A Delta employee pushed back on the claim that the seat-change was racially motivated, explaining that flight attendants followed standard procedure.
The Bay Area’s ABC7 reported late last month that a black woman was made to move her seat on a Delta flight to accommodate white passengers in an article that heavily implied the seat-change was racially motivated.
The original local news report found its way into the New York Post, The Independent, and Business Insider, among other outlets.
And it’s easy to see why, considering the headline on the original report: “Black Alameda woman forced to move for white Delta passengers says: ‘made me feel powerless.'” But that framing doesn’t capture the reality of what occurred on the flight in question, a Delta employee with knowledge of the situation told National Review.
According to Camille Henderson, two white women — whom she was unlucky enough to be seated next to — spent the first hour or so of a flight from California to Atlanta loudly complaining about not having been seated in first class.
In Henderson’s interpretation of events, she was made a victim of the flight attendants’ effort to pacify them, and was forced to move from her window seat in row 15 to an aisle seat in row 34. Henderson provided ABC7 with a recording of the incident in which a flight attendant asking her if she’s flying alone. After Henderson responds in the affirmative, the Delta employee says, “there’s a seat back there in 34… but it will give you all more space.” The recording stops at that point.
Henderson summarized the situation by stating that “me, as a Black woman, I was displaced to make two white women comfortable,” telling ABC7 that “I just want them [Delta] to acknowledge that they made me feel powerless and they can’t do that to customers moving forward.” She then pledged never to travel with Delta again because she was not immediately compensated for her experience.
“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. I just don’t know why I had to move because that was the seat that I paid for, that was my assigned seat,” she explained.
While Henderson may profess not to have wanted to make it a race thing, it has certainly been portrayed as such by the press. Outside of the ABC7 headline, the Post’s headline blared “Black woman says Delta moved her to back of plane for white passengers,” and the Independent advertised that “Delta Airlines accused of moving Black woman to back of plane for the convenience of two white passengers.”
The airline issued the following official statement in response to the outcry:
“Delta does not tolerate discrimination in any form, and these allegations run counter to our deeply-held values of respecting and honoring the diversity of our customers. While the intention of our flight crew was to provide a comfortable experience for all, we understand the sensitivities at play and sincerely apologize for this customer’s experience. As always, we appreciate such feedback so that we may continue to learn and improve.”
Another employee with knowledge of the situation echoed the statement’s sympathy toward Henderson’s position, but also provided further context.
Henderson was not made to move, the proposal to move was not solely for her seat-mates’ benefit, and none of the decisions made by the flight crew were made on the basis of race, according to the employee.
Delta’s internal investigation revealed that the flight crew had noticed that Henderson herself seemed dissatisfied with the original arrangement, as anyone squeezed beside two commiserating complainers on a long flight might be. Because they had observed Henderson’s discomfort, they sought out a solution that would provide all three customers with more space and free her from the situation for the remainder of the trip.
To the flight crew, Henderson seemed willing, and even eager to move seats. Left out of ABC7’s and other accounts is the fact that she was also offered free drinks and food for her trouble and help in alleviating the situation.
According to Delta, its flight crews undergo extensive training for dealing with potentially disruptive passengers and are encouraged to use their best judgment in handling them, including working with other nearby passengers. De-escalation is always their aim.
The investigation also found that Henderson, and not the other two passengers were offered the open seat because there wouldn’t have been more room for all if the other two passengers, who were traveling together, moved.
Efforts to reach Henderson for comment on the context missing from the original ABC7 story were unsuccessful.