BlogHer - Please get your breasts out of our friendly skies - Comments

Sign the Petition Against Delta here

Morra Aarons Mele — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 13:18:51 -0600

delta having hostile takeover issues

Roberta — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 08:33:01 -0600

On the news last night: I guess boycotting delta would be silly at this point.
Delta vs. UA I do love the follow story above by Mir.

Birdsword

Delta is nuts!

A Elliot — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 23:31:08 -0600

I can't believe Delta did that. You know that would have been the same flight attendant who would've given the parents nasty looks/complained if her child had cried the whole flight because the child's ears hurt or because the child needed to nurse. What is wrong with that airline? Even if her breast was showing, who cares! She was feeding her child! It makes me want to attempt to breastfeed my 4 month old as a protest, even though I'm medically unable to, when I fly in Feb.
A. Elliot

And suck is the right word to use ;)

Mir Kamin — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:51:14 -0600

Thanks, Erin.

I've just posted a brief follow-up to this story, too.

--
Mir from WCS
(BlogHer Mommy & Family contributing editor)

Personal: Woulda Coulda Shoulda

Having it all with less: Want Not

TELL DELTA TO SUCK IT

Erin Kotecki Vest — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:37:22 -0600

Come on over to Queen of Spain for some Delta info. Let's make our voices heard.

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

Recourse

MamacitaG — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 17:11:21 -0600

I have a suggestion: Planet Feedback.

http://www.planetfeedback.com/

Your letter goes straight to the CEO.

Thanks for blogging this.

Liz Rizzo — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 16:52:24 -0600

I'm not a mother, but you certainly don't have to be to be totally offended by Delta's actions.

Liz Rizzo

Everyday Goddess

SexySmart Blog

I can't wait to see what

Roberta — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 16:40:49 -0600

I can't wait to see what happens when I fly on friday. My baby is 14 months old and looks 2 years old. I am planning to nurse on take off. American will hopefully not be as lactate intolerant as Delta
Birdsword

What the?

Sarah — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 15:35:57 -0600

Nursing a baby is one of the best ways to keep them from crying on an airplane! It calms them down and keeps their ears from popping.

I hope that Delta issued an apology long before I typed this comment.

BlogHer Contributing Editor, Sports and Fitness
Sarah and the Goon Squad
Draft Day Suit

You go, girl!

CityMama — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 12:44:50 -0600

I can't believe this story.

Stefania Pomponi Butler
Contributing Editor, Arts & Entertainment, BlogHer

I blog:
CityMama
Kimchi Mamas
Family F

Go, Erin!

Mir Kamin — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 12:29:22 -0600

I want a full report when you get back, girl. ;)

--
Mir from WCS
(BlogHer Mommy & Family contributing editor)

Personal: Woulda Coulda Shoulda

Having it all with less: Want Not

I'm flying on Delta tonight

Erin Kotecki Vest — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 11:59:11 -0600

...and nursing my nearly 20-month old. I am sure I will practically DARE them to say something to me.

I can't wait.

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

Seriously?

biggirlblue — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 11:34:06 -0600

I don't fly but if I did I wouldn't Delta it.

Moe
BigGirlBlue
Large & Lovely

"Women are going to form a chain, a greater sisterhood than the world has ever known." ~Nellie McClung, 1916

No More Delta for me

Marksbatulis — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 10:58:27 -0600

This made me so angry to read! I'm an American living in England and have flown back and forth with my first child a few times...breastfeeding at both times. He was yound and so no one hassled me. It helped keep him calm, especially during landing and take off (good for the ears).

When my son was 8 months old I was told to use a bathroom, and then a broom closet! -to be more discreet -while I was feeding him in a quiet corner of a public lounge, during a lunchbreak of a course I was taking for my job. Another male student complained.. I want to emphasize that I was tucked away in a corner!!!! it was very unnerving and that was my first experience of such bullying as a new mom.

It is definitely discrimination and a violation of the child's human rights if you ask me. The flight attendents need more sensitivity training. I wouldn't have got off the plane either. I hope she wins her lawsuit.

thepenninepen.blogspot.com.
In a world gone mad, I choose peace.

boycott delta!

Roberta — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 10:48:18 -0600

Birdsword

Please get your breasts out of our friendly skies

Mir Kamin — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 23:51:26 -0600

I fly Delta Airlines all the time, but I'm thinking that I might not for much longer. Why? Well, apparently they kicked a woman off a flight for breastfeeding her baby.

Emily Gillette, 27, of Santa Fe, N.M., filed the complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission late last week against Delta Air Lines and Freedom Airlines, said her attorney, Elizabeth Boepple. Freedom was operating the Delta flight between Burlington and New York City.

Gillette said she was discreetly breast-feeding her 22-month-old daughter on Oct. 13 as their flight prepared to leave Burlington International Airport. She said she was seated by the window in the next-to-last row, her husband was seated between her and the aisle and no part of her breast was showing.

A flight attendant tried to hand her a blanket and told her to cover up, Gillette said. She declined, telling the flight attendant she had a legal right to breast-feed her baby.

Moments later, a Delta ticket agent approached and said the flight attendant had asked that the family be removed from the flight, Gillette said. She said she didnâ€™t want to make a scene and complied.

Pardon me while I channel Izzy from Grey's Anatomy for a moment: Seriously?

Working Moms highlights the story and says:

To say I am shocked by this story is an understatement. We are asked/told to breastfeed, get put down and insulted if we dont and yet a woman is kicked off an airplane for feeding her child????

Seriously people... what is wrong with this country?

www.new.mom wonders how the airline will make amends:

I hope that Delta/Freedom will correct this situation - reprimand or fire the attendant, conduct some education for the rest of its staff, and offer the woman free plane tickets to make up for the inconvenience, rudeness, and embarrassment of this whole situation.

And aurelia ann gives us the best post title on the topic (Throw Momma From the Plane), and gets right into it:

So if the guy on the plane next to me chews too loudly, can I have him removed from the flight because he is bothering me? I'm sure Mr. Skellon would enjoy eating his lunch with a blanket over his head. And nevermind the fact that by the time a baby is a few months old, he will most likely pull the blanket off his head anyway. I'm surprised someone didn't suggest that this poor woman try to feed her baby in the cramped airplane bathroom, after all, isn't that what bathrooms are for, feeding babies?

And who defines discreet? Her breast was not showing. Her husband was seated between her and the aisle. Do they ask other mothers to cover their baby's head if they are bottlefeeding? What's the problem here, the breast (that isn't showing), the eating baby, or the fact that the baby and the breast are touching? For some reason I don't think you find a breastfeeding mother "acceptable" if you are going to dictate how or when she must breastfeed.

I can tell you one thing. I wouldn't want to be a Delta employee this week.

Editor's note: Don't miss Mir's follow-up on this story: "Boobs bared in Burlington.

[image courtesy of GOOD Magazine]

BlogHer Contributing Editor Mir also blogs at Woulda Coulda Shoulda and Want Not.