A
anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
We haven't had a good discussion about American airlines (in this case, American Airlines) and their hospitality in a while - this should be interesting..... I will say I've been on planes and sat next to folks who don't use deodorant for whatever reason (notably flights in/out of NYC), but I have never made an issue of it. I do find the way the airline got the family off the plane a bit sneaky - saying there was an emergency and then revealing the truth - that it was the man's body odor - only after they were off. I couldn't in good conscious remove a small child from a plane and have to think they could have dealt with this another way (maybe move them to another area of the plane?), but I also do not think this was motivated by Antisemitism....from The Washington Post:
A Jewish family was booted from a flight over ‘body odor’ — but says anti-Semitism is to blame
A Michigan couple and their 19-month-old daughter were removed from an American Airlines flight after the airline told them that other passengers and crew members had complained about their body odor.
Yossi Adler said he and his wife, Jennie, were heading home from a vacation in Miami on Wednesday night when they were told there was an emergency and they needed to exit the plane.
The couple, both 37, had eight other children at home in Southfield, Mich., so Adler said that he and his wife were worried that there may have been an incident involving one of them. Later, he said, when he and his wife stepped off the plane and the airline told them that they had been removed because of a stench, they were “humiliated,” “frustrated” and left wondering about the real reason.
“Obviously, there was a reason,” Adler, who is Jewish, said in a phone interview Friday with The Washington Post. “But I think it was an anti-Semitic reason."
"Even if it wasn’t,” he added, “they were anti-Semitic afterward.”
American Airlines said in a statement that the Adlers were asked to deplane after “multiple passengers, along with our crew members, complained about Mr. Adler’s body odor. Our Miami airport team members were concerned about the comfort of our other passengers due to the odor. Our team members took care of the family and provided hotel accommodations and meals, and rebooked them on a flight to Detroit Thursday morning.”
The airline said its employees did not know of Adler’s religion.
Adler said the vouchers that American Airlines gave him for food and lodging did not work, so he had to pay out of pocket. The airline said that should not have been the case but that it will look into the matter and ensure any such expenses are reimbursed.
In any case, Adler said, had the airline been that concerned about his body odor, it should have given him clean clothes to wear. Instead, he said, he had to wear the same clothes on the flight the next morning because he did not have his belongings.
Video showed the Adlers approach a ticket counter Wednesday evening, complaining that the airline had removed them from the plane and then sent their belongings ahead to Detroit.
“I’m trying to stay calm here,” Yossi Adler told an employee. “But there’s two Jewish people on the plane, and now they’re kicking us off because of odor. Seriously? Nobody here thinks I have odor.
“I need to get on a plane tonight. I have eight children at home.”
At one point, after Adler asked airline workers for an explanation for the removal, one of them asked him, “You told me for religious reasons you don’t shower?”
“I shower every day!” Adler quickly responded. “I said you kicked me off because of religious reasons.”
A person who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity said that he and his girlfriend were also on the plane and that there was indeed a stench.
Another woman who claims to have been on the flight took to Twitter to back up American Airline’s claim. “The smell was so bad I don’t think I could have made it through the 2.5 hr flight,” she said.
A Jewish family was booted from a flight over ‘body odor’ — but says anti-Semitism is to blame
A Michigan couple and their 19-month-old daughter were removed from an American Airlines flight after the airline told them that other passengers and crew members had complained about their body odor.
Yossi Adler said he and his wife, Jennie, were heading home from a vacation in Miami on Wednesday night when they were told there was an emergency and they needed to exit the plane.
The couple, both 37, had eight other children at home in Southfield, Mich., so Adler said that he and his wife were worried that there may have been an incident involving one of them. Later, he said, when he and his wife stepped off the plane and the airline told them that they had been removed because of a stench, they were “humiliated,” “frustrated” and left wondering about the real reason.
“Obviously, there was a reason,” Adler, who is Jewish, said in a phone interview Friday with The Washington Post. “But I think it was an anti-Semitic reason."
"Even if it wasn’t,” he added, “they were anti-Semitic afterward.”
American Airlines said in a statement that the Adlers were asked to deplane after “multiple passengers, along with our crew members, complained about Mr. Adler’s body odor. Our Miami airport team members were concerned about the comfort of our other passengers due to the odor. Our team members took care of the family and provided hotel accommodations and meals, and rebooked them on a flight to Detroit Thursday morning.”
The airline said its employees did not know of Adler’s religion.
Adler said the vouchers that American Airlines gave him for food and lodging did not work, so he had to pay out of pocket. The airline said that should not have been the case but that it will look into the matter and ensure any such expenses are reimbursed.
In any case, Adler said, had the airline been that concerned about his body odor, it should have given him clean clothes to wear. Instead, he said, he had to wear the same clothes on the flight the next morning because he did not have his belongings.
Video showed the Adlers approach a ticket counter Wednesday evening, complaining that the airline had removed them from the plane and then sent their belongings ahead to Detroit.
“I’m trying to stay calm here,” Yossi Adler told an employee. “But there’s two Jewish people on the plane, and now they’re kicking us off because of odor. Seriously? Nobody here thinks I have odor.
“I need to get on a plane tonight. I have eight children at home.”
At one point, after Adler asked airline workers for an explanation for the removal, one of them asked him, “You told me for religious reasons you don’t shower?”
“I shower every day!” Adler quickly responded. “I said you kicked me off because of religious reasons.”
A person who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity said that he and his girlfriend were also on the plane and that there was indeed a stench.
Another woman who claims to have been on the flight took to Twitter to back up American Airline’s claim. “The smell was so bad I don’t think I could have made it through the 2.5 hr flight,” she said.
