A couple and their 19-month-old daughter were removed from an American Airlines flight after the airline told the couple that the other passengers and crew members complained about their body odour.
Yossi Adler said he and his wife with their daughter were heading home from a vacation in Miami on the night of January 23 when the incident happened and they were told that there was some emergency and they needed to evacuate the airplane.
The couple also said that they had eight other children back home in Michigan, US and they thought there had been an accident involving one of them. Later, when he and his wife stepped off the plane and were told the reason and they were humiliated and frustrated.
"Obviously, there was a reason," Adler, who is Jewish, said in a phone interview Friday with The Washington Post. "But I think it was an anti-Semitic reason."
"Even if it wasn't," he added, "they were anti-Semitic afterwards."
American Airlines in a statement said that the? Adlers were asked to deplane after "multiple passengers, along with our crew members, complained about Mr Adler's body odour. Our Miami airport team members were concerned about the comfort of our other passengers due to the odour. Our team members took care of the family and provided hotel accommodations and meals, and rebooked them on a flight to Detroit Thursday morning.¡±
Adler was furious and said that if the airline?was so concerned about their body odour they should have given them clean clothes to wear.
"I'm trying to stay calm here," Adler told an employee. "But there's two Jewish people on the plane, and now they're kicking us off because of odour. Seriously? Nobody here thinks I have an odour. I need to get on a plane tonight. I have eight children at home.¡±
According to the reports, the passengers present there said that it was not about the religion.?Another woman who claims to have been on the flight took to Twitter to back up American Airline's claim. "The smell was so bad I don't think I could have made it through the 2.5 hr flight," she said.
Adler said that his experience was horrible with the airlines. He also said that he took a bath in the morning. "Not once in my life has someone said I smell," he told The Washington Post.
There have been a lot of incidents like these in recent years,?where passengers claimed they were removed from flights over a birthday cake, breastfeeding, and menstrual cramps, and a seat-kicking toddler.?