American Airlines issued an apology Tuesday after a woman boarding a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago said she was mortified when an employee near the gate stopped her from entering the plane due to her breast milk cooler and berated her for arguing over the airline’s carry-on policy.
Kelsey Myers says she was told she was carrying too many items to board the plane. She said she was carrying a carry-on, a personal item, breast milk in a cooler and a breast pump. Myers wrote in a Facebook post on the airline’s page that a gate agent told her she needed to check her bag. As the two debated what the policy was, the agent called his supervisor.
“She did not even ask me the situation,” Myers wrote. “But instead immediately told me I need to check a bag. I again told her it was a medical device and I needed to carry it on. She started yelling at me to check the bag. In a condescending tone, she screamed in front of about 50 people waiting to board the flight ‘how many boobs do you have.’”
Myers wrote that she was beyond embarrassed during the ordeal. Rather than enduring more arguing, she checked her bag, she said.
“I’m shocked that a supervisor would show such disrespect,” she wrote. “I’m also very surprised that a supervisor would have no knowledge of what seems to me like a simple policy.”
Leslie Scott, a representative of American Airlines, told NBC 5 the argument should never have happened and that the policy is stated clearly on the airline’s website. She said it was an error on the agent’s part.
“It’s difficult enough to travel as a breastfeeding mom,” Scott said. “We want it to be easier, not more difficult.”
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Scott also said the supervisor’s comment to Myers was unprofessional.
“If that happened, it’s certainly not professional and not how team members should act,” she said.
Scott said the airline has since apologized to Myers and offered her compensation.
