Couple kicked off Miami-New York flight because of T-shirt
MIAMI — A couple returning home from a Costa Rican vacation was ejected from an American Airlines flight because the man was wearing a T-shirt depicting a bare breast.
Oscar Arela and his girlfriend, Tala Tow, were removed from Flight 952 on Saturday after he refused to change the shirt or turn it inside out at Miami International Airport. The flight left 90 minutes late without them.
The couple, making a connecting flight from Costa Rica, said nobody on the earlier flight objected to the shirt and claimed the airline violated their constitutional right to free speech.
"It's a picture of a man and woman, and the woman's breast is showing," Tow said. "The flight attendant basically walked up to us and yelled, 'You have to take off that shirt right now.'"
American spokesman Tim Wagner said Sunday that crew members acted properly.
"The description I heard was a picture of a graphic of a naked man and woman performing a sexual act," he said. "We as an airline are in the service business, and we have the same latitude as a restaurant that says proper attire is required."
Tow said four Miami-Dade police officers and three federal security agents escorted her and Arela off the flight. She said the T-shirt image was reproduced from a Venezuelan record label.
Wagner said the couple could legally be barred from the flight even though they committed no crime. The airline gave them a refund. He did not know if they booked another flight.
"I'd like to figure out how a T-shirt that offends one member of the crew somehow impacts the safety of the flight or the ability of the flight to continue to New York," said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. "If they want to permit this kind of action by flight attendants, then they better have a clear policy that is announced in advance and made known to passengers in advance."
Wagner noted on American's Web site the policy clearly states that someone who is "clothed in a manner that would cause discomfort or offense to other passengers" can be removed from a flight.
August 1, 2004 - 1:49 p.m.
Copyright 2004, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
----------------------------------------------
is this the war on terror? i agree with howard simon from the aclu. the shirt did not say any of the following:
I am a homicide bomber
I like terrorism
God is great
so, the airline employees become nanny police, causing the unneeded and unwarranted use of government resources [four Miami-Dade police officers and three federal security agents] to enforce a baseless and shallow corporate policy.
leave it to a spokeshole to say something stupid regarding the incident.
in america, there is this thing called freedom. this behavior by the airline and the law enforcement personnel is outlandish and offensive, and if not illegal, should be. the current sentiment among some is the world has to stop whenever they have a gripe. gripes clog court systems, and do nothing more than make lawyers wealthy. i'm guessing there is a lawsuit coming out of this. it will not go to court and will be settled with a twenty thousand dollar cash payment and one million aadvantage(tm) miles. because it's cheaper for the airline to shut the guy up, than pay the lawyers to defend the actions of their imbecile of a gate worker.
and what is with that service business excuse. having the same latitude as restaurants in requiring a dress code to fly? what's that about? the airline industry is in place to do one thing and one thing only, to deliver paying ticketed passengers from departing city to the destination airport. that's it. looking for suspicious activity in the airport near the gate? sure, they can do that. causing flights to be 45 minutes off schedule for an objectionable shirt? unacceptable. this moral mongering airline employee should be banished from the airport. however, this will not happen. there are the unions to deal with, who insist on keeping all due-paying members, regardless of their level of competency or behavioral oversights.
this has to stop. national security is significantly more urgent and critical than worrying about such petty woes over poor choice in tasteful clothing. and shame on american airlines for hiring such a hardline puritan drama queen as a representative for their upstanding company.
MIAMI — A couple returning home from a Costa Rican vacation was ejected from an American Airlines flight because the man was wearing a T-shirt depicting a bare breast.
Oscar Arela and his girlfriend, Tala Tow, were removed from Flight 952 on Saturday after he refused to change the shirt or turn it inside out at Miami International Airport. The flight left 90 minutes late without them.
The couple, making a connecting flight from Costa Rica, said nobody on the earlier flight objected to the shirt and claimed the airline violated their constitutional right to free speech.
