Black Woman Slams American Airlines For Racism After She Was Kicked Out Of First Class
When Rane Baldwin upgraded her and friend, Janet Novak's American Airlines tickets to first class as a AAdvantage Platinum Select/World Elite cardholder, she probably didn't think she'd be sent to the back of the airplane once boarding. She surely didn't think that her friend Janet would be taken to their rightful seats in first class while she was disrespected.
In the tweet posted below by Janet Novak, she accuses the airline of racial discrimination after boarding a flight with Baldwin from Kentucky to Charlotte, North Carolina. According to both women, Baldwin, a black woman, was reassigned to the rear of the airplane after boarding due a shortage in first class seats. Novack, meanwhile, kept her first class seat.
Baldwin also claims that when she inquired about the reassigned seats, she was ignored by the airplane staff while her friend was given respect. After this tweet, Novack added, “The whole reason that I was flying first class was because I was associated with her and her reservation. They were ignoring the cardholder.”
Baldwin said in an interview: “It was baffling and hurtful that the crew seemed completely aware of what they were doing and just didn’t care. People didn’t seem to trust me and made giant, incorrect assumptions about the relationship between my friend and me. I’m the one who bought the tickets; she was traveling with me – not the other way around. When my ticket was changed and Janet’s was not, I felt like I was being sent to the back of the bus. I just kept wondering if I was in some sort of time warp and asking myself, ‘Is this what it felt like to be black 60 years ago?’ ”
American Airlines has since responded, saying:
“We have reviewed the allegations, and no discrimination occurred. After a flight was canceled, an agent inadvertently provided two first class seats to Ms. Baldwin and Ms. Novack. The passengers were not ticketed for the first class cabin, and a formal upgrade was not processed. (i.e. they were never charged/miles were not deducted.) The next day, the agent working the flight realized the error, since we were short one seat in the first class cabin. Instead of removing both passengers from first class, we permitted the passenger who was “upgraded” in error first, to remain in the first class cabin as a gesture of goodwill. Ms. Novack was the passenger who was upgraded in error first. We have apologized to both passengers for the confusion, and explained how the issue occurred — which was an error on our part.”
Baldwin was unsatisfied with the airlines response and later posted to Facebook, “Lies. Literal lies. American Airlines has failed to address my concerns. A week ago, Customer Relations left me a voicemail saying they received my complaint and had started an investigation. I haven’t heard back from them since. American Airlines has continued to prioritize communicating with Janet —who has heard from American multiple times — and commenting to select media outlets over making efforts to resolve things with me. It’s very clear that American Airlines is concerned with the optics of appearing discriminatory, but I’m not convinced that they see a problem with discrimination in and of itself.”
Even after recent backlash from stories involving racial discrimination, American Airlines doesn't seem to be too focused on making all of their customers feel respected during flights. It will be interesting to see where this story ends.
