DL passenger denied boarding due to t-shirt design
Aug 23, 2012, 12:34 pm
#136
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 642
To the Delta apologists out there: what a sad bunch of conformists you are!
Shame to Delta. The pax did nothing wrong.
A higher amount of shame to the police. Even when the halfwits at Delta cried foul, the police should be at least slightly educated about the law.
The pilot should have his diaper changed and relieved of duty immediately.
Shame to Delta. The pax did nothing wrong.
A higher amount of shame to the police. Even when the halfwits at Delta cried foul, the police should be at least slightly educated about the law.
The pilot should have his diaper changed and relieved of duty immediately.
Aug 23, 2012, 4:53 pm
#137
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,972
You are correct that Delta is not the gov't but I would lime to have the opportunity to challenge a couple of things in their COC. While not an attorney, in cases like this if you file a lawsuit, you get anyone and everyone possibly involved. The individual cops, the department, the blue shirted perverts and the DHS, the flight crew and Delta. Let the judge sort it out.
Aug 23, 2012, 6:27 pm
#138
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Let me check my Logbook
Programs: Southwest Rapid Rewards; AAdvantage; Alaska Mileage Plan; Wyndham Rewards; Choice Hotels
Posts: 2,350
Aug 23, 2012, 6:30 pm
#139
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Let me check my Logbook
Programs: Southwest Rapid Rewards; AAdvantage; Alaska Mileage Plan; Wyndham Rewards; Choice Hotels
Posts: 2,350
Wasn't there a similar case several years ago involving a guy who had to change shirts in order to fly on a Jet Blue flight? And I understand Jet Blue paid a six figure settlement to make the lawsuit go away.
Aug 23, 2012, 7:07 pm
#140
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: SAN
Posts: 284
Well okay I read the article and it appears that the guy complied with the request (which I assume meant he changed into another shirt/T-shirt). So if he had complied with the request I could not see what the issue was especially if he was allowed to fly the next day.
Aug 23, 2012, 11:47 pm
#142
Join Date: May 2005
Location: MIA/SJU/MCO
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Posts: 3,331
Aug 24, 2012, 11:17 am
#144
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: FKB
Programs: Skymiles - FO
Posts: 207
If "comfort" is to be interpreted in the way you claim, that clause is unenforcable due to its violating public policy. You can't exclude a black person, a person wearing religious items, or a gay person from a flight just because the presence of that person makes somebody on the flight "uncomfortable". Yes, DL is not a government actor and this was likely not a civil right's issue, but DL does have more responsibility than, say, a restaurant. If a restaurant refused to allow him in because of that shirt, there would be no issue.
However, because of the very fundamental right to travel (though, admittedly, not necessarily the right to travel by air) and that DL has been granted a license by the government to be one of a limited number of air carriers, they do have at least a moral (and probably legal) responsibility to not deny people for reasons that a government actor couldn't.
However, because of the very fundamental right to travel (though, admittedly, not necessarily the right to travel by air) and that DL has been granted a license by the government to be one of a limited number of air carriers, they do have at least a moral (and probably legal) responsibility to not deny people for reasons that a government actor couldn't.
But why not necessarily a right to air travel in the governmental context? Doesn't 49 U.S.C. § 40103 explicitly grant such a right?
Aug 24, 2012, 12:39 pm
#145
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Salish Sea
Programs: DL,AC,HH,PC
Posts: 8,974
UNITED STATES v. GUEST 383 U.S. 745 (1966)
The constitutional right to travel from one State to another, and necessarily to use the highways and other instrumentalities of interstate commerce in doing so, occupies a position fundamental to the concept of our Federal Union. It is a right that has been firmly established and repeatedly recognized....
Aug 24, 2012, 1:45 pm
#147
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: BWI
Programs: AA Gold, HH Diamond, National Emerald Executive, TSA Disparager Gold
Posts: 15,180
We all have quite a laugh at TSA's expense, the shoes, the bottles etc... it's a pain. Personally I curse Richard Reid every time I put my shoes on the belt.
