A Black woman from Alameda, California is alleging she was forced to move to the back of an aircraft in order to accommodate two White women on her flight.
Camille Henderson was flying from Atlanta, Georgia to the San Francisco Bay area when she says she was approached by two Delta flight attendants.
She was asked to change seats and move to the back of the plane after two White women next to her complained about not having enough room.
The two women complained to airline staff for over an hour until Henderson says an attendant asked her to move to row 34.
Henderson complied out of fear of retaliation.
Henderson said afterwards she filed a complaint with customer service, but the representative was unhelpful and openly said they didn't understand Henderson's humiliation at being forced to the back of the plane.
“I don’t want to make it a race thing, but instead of asking the two White women that were seated next to me [to move], in an attempt to accommodate them, they basically made me have to move,” she said.
“I just don’t know why I had to move because that was the seat that I paid for; that was my assigned seat.”
Many compared this moment to Rosa Park's protest in Montgomery, Alabama during the Civil Rights movement.
Delta released a statement on the matter.
“We are looking into this situation to better understand what happened. Delta has no tolerance for discrimination in any form and these allegations run counter to our deeply-held values of respecting and honoring the diversity of our customers.”
Henderson said all she's looking for is a little acknowledgement of her experience.
“I just want them to acknowledge that they made me feel powerless, and they can’t do that to customers moving forward,” Henderson said.
“Me, as a Black woman, I was displaced to make two White women comfortable. That doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Delta has not released the results of its investigation into the incident as of this writing.
