American Airlines Tells Woman Passenger To Cover Up Or Get Off, What Century Are We Living In?

It¡¯s 2019 and just shameful to still hear and read about things like this.

A Houston woman and her 8-year-old son were debarred from boarding an American Airlines flight on June 30, because she was not 'properly dressed'. She was apparently asked to ¡®cover up¡¯ with a blanket, if she wanted to board the plane.

American Airlines spokeswoman Shannon Gilson said that the company had fully refunded the passenger¡¯s money for the flight, but Tisha Rowe, told The Washington Post on Tuesday that she hadn¡¯t received any notification of a refund or any money sent to her account.

She was flying from Jamaica to Miami and they returned to the United States after spending a week in Jamaica, where her family is from. When she arrived at the Kingston airport, she was sweating and changed into a romper before boarding. "I looked at myself," she told The Washington Post. "I knew how I looked, front and back." She was wearing a romper with a tropical print.

Here is what i was wearing when @AmericanAir asked me to deplane for a talk. At which point I was asked to ¡°cover up¡±. When defending my outfit I was threatened with not getting back on the flight unless I walked down the aisle wrapped in a blanket. #notsofriendlyskies pic.twitter.com/AYQNNriLcq

¡ª Tisha Rowe MD, MBA (@tisharowemd) July 1, 2019

Rowe then boarded the plane with her son, but a female flight attendant asked her to step outside to talk. "Do you have a jacket?" Rowe recalled the flight attendant asking, to which she responded no. "You cannot get on the plane dressed like that."

Rowe said that she finally asked for a blanket because she didn¡¯t want to miss the flight. She also said that the attendant continued to repeat that she couldn¡¯t get on the plane like this, without covering up.

She and her son finally went to their seats and her son covered his face with the blanket, when Rowe peeked in she saw her son crying and saying, ¡°Mommy, follow the rules¡±. "I'm trying to explain to an 8-year-old - Mommy did not break the rules," Rowe said.

When the flight landed she encountered another female passenger who was wearing shorts that were shorter than her clothes, but did not face any issues. Rowe told her what happened to her on the flight and that woman gave her name and phone number agreeing to back her up.

Twitter

"The difference between that woman and me is she was about a size 2, thin," Rowe said. "It's hard to understand if you are not a double minority, a woman and a black, how it's not pulling a card."

Gilson said that the airline reached out to Rowe after hearing her experience. "We apologize to Dr. Rowe and her son for their experience," she said. "We are proud to serve customers of all backgrounds and are committed to providing a positive, safe travel experience for everyone who flies with us."

Rowe's attorney, Geoffrey Berg said, "In the face of a sexist, racist attack on one of their passengers, this is the corporate version of thoughts and prayers. The best way to not be portrayed this way is to not behave this way."

American Airlines references a dress code for customers in its conditions of carriage, ¡®Dress appropriately; bare feet or offensive clothing aren't allowed.¡¯

"If they expect passengers flying around the Caribbean in June in snowsuits, they probably ought to put that in the contract of carriage," Berg said.

Rowe said that a refund won¡¯t be enough to erase the memory of the incident for her young son. "If you really want to make it right, you have to realize this was traumatic for both of us," Rowe said.

This is not the first time that such an incident has happened, a few months ago, a passenger on the Thomas Cook Airline was given the choice between 'covering up' or being removed from the plane.

Flying from Bham to Tenerife, Thomas Cook told me that they were going to remove me from the flight if I didn¡¯t ¡°cover up¡± as I was ¡°causing offence¡± and was ¡°inappropriate¡±. They had 4 flight staff around me to get my luggage to take me off the plane. pic.twitter.com/r28nvSYaoY

¡ª Emily O'Connor (@emroseoconnor) March 12, 2019

Emily O¡¯Connor took to Twitter to share her story. While she was on the Birmingham airport, she was told by the Thomas Cook staff that her outfit - a sleeveless crop top and high-waist pants - exposed a section of her midriff and was inappropriate. The airline also apologised to her later.