An Air France passenger flying from Paris to Washington Dulles switched seats to a new coach middle because her seat back entertainment screen wasn’t working. She’s black, and the passenger next to her was uncomfortable with her taking the seat beside him. Air France made her move because he was uncomfortable.
Crew of the Airbus A350 rebooted the inflight entertainment system twice but failed to get it working, so they suggested she move to a nearby seat so she’d have access to content for the 8 hour 35 minute flight.
She grabbed the seat that turned out to be between a father at the aisle and his son in the window. And the man began interrogating her over the move, asking why she’s there. She explained she was told to move because of her broken seat. He complained to a flight attendant. And the flight attendant asked her to take a different open seat. Well, now she wasn’t happy!
First off, I don’t care if he’s not happy. I was given permission to sit here. I did not ask you to move from your seat. You did not buy this seat. So why are you asking me–a black woman–to get up and move? If he wants to move, he can get up and move. If he doesn’t want to sit next to someone black, that is not my problem.
There’s an apocryphal story that’s made rounds on the internet since at least the late 1990s about a racist passenger complaining about being seated next to someone they deemed undesirable and demanding a flight attendant do something about it.
A 50-something year old white woman arrived at her seat on a crowded flight and immediately didn’t want the seat. The seat was next to a black man. Disgusted, the woman immediately summoned the flight attendant and demanded a new seat.
The woman said, “I cannot sit here next to this black man.”
The fight attendant said, “Let me see if I can find another seat.”
After checking, the flight attendant returned and stated “Ma’am, there are no more seats in economy, but I will check with the captain and see if there is something in first class.”
About 10 minutes went by and the flight attendant returned and stated “The captain has confirmed that there are no more seats in economy, but there is one in first class. It is our company policy to never move a person from economy to first class, but being that it would be some sort of scandal to force a person to sit next to an UNPLEASANT person, the captain agreed to make the switch to first class.”
Before the woman could say anything, the attendant gestured to the black man and said, “Therefore sir, if you would so kindly retrieve your personal items, we would like to move you to the comfort of first class as the captain doesn’t want you to sit next to an unpleasant person.”
This story was even turned into a public service advertisement in Portugal.
And that’s how it’s done. We’re all forced together inside a metal tube regardless of background. And when you’re seated next to someone you find unpleasant it’s not the airline’s fault nor should it be the airline that ought to compensate. Indeed, it’s the unpleasant person who ought to provide compensation, whether the behavior is racism, clipping toenails inflight or making inappropriate advances.
Still when the airline is in a position to it’s a great way to drop the mic. And it’s a lesson, apparently, that Air France needs to learn.
Live and Let’s Fly points out that race may not have been the motivator.
- The father was looking forward to the extra space he hadn’t purchased.
- And she was sitting between him and his son (they could have offered her the aisle or window to stay together).
- He might have been mad regardless of who moved there – even though he had no right to be.
Ultimately it’s the Air France flight attendants most in the wrong, insisting that she move to placate him and ensure his extra space to spread out. And it’s completely understandable that she’d take it as racially motivated, since he was mad not just that someone was there but that she was there.
Update: An Air France spokesperson shares,
We regret this situation and would like to reiterate that there was no act or intent of discrimination on the part of our crew.
Air France is deeply committed to the values of respect for all and can only regret that the customer felt hurt by the way this incident was handled.
The crew did everything possible to restart the entertainment service on the customer’s original seat, and when it remained inoperative, offered an alternative seat, and then a second one, so as not to separate a family, seating together since the beginning of the flight.
The family in question was surprised to see a passenger come and sit between them 6 hours into the flight and contacted the crew requesting to continue their journey in the same seating configuration. As other seats were available in the cabin, and since the crew is committed to preserving the comfort and well-being of every passenger on the plane, they offered the customer another seat.
We once again regret the misunderstanding and lack of fluidity in the handling of this situation. Subsequently, the crew offered their assistance and support until the end of the flight. Our customer service department has received the claim filed by the customer, to whom we reiterate our apologies, and has been unsuccessfully trying to reach her since the event.
@pYt — Bah! Cheers!
@Icarus — Ah, showing your own ‘cards’ a bit there, aren’t-cha, bringing in Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and all, huh? Complete false equivalence, but nice try.
@Walter Barry — It’s ok if you’re getting tired, sir. Take a nap. We’ll be here when you’re ready.
Didn’t quite understand how the window seat’s passenger made it about race.
I’m a UA Million Mile flyer and, besides an upgrade, the thing I most looked forward to was an empty middle seat
I don’t always believe these stories. Any self respecting flight attendant would balk at a passenger “insisting” they move the middle seat passenger. Doesn’t happen.
As is common, both are wrong