A Delta Air Lines passenger who says she was threatened with removal from a plane for not wearing a bra has demanded a meeting with the airline’s bosses, claiming she was “targeted and humiliated” over her breasts.
Lisa Archibald, 38, said she boarded a flight from Salt Lake City to San Francisco on Jan. 22 wearing baggy jeans and a loose white T-shirt without a bra.
She claimed that gate staff briefly removed her from the plane and asked her to cover up her breasts, even though they were not visible.
“I was targeted and humiliated,” Archibald said Thursday at a news conference in Los Angeles with his attorney Gloria Allred, NBC LA reported.
“I felt like a scarlet letter was attached to me,” the self-employed DJ, who is heading to the world-famous Sundance Film Festival, told reporters.
“When she scolded me outside the plane, I felt it was a spectacle aimed at punishing me for not being a woman the way she thinks a woman should be,” she said. Told.
Ms Archibald, whose stage name is Jette Kiwi, claimed the agent said her clothing was “revealing” and “offensive”, in violation of airline policy.
The New Zealand resident said she was allowed to board the plane on the condition that she wear a different shirt over the one she was wearing.
When she brought the issue to the chief flight attendant, the employee claims she was told that “women must cover up” as Delta’s official policy.
Allred said she sent a letter to Delta Air Lines on behalf of her customers requesting a meeting with the airline’s president to discuss discrimination policies, according to AFP news agency.
“Male passengers do not need to cover their T-shirts with a shirt or jacket,” she says. “Also, you don’t have to wear a bra to fly or stay on a plane, and women don’t have to wear a bra either.
“Last I checked, the Taliban are not in charge of Delta Air Lines,” Allred said, noting that federal regulations allow airlines to remove passengers who pose a safety or security risk to the aircraft or its passengers. he added.
“I never tried to hijack a plane with her breasts or any other woman’s breasts,” she said. Breasts are not weapons of war, and it is not a crime for women and girls to have breasts. ”
According to Delta’s rules, airlines can refuse to carry a passenger “if the passenger’s behavior, clothing, hygiene, odor, etc. create an unreasonable risk of discomfort or inconvenience to other passengers.” .
Allred said there are no plans to sue and all Archibald wants is to meet with Delta’s bosses to get assurances that the policy will be updated.
“Delta representatives contacted this customer earlier this year to apologize,” a company representative told AFP.
The newspaper has contacted Delta Air Lines for comment.
