Teh One Who Knocks
10-16-2017, 07:12 PM
By Jenni Fink - Independent Journal Review
https://i.imgur.com/11zF0GD.jpg
Over the weekend, Women's March co-founder and activist Tamika Mallory attended the Revolt Music Festival, which she posted on Facebook made her feel like “we're going to be OK after all.”
However, those sentiments were a stark contrast from the ones she felt after boarding her American Airlines flight destined for New York from Miami.
During a Facebook live video, Mallory explained that when she got to the airport, she used a kiosk to switch her ticket from a middle seat to an aisle seat. She claimed there was one available and that when she printed out the ticket, it had the updated seat assignment on it, but things changed when she attempted to board.
“She [the ticketing agent] took the ticket, scanned it, ripped it in half, and a new ticket printed out,” Mallory said, adding that it was an “automatic situation.” The new ticket had her back in her original seat, and although the agent acknowledged the discrepancy, the only answer she had for the activist was, “I don't know.”
Ultimately, the agent, who Mallory made clear was a black woman, concluded that someone paid for the seat, which is why she was booted from it. Although the activist refuted that logic since she is a Platinum member of American Airlines, so she is offered preferred seating free of charge.
She took umbrage with the “disrespectful” way the agent handled the situation and explained that at the end of the conversation, the pilot appeared.
“He walks out and he hears me tell her, 'I'm absolutely going to write a report,' and she said, 'You do that,'” Mallory recounted and added that as she reached the plane doors, the pilot yelled for her to stop.
She claimed the first thing he did was to say that “respect goes both ways” and wondered what her “problem” was, considering the agent explained she had “nothing to do with” her ticket.
Mallory acknowledged that if a “disgruntled person” is getting on a flight, the pilot should want to check to make sure that “everything is safe.” So if he had approached the conversation in a courteous manner and asked if she was alright and tried to get a handle on the situation, she wouldn't have had a problem.
She called the flight attendant who observed this conversation “dumbfounded” and said she told the pilot she was fine, to which he responded, “Are you going to behave?” and reminded her that if she didn't, she'd get a “one-way ticket off the plane.”
Mallory said she took her middle seat and remained silent but soon heard her name being called over the loudspeaker. After gathering her things and going to the front of the plane, a different gate agent said, “Come with me ma'am,” so she asked, “Am I being thrown off the plane?”
The pilot pointed at her and said, “Her, off,” and Mallory admitted that at this point, she cursed the pilot out.
“They targeted me,” she said. “There was no reason at that point for me to be kind ... The fact that I had a disagreement over a seat that I was given by their airline. I didn't go to the gate asking to be changed and because they wouldn't change me I got mad.”
She, along with the man she was traveling with who was also thrown off the plane, were ultimately rebooked on another flight and offered a $15 voucher by a supervisor, whose behavior in handling the situation, she praised.
In reflection, she told the New York Daily News the pilot's behavior was a result of “white male aggression” and claimed that he tried to “intimidate” her.
Mallory added that she hasn't once received an apology from the airline, which told the New York Daily News that it's investigating the incident and that “discrimination of any kind” is not tolerated.
Watch below:
10155106005731985
https://i.imgur.com/11zF0GD.jpg
Over the weekend, Women's March co-founder and activist Tamika Mallory attended the Revolt Music Festival, which she posted on Facebook made her feel like “we're going to be OK after all.”
However, those sentiments were a stark contrast from the ones she felt after boarding her American Airlines flight destined for New York from Miami.
During a Facebook live video, Mallory explained that when she got to the airport, she used a kiosk to switch her ticket from a middle seat to an aisle seat. She claimed there was one available and that when she printed out the ticket, it had the updated seat assignment on it, but things changed when she attempted to board.
“She [the ticketing agent] took the ticket, scanned it, ripped it in half, and a new ticket printed out,” Mallory said, adding that it was an “automatic situation.” The new ticket had her back in her original seat, and although the agent acknowledged the discrepancy, the only answer she had for the activist was, “I don't know.”
Ultimately, the agent, who Mallory made clear was a black woman, concluded that someone paid for the seat, which is why she was booted from it. Although the activist refuted that logic since she is a Platinum member of American Airlines, so she is offered preferred seating free of charge.
She took umbrage with the “disrespectful” way the agent handled the situation and explained that at the end of the conversation, the pilot appeared.
“He walks out and he hears me tell her, 'I'm absolutely going to write a report,' and she said, 'You do that,'” Mallory recounted and added that as she reached the plane doors, the pilot yelled for her to stop.
She claimed the first thing he did was to say that “respect goes both ways” and wondered what her “problem” was, considering the agent explained she had “nothing to do with” her ticket.
Mallory acknowledged that if a “disgruntled person” is getting on a flight, the pilot should want to check to make sure that “everything is safe.” So if he had approached the conversation in a courteous manner and asked if she was alright and tried to get a handle on the situation, she wouldn't have had a problem.
She called the flight attendant who observed this conversation “dumbfounded” and said she told the pilot she was fine, to which he responded, “Are you going to behave?” and reminded her that if she didn't, she'd get a “one-way ticket off the plane.”
Mallory said she took her middle seat and remained silent but soon heard her name being called over the loudspeaker. After gathering her things and going to the front of the plane, a different gate agent said, “Come with me ma'am,” so she asked, “Am I being thrown off the plane?”
The pilot pointed at her and said, “Her, off,” and Mallory admitted that at this point, she cursed the pilot out.
“They targeted me,” she said. “There was no reason at that point for me to be kind ... The fact that I had a disagreement over a seat that I was given by their airline. I didn't go to the gate asking to be changed and because they wouldn't change me I got mad.”
She, along with the man she was traveling with who was also thrown off the plane, were ultimately rebooked on another flight and offered a $15 voucher by a supervisor, whose behavior in handling the situation, she praised.
In reflection, she told the New York Daily News the pilot's behavior was a result of “white male aggression” and claimed that he tried to “intimidate” her.
Mallory added that she hasn't once received an apology from the airline, which told the New York Daily News that it's investigating the incident and that “discrimination of any kind” is not tolerated.
Watch below:
10155106005731985