Gay couple left 'humiliated' after being asked to move on Alaska Airlines flight so straight couple could sit together
'We are deeply sorry for the situation,' says the airline
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Your support makes all the difference.A gay couple were left feeling “humiliated” and “discriminated against” after being asked to sit separately on an Alaska Airlines flight so a straight couple could sit together.
David Cooley, a Los Angeles restaurant owner, wrote a Facebook post about their experience on flight 1407 from John J Kennedy Airport to LAX on Sunday 29 July.
“I have never been so discriminated against while travelling before,” he said. “I cannot believe that an airline in this day and age would give a straight couple preferential treatment over a gay couple and go so far as to ask us to leave.
“We will never be flying Alaska Airlines or their recently purchased Virgin Airlines Group ever again.”
The situation arose when Cooley and his partner had already taken their premium economy seats. According to Alaska Airlines, one of the seats had been double booked.
“This unfortunate incident was caused by a seating error, compounded by a full flight and a crew seeking an on-time departure and nothing more than that,” a spokesperson told CBS.
A flight attendant allegedly asked Cooley’s partner if he could switch to a seat in economy to allow a couple to sit together.
“I explained that we were a couple and wanted to sit together,” said Cooley. “He was given a choice to either give up the premium seat and move to coach or get off the plane.
“We could not bear the feeling of humiliation for an entire cross-country flight and left the plane.”
Alaska Airlines has since apologised for the incident, saying it has a “zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind.”
The airline said in a statement: “We are deeply sorry for the situation, and are investigating the details.”
It added: “It’s our policy to keep all families seated together whenever possible; that didn’t happen here and we are deeply sorry for the situation. We’ve reached out to Mr Cooley to offer our sincere apologies for what happened and we are seeking to make it right.
“Diversity and inclusion are part of the fabric of Alaska Airlines. We are an airline for everyone and reflect these values through our work with dozens of nonprofit LGBTQ organizations, Pride Parades along the West Coast and a perfect score in the HRC’s Equality Index.”
Cooley, who owns prominent LA gay bar The Abbey, finished up his post by asking people to boycott the airline after the couple’s treatment.
“If you are an #LGBT person, please spend your travel dollars with an LGBT friendly airline like Delta.”
The post has since been shared more than 1,700 times and has garnered more than 3,800 reactions.
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