You know who I've never heard laugh at the TSA measures? FAs. More than once FAs have talked about how the searches make them feel safe doing their job, and are grateful for this sense of security. Now whether this is justified or not is another question, but for all FAs who are spared the sight of looking at a customer with stupid crap about terrorists blowing up planes on his shirt while they are doing their job, I laud the captain's decision.
You know who I've never heard laugh at the TSA measures? FAs. More than once FAs have talked about how the searches make them feel safe doing their job, and are grateful for this sense of security. Now whether this is justified or not is another question, but for all FAs who are spared the sight of looking at a customer with stupid crap about terrorists blowing up planes on his shirt while they are doing their job, I laud the captain's decision.
Aug 24, 2012, 2:02 pm
#148
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: BWI
Programs: AA Gold, HH Diamond, National Emerald Executive, TSA Disparager Gold
Posts: 15,180
I've worn anti-TSA shirts for years. First one was a picture of Kippie with a dunce cap that said "Kip Hawley is an Idiot. The Bill of Rights still applies in airports depsite TSA's assertions to the contrary." I wore that in response to MKEBound's experience with TSA. I wore it for nearly 3 years, until Kippie was forced out when Obama was elected. I was never banned from a plane. In fact, most TSA screeners laughed at it and some even agreed. Many flight crew (pilots and FAs) agreed too. Yes ... even on DL.
I think I was even approached by a FAM once at BWI who laughed about it (can't confirm - but he fit the FAM profile).
I also met some FTers with that shirt.
I also wore one of TK's shirts with the body scan images on it and it said "The TSA Wants to See Me Naked!" They were a lot more sensitive to that one. It earned me retaliatory secondaries and other harassment from TSA that yes, put a chilling effect on my 1st amendment rights. At the same time, I was never hassled by UA or any other carrier, and it gave me an opportunity to talk with other pax and crew about TSA. All in all, it was a net positive.
Maybe my experience would have been different if I were brown. I'm a fairly typical looking middle aged white male. Maybe I was therefore seen as ok. I'd hope that anyone wearing what I did wouldn't be singled out because of color or ethnicity.
Bottom line is I was never a threat - I was just expressing my 1st amendment rights and peaceful protest against a government agency I didn't agree with. And TSA largely verified that as I always submitted to screening - and passed. Fortunately, most people got that. I wasn't looking for attention - I was standing up for something I believed in a nonobnoxious way which is my right as an American. People are free to disagree with me, and I welcome the opportunity to debate that. However, if you feel uncomfortable because you disagree with me, that's YOUR problem - not mine.
I stand proudly with the blogger.
I think I was even approached by a FAM once at BWI who laughed about it (can't confirm - but he fit the FAM profile).
I also met some FTers with that shirt.
I also wore one of TK's shirts with the body scan images on it and it said "The TSA Wants to See Me Naked!" They were a lot more sensitive to that one. It earned me retaliatory secondaries and other harassment from TSA that yes, put a chilling effect on my 1st amendment rights. At the same time, I was never hassled by UA or any other carrier, and it gave me an opportunity to talk with other pax and crew about TSA. All in all, it was a net positive.
Maybe my experience would have been different if I were brown. I'm a fairly typical looking middle aged white male. Maybe I was therefore seen as ok. I'd hope that anyone wearing what I did wouldn't be singled out because of color or ethnicity.
Bottom line is I was never a threat - I was just expressing my 1st amendment rights and peaceful protest against a government agency I didn't agree with. And TSA largely verified that as I always submitted to screening - and passed. Fortunately, most people got that. I wasn't looking for attention - I was standing up for something I believed in a nonobnoxious way which is my right as an American. People are free to disagree with me, and I welcome the opportunity to debate that. However, if you feel uncomfortable because you disagree with me, that's YOUR problem - not mine.
I stand proudly with the blogger.
Aug 24, 2012, 6:35 pm
#150
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 2,195
As to the original post, my fellow TSO's cleared him for flight. After that its a customer service issue for the airline to deal with.
But I would like to nominate this thread for "Most Entertaining Thread of the Month"! What a HOOT!