to leave.
After parsing the situation 1,000 times in my head, I cannot think of another reason other than racial discrimination why I was booted from the flight. I called the 1-800 number and asked to file a complaint and was informed that they "might" follow up with the employee, but I would not be involved at all in the process. I feel that I was singled out by both the flight attendant and the immediate ground managers because of the fact that I was Caucasian and one of only a few on the plane. Although no one made a direct racial epitaph, there was enough implicit in the situation that it was clear to me. There was even a passenger behind me asking why they were kicking me off for asking a question. I asked the representative on the phone if there was a possibility of a "fair" hearing where a neutral party could sit with me, the flight attendant and whiteness to get to the bottom of this, he responded absolutely not. I asked to speak to a manager and he refused. I asked for his name and he refused to give it to me.
So, here I am, 4:00 am and I've been stuck in the Atlanta airport for 13 hours, having to feel the embarrassment of being kicked off the plane, the frustration of an employee lying in order to have me removed, the anger of no one in Air Tran responding to this injustice, not to mention all of the real world issues associated with missing a day of life from work, and life. I am a single parent and my daughter needs me home, as well.
Please contact me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss my situation. Thank you for reading. I am sorry of the email is choppy, I haven't slept in hours, I've just been replaying the situation over in my mind. I will be contacting an attorney and will see what their opinion is.
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