The airline-riding public wants to see unruly passengers banned from flying, but what happens when the wrong person is kept off a plane? Erin Wright took to TikTok last week to discuss how American Airlines kept her off a June flight from New Mexico to New Orleans. The carrier told her that she was on the carrier’s no-fly list for having sexual relations with a man while intoxicated on a flight. Wright was adamant that American had made a mistake. Why? She stated, “I’m a 24-year-old lesbian.”
Wright was headed to the Big Easy for her sister’s bachelorette party, but she noticed something was amiss while checking in. The app, self-service kiosk and help desk were all locked out, and Wright became increasingly worried that she would miss her flight. After she learned that she had to contact customer relations by email, Wright booked another $1,000 round-trip ticket on top of her initial $400 itinerary.
The bureaucratic process dragged on, and American Airlines’ corporate security got looped in. Wright finally discovered why she was banned 12 days later. After her case was reviewed, she was removed from the carrier’s no-fly list, and American refunded $400 for the missed flight. However, the airline wouldn’t reveal to Wright why she was put on their list in the first place.
Wight was allowed to fly American Airlines once again, but she was still out $1,000 for the replacement flight. In an update, she stated the video generated enough revenue for TikTok to dish out $1,008. The video garnered over 2.5 million views on the social media platform. Every cloud has a silver lining. She also considering filing a complaint with the USDOT or suing American in small claims court.
The Department of Transportation took massive steps in recent years to force airlines to keep their customers better. The most recent measure mandated that airlines must automatically give out refunds to canceled and severely delayed flights. Hopefully, Wright gets some recourse for what she went through.