A woman claims to have been kicked off a Freedom-operated Delta flight for not accepting a blanket offered by a flight attendant. The attendant asked the breastfeeding mother sitting on the next to last row in the window seat next to her husband to cover up. The mother declined, saying she had the legal right to breastfeed her child. She and her family were ordered off the plane.
Freedom spokesman Paul Skellon offered, "A breast-feeding mother is perfectly acceptable on an aircraft, providing she is feeding the child in a discreet way. She was asked to use a blanket just to provide a little more discretion, she was given a blanket, and she refused to use it, and that’s all I know.” Uh, Paul? You also know the woman and her family were ordered off the plane.
Too bad none of the terrorists from the flights of 9/11 were breastfeeding moms; then we'd be reading a different chapter in our history books, eh?
I thought my take on this was pretty cynical until I read some of the comments on the article.
If the attendant had to offer her a blanket she was obviously showing things that others did not want to observe.
Boy, that is no kidding. Let's hear it for blankets! I don't want to see the mole that woman refuses to have removed, the vulgar tattoo on his forearm, the hook-nosed lady over there, his fat ass, her anorexic ass, his combover, or anyone's glaring lack of fashion sense. And what in the hell is up with the people who seem to have no idea they're leaving a trail of dandruff behind that would rival the contents of a large snow globe? I understand I'm seven rows apart from these people and can only see them if I'm in their vicinity, looking at them, and became suddenly incapable of looking the other way. Still, can't we all just get a blanket?
I think this incident might have been more of a safety issue. After 9/11 flight attendants are more concerned with safety and if any passenger makes them feel uncomfortable or a passenger seems to not want to comply with the flight attendant's request, often they will be asked to leave the plane if it has not left the gate. Maybe that flight attendant felt threatened by the women or felt she could cause trouble later in the flight.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Matthew T. Sussman
Dammit, Diana, when you crack all those jokes it makes it extremely hard to disagree.
Hard, but doable. Erm, bitch had it coming to her. She was probably a sinful single whorish mother.
(Runs away)
2 - frank burns
The most amazing things about it is the comments from people who actually agree with the flight attendant. Man, this is a crazy world. Always was I guess, and always will be. Death, taxes and insane ideas masquerading as culture -- those seem to be the only sure thins in this life.
3 - Adam
I have many issues with public breast feeding, but they all seem to come back to one question, why? Why is it necessary, except under extreme circumstances, and if it is necessary why not be very discrete about it? It is not beautiful to see a woman breast feeding a baby, except maybe to the father.
There seems to be no real reason for it, except to get attention. An extreme case would be a long flight and the baby gets hungry, but any other situation can be handled in a private area. Not to mention, unless its necessary you shouldn't bringing a baby of breast feeding age on a plane.
The argument made in this blog talks of ugly people and moles and what not and jokes about why aren't they asked to cover up. This is simply comparing apples to oranges. You can't compare people's physical beings, which they can't and aren't really suppose to cover up, to a breast feeding woman's breasts. It is very simple for a breast feeding woman to be discrete, its actually easier to not put oneself in situations where public breast feeding is necessary.
While it seems excessive that she be kicked off the plane, I can think of no other repercussions that an airline could apply for someone who is simply rude. The flight attendant's request was not unreasonable, cover up a little, most people don't want to see you feed your baby.
4 - DJRadiohead
Apparently the only person with rights in this instance is the mother. The airline certainly has no right to have any sort of guidelines on what is considered appropriate conduct on their planes. No passenger has the right to be uncomfortable. Other types of behavior are allowed, so they can suck it up and deal.
The mother should not be asked or required to make any reasonable accommodations in this instance. Everybody else can just get over it.
5 - zingzing
"I have many issues with public breast feeding, but they all seem to come back to one question, why?"
hungry babies.
6 - Adam
Zing...if you discount the "public" part of my comment.
7 - zingzing
nah, not really. that's the reason why people breastfeed their children in public: because the baby is hungry.
it's pretty damn simple. if you are on a plane, you have two choices of places to feed your baby. in your seat, or in the toilet. i dunno. somehow a 2x4 ft shit-chamber doesn't sound like the best place to feed your baby. of course, she could've taken the blanket, i don't know why she didn't, but if you can't look at a woman who is breast-feeding her baby without getting turned on or without having the decency to just ignore it, that's your problem, not her's.
8 - Kathy Scovill
I suspect the flight attendant would have been shoving her own breast in the child's mouth once the plane took off and the pressurized ear screams began.
9 - DJRadiohead
of course, she could've taken the blanket, i don't know why she didn't, but if you can't look at a woman who is breast-feeding her baby without getting turned on or without having the decency to just ignore it, that's your problem, not her's.
Exactly. There is only one person with any rights in this situation and everyone else can just deal with it.
10 - SRW
I wonder if in the mile long list of 'terms and conditions' there is something, somewhere that says flying on OUR planes is a privilege and not a right. In fact, it should be common sense that most everything today is a privilege and not a right. Delta has every right to ask anyone to leave, that is their RIGHT...not to say it is good or bad, but it isn't public transportation.
11 - Adam
I just don't see how this can't be pretty easily avoided. Take the blanket, it would be so easy to be discrete. Also, just don't take your baby on long outings, which you prolly shouldn't, and if you have to try to feed the baby before hand.
I keep trying to think of a situation that a breast feeding mother absolutely has to feed her baby in public and the only place that comes to mind is a plane. Every other situation seems easily avoidable and still at the very least, cover up. Its easy, just put a blanket over yourself.
