Air France Accused Of Racial Bias After Moving Black Woman From Seat
A broken in-flight entertainment system onboard a transatlantic Air France flight turned into an even more uncomfortable incident after a passenger was moved to an open middle seat but her new seatmate became upset. Rather than telling him that it was his problem and he did not buy the open middle seat, flight attendants moved the woman to another seat. That passenger, a black woman, is now claiming Air France rewarded racism.
Air France Removes Black Woman From Seat After Man Complains About Her Presence
The black woman and her friend were flying from Paris (CDG) to Washington Dulles (IAD) on Air France 52, onboard an Airbus A350-900 jet. Although this is a modern jet, the woman’s IFE system was not working. After rebooting it twice to no avail, the woman was offered a move to an open middle seat near her originally assigned seat.
A father was sitting on the aisle and his son was sitting in the window seat. The two probably thought they would enjoy the flight with an open middle seat, but suddenly the woman took the seat between them.
The father began questioning her:
- Why are you here?
- Where is your originally assigned seat?
The woman answered that her seat was broken and she was moved there. The man got up and complained to a flight attendant.
Rather than telling him that unless he paid for it, the open middle seat did not belong to him, a flight attendant approached the black woman, said the man was not happy, and asked her to move to another open seat. Now the black woman was not 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.”
The woman and her friend complained to a flight attendant, who said the man simply did not understand why she moved. The flight attendant spoke to the man again and claimed he was still unhappy…
My Take
From what we know thus far, I would draw the following conclusions:
- I’m not prepared to say the man was “racist” or did not want a black woman next to him… perhaps he simply did not want anyone next to him, between him and his son
- Even so, the women were right that unless he paid for that middle seat, he had no claim to it, even if he thought it would remain empty
- While I can understand why the man was angry, the flight attendants should not have given into him: the black woman should have stayed in that seat; if he was repulsed, he could have moved elsewhere
- I also agree with the women that he was not entitled to an explanation as to why the open middle seat was suddenly needed
Based on the video, I think Air France owes these women a sincere apology.
CONCLUSION
A black women was moved to an open middle seat on Air France when her IFE sysem failed. Her seatmate, who thought he would fly across the Atlantic with an open middle seat, protested the move and prevailed: she was re-seated elsewhere.
I’m disappointed in the way the flight attendants handled this: you are not entitled to the open seat next to you on a plane, unless you pay for it, even after the door closes.