"It's a picture of a man and woman, and the woman's breast is showing," Tow said. "The flight attendant basically walked up to us and yelled, 'You have to take off that shirt right now.'"
American spokesman Tim Wagner said Sunday that crew members acted properly.
"The description I heard was a picture of a graphic of a naked man and woman performing a sexual act," he said. "We as an airline are in the service business, and we have the same latitude as a restaurant that says proper attire is required."
Tow said four Miami-Dade police officers and three federal security agents escorted her and Arela off the flight. She said the T-shirt image was reproduced from a Venezuelan record label.
Wagner said the couple could legally be barred from the flight even though they committed no crime. The airline gave them a refund. He did not know if they booked another flight.
"I'd like to figure out how a T-shirt that offends one member of the crew somehow impacts the safety of the flight or the ability of the flight to continue to New York," said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. "If they want to permit this kind of action by flight attendants, then they better have a clear policy that is announced in advance and made known to passengers in advance."
Wagner noted on American's Web site the policy clearly states that someone who is "clothed in a manner that would cause discomfort or offense to other passengers" can be removed from a flight.
August 1, 2004 - 1:49 p.m.
Copyright 2004, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
----------------------------------------------
is this the war on terror? i agree with howard simon from the aclu. the shirt did not say any of the following:
I am a homicide bomber
I like terrorism
God is great
so, the airline employees become nanny police, causing the unneeded and unwarranted use of government resources [four Miami-Dade police officers and three federal security agents] to enforce a baseless and shallow corporate policy.
leave it to a spokeshole to say something stupid regarding the incident.
American spokesman Tim Wagner said Sunday that crew members acted properly.oh, a sexual act you say? that is just terrible. if a child were to see that, what lifelong emotional damage would it cause? we just can not let this obscene and lewd shirt to be worn at the airport.
"The description I heard was a picture of a graphic of a naked man and woman performing a sexual act," he said. "We as an airline are in the service business, and we have the same latitude as a restaurant that says proper attire is required
in america, there is this thing called freedom. this behavior by the airline and the law enforcement personnel is outlandish and offensive, and if not illegal, should be. the current sentiment among some is the world has to stop whenever they have a gripe. gripes clog court systems, and do nothing more than make lawyers wealthy. i'm guessing there is a lawsuit coming out of this. it will not go to court and will be settled with a twenty thousand dollar cash payment and one million aadvantage(tm) miles. because it's cheaper for the airline to shut the guy up, than pay the lawyers to defend the actions of their imbecile of a gate worker.
and what is with that service business excuse. having the same latitude as restaurants in requiring a dress code to fly? what's that about? the airline industry is in place to do one thing and one thing only, to deliver paying ticketed passengers from departing city to the destination airport. that's it. looking for suspicious activity in the airport near the gate? sure, they can do that. causing flights to be 45 minutes off schedule for an objectionable shirt? unacceptable. this moral mongering airline employee should be banished from the airport. however, this will not happen. there are the unions to deal with, who insist on keeping all due-paying members, regardless of their level of competency or behavioral oversights.
this has to stop. national security is significantly more urgent and critical than worrying about such petty woes over poor choice in tasteful clothing. and shame on american airlines for hiring such a hardline puritan drama queen as a representative for their upstanding company.
Wagner noted on American's Web site the policy clearly states that someone who is "clothed in a manner that would cause discomfort or offense to other passengers" can be removed from a flight.well that is a nice reference to the cover your a, all powerful and completely subjective policy. so the bill of rights only applies on terra firma, is that it? i say to hell with you and your policy. keep the ones for no guns and bombs. the only people who should have guns at the airport are soldiers, and law enforcement. no member of the TSA should carry a weapon, unless they have the proper military clearance to do so. in which case, they should not be working for the TSA to begin with.
The couple, making a connecting flight from Costa Rica, said nobody on the earlier flight objected to the shirt and claimed the airline violated their constitutional right to free speech.so there you have it. no passengers (customers) indicated to airline personnel any discomfort or offense to the man's shirt.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home