12 - Lisa McKay
Adam, you do realize that people travel with babies, don't you? It is neither desirable, normal, nor practical for families with babies to stay home until the tykes are old enough to use a fork and spoon.
If you can't imagine a situation in which a woman might have to breast feed her child in public, I'm guessing you have no children of your own.
As for discretion, I guess it's in the eye of the beholder. I've seen dozens of women breast feed their children over the years, and I have never once seen a gratuitous flash of breast. Most women are naturally discreet. If breast feeding offends you, I imagine you stay away from the beach in hot weather, too, where you're likely to see much more breast than is usually visible from a nursing mother.
13 - Matthew T. Sussman
So if I stare, and she doesn't like it, is it her problem, not mine?
14 - zingzing
adam--have you ever gone to the bathroom whilst on a plane? well, why didn't you do it before hand? or just wait? answer: because you didn't have to pee before you got on, and waiting just wasn't an option.
also, unless you are staring at the woman's chest, you aren't going to see anything inappropriate.
15 - zingzing
suss-- well, as long as no one else notices, it is. until she starts calling you a pervert on a plane. that would kinda suck.
16 - Matthew T. Sussman
Then I'll be discreet about it. I'll put a blanket over my head.
(With eyeholes.)
17 - diana hartman
i don't take my meals under cover because it would make me hot and sweaty while i was eating...
if the rest of the passengers (or the public for that matter) are willing to take their meals under the cover of a blanket, then i suppose we could reasonably ask the same of the baby...
if the contention, then, would be that the rest of us aren't taking our meal from a breast, could this then be more an issue of jealousy than anything else?
unless delta has a policy that says "breastfeeding without cover stops here," they can pound legal sand...
18 - Matthew T. Sussman
But Diana, you don't eat a sirloin steak off my chest. Granted, that's only because you've yet to ask.
19 - Adam
I don't get why you think I mean they don't have to travel. I conceded in my comments that plane rides are probably necessary in some situations (I don't think a family in Boston should be vacationing in Hawaii if they have a newborn, take a 3 hour flight to Florida, or better yet vacation in the summer and go to Maine). I understand that a family may have to go to meet family across the country for holidays or just for visits. Also, I don't think this is a huge problem in general, I rarely encounter breast feeding women.
I just feel that a woman or couple traveling with a baby should understand that it their kid will most likely cause discomfort for others around them on a plane (crying, breast feeding, soiling diapers, etc.). Just be understanding of the fact that others are affected and you should do what you can to lessen that effect. All this lady had to do was accept the blanket, create a little more of a barrier between her and the rest of the passengers. She didn't do it. I have no problem with someone being thrown off the plane for being inconsiderate.
20 - Adam
Is their a problem with using formula while in these situations? I honestly don't know, I'm just wondering.
21 - Jeffro
I think the bottom line is that it's just a breast. We as a society are so willing to make anything a taboo.
Being ashamed or uncomfortable breast feeding is un-natural. When is the last time you saw a mamma kitty nurse her kittens in the closet where nobody would watch.
22 - Nancy
That was my question, too: so where was the little bottle of pre-pumped breast milk? Of course, these days I understand little bottles over 3 oz aren't allowed 'cause it might be EXPLOSIVE breast milk-! Those damned muslims can pervert anything these days.
Still ... all things considered, it seems to me this gal (the mother) was spoilin' for a fight or to make a statement of some kind. In any event, legally, #10 SRW is correct: the planes are private property, and Delta is well within their rights to ask any passenger to step off the plane, for just about any reason, including someone making other customers uncomfortable.
23 - diana hartman
I just feel that a woman or couple traveling with a baby should understand that it their kid will most likely cause discomfort for others around them on a plane (crying, breast feeding, soiling diapers, etc.). Just be understanding of the fact that others are affected and you should do what you can to lessen that effect. All this lady had to do was accept the blanket, create a little more of a barrier between her and the rest of the passengers. She didn't do it. I have no problem with someone being thrown off the plane for being inconsiderate.
you say "all this lady had to do" and yet you feel your feelings weren't taken into consideration, you feel discomforted and affected by it, and you want a barrier between you and the breastfeeding mother...that's way more than "all she had to do" and it's certainly not taking any responsibility for your own feelings and expectations...
making the breastfeeding mother the center of this issue (presumably everyone's discomfort) is placing all the blame for your feelings and the entire responsibility for resolving those feelings with someone else -- in this case, someone who is doing something so physiologically sound that it can be said to be the reason the entirety of the human race made it out of infancy and into the 20th century...even mothers who couldn't breastfeed for some reason had wet nurses -- you know, more breasts!
sounds like you, and those like you, have a lot on your plate and clearly it's been brewing for a long while, well before you were made aware of this situation...that would explain the intensity of your comments...that you would hold someone else accountable for how you feel and then responsible for making sure you don't feel that way anymore suggests you have some issues with your own private sense of power and control...maybe you had an overcontrolling mother, have an overcontrolling wife or girlfriend, work under a cold and heartless bitch of a boss...i don't know....but certainly something is out of sorts that you would hand over so much power (for how you feel) and so much control (to resolve your feelings) to another person...
either that or your underwear is a few sizes too small...
24 - diana hartman
But Diana, you don't eat a sirloin steak off my chest. Granted, that's only because you've yet to ask.
i'm old enough to be too old for you...but what the hell...can i?
25 - diana hartman
Is their a problem with using formula while in these situations? I honestly don't know, I'm just wondering.
yes...and the answer applies to all situations, not some...