A First Class Delta Air Lines passenger who was flying back to New York with her daughter for an urgent hospital appointment claims she was booted from the flight by a racist flight attendant because she looked at the crew member the wrong way as the plane was taxiing for take off.
Teresa Hudson had, until March 2024, made Delta her airline of choice, becoming a Platinum SkyMiles member through her frequent flights with the carrier, but that all changed when she suffered the “indignity of Flying While Black,” according to a new lawsuit filed in a New York district court.
Hudson, who describes herself as a Black woman, was traveling with her daughter on Delta Flight DL5792 from Detroit to Lexington on March 27, 2024, when she was allegedly targeted by a White flight attendant whom she had no other interaction with apart from the “natural act” of making eye contact with the crew member.
Although the flight was operated by Republic Airways, a third-party regional airline that operates flights branded as Delta Connection, Hudson says that Delta failed to take any action even after she and other passengers onboard the plane made complaints to the airline’s senior management about the incident.
According to the explosive lawsuit, Hudson and her daughter boarded the plane in Detroit without any issues, greeting the flight attendant at the boarding door and taking their seats in First Class as the plane prepared for departure.
But things took a sinister twist when the aircraft pushed back from the gate and started to taxi to the runway for takeoff. As Hudson leaned forward to say something to her daughter, she looked up and briefly made eye contact with a flight attendant she hadn’t seen before walking down the aisle.
This simple act, Hudson claims, drew the ire of the White flight attendant, who lashed out at Hudson for allegedly eyeing her up and down.
“Don’t look at me like that! the flight attendant allegedly shouted at Hudson. “Don’t eye me up and down. “If you can’t comply with my commands, then I’ll turn this plane around, and we can go back to the gate.”
Rather than getting into a disagreement with the flight attendant, Hudson says she immediately told the crew member that she would comply, but this didn’t stop the threats to have her deplaned.
Hudson says she was made to once again tell the flight attendant that she would comply in front of all the other passengers – an interaction that was witnessed by several passengers and led to one describing it as if Hudson had been treated like a “dog or slave.”
The flight attendant, however, allegedly maliciously lied to the Captain that an unruly passenger was onboard so that the plane would have to return to the gate to have Hudson and her daughter booted from the flight.
In a humiliating moment, Hudson was forced to get up from her seat and deplane as she was escorted off the plane by a gate agent even as eyewitnesses “vehemently” rejected to their removal.
Despite several written complaints to Delta, Hudson says the airline has refused to take any corrective action, while both she and her daughter have been left traumatized by the incident, suffering PTSD and undergoing counseling to help them recover.
Hudson says she has also had to make changes at work, avoiding air travel as much as possible even though this is jeopardizing her career.
The lawsuit makes several claims against Delta, including racial discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and negligence. Delta has declined to comment on the lawsuit but said in a statement:
“While we have no specific comment on this pending litigation, Delta has zero tolerance for discrimination of any form.”
As a socially liberal and a fiscal conservative, I’m embarrassed that there are still so many racist people in the US. Not sure if this flight attendant was male or female but odds say it was a female. My greatest concern is lately, it seems that women are even more racist than men. Very sad.
Haha, racists are women. Very liberal of you
LOL What?
This seems pretty thin on details and super suspect. A little hard to believe this story on the face of it. I would suggest you either wait until you have real detail, or don’t bother. Even in the times we are living in, I doubt a flight attendant is going to boot someone for making eye contact. That seems purposefully histrionic. How about gathering information from other travelers, or a video? I am sure there is a ton more to this story besides smearing Delta. If it is true, the flight attendant will be fired, and the individual will receive a massive settlement. That is also sometimes a motive. In short, based on your reporting, the reader literally has no idea what the truth is or what happened. Perhaps that is intentional and you had a deadline.
My feelings nearly mirror yours.
The article contains information that was gathered from other travelers.
Sadly, our society has become so divisive and entitled that these extreme reactions are almost the norm, not the exception. Suspicion and paranoia control some people’s perceptions because of our political climate. Minorities are obviously a target, but anyone who is different in any way can be victimized. Vote for the wrong political party, attend the wrong church, wear the wrong clothes, marry the wrong person and you will be in the line of fire. Delta should make this right for this woman and demand retraining for the attendant. I understand how difficult it has been dealing with people since covid and flight attendance have had to tolerate the most bizarre and abu
Sounds more like someone’s daughter was told to put away things or tray or move seat up before take off or something simple routine warning…
then mama bear got upset and did a full of attitude stare up and down cause she is in first class and ‘how dare you’ that kind of attitude.
the so call complains are probably from friends in the same group. normal passenger would have no time to complain about these incidents.
it has nothing to do with race…more of showing of attitude and the crew is not taking any of it.
I seen these type of thing plenty in malls…some people just has a bad attitude like they are all that.
I am really wondering if we read the same story because your comment, “Sounds more like someone’s daughter was told to put away things or tray or move seat up before take off or something simple routine warning…” is totally baseless and off the wall.
The flight attendant likely thought that woman was talking about her because of her posture while she was speaking to her daughter. By the way, if she was, it’s not a crime.
Fellow passengers likely saw the interaction and witnessed the disrespect in which the passenger was treated and spoke up, and were likely upset, as should be, to have the flight pulled back because of an airline worker’s power struggle.
And for those that spoke up, cudos to them for doing the right thing.
Were you there? Those are big accusations and conclusions based on the information we were provided. Are there people with bad attitudes? Absolutely. Are there people in positions of power that like to flex their power? Absolutely. Neither one of us should assume we know what happened.
Now comment and pretend the lady is white. I am calling you a racist prick too. Filth like you are part of the problem. Even if that was what happened, it does not merit anyone being put though this. Do better, or not, one day your bill will be due.
wow .. your way off here Andy when did giving someone a good stare down have to do with race? you must be white or a racist to feel thart the passenger was wrong here….remember being “white” does not only make it right.
Well analyzed and said, Andy.
Bill, were either you or Andy on the flight?
wow .. your way off here Andy when did giving someone a good stare down have to do with race? you must be white or a racist to feel thart the passenger was wrong here….remember being “white” does not only make it right.
If this is true, the flight attendant is way, way wrong and Delta is as well for backing the flight attendant.
If.
But this sounds like the result of a series of confrontations, not the one and only confrontation.
But if the other passengers backed her, maybe she is not trying to ignore/cover up earlier friction between herself and the flight attendant.
The fact that she was in first class adds another layer to the onion. First class passengers usually get a rather friendly greeting and are treated with the extra care that a couple thousand bucks of additional revenue brings to Delta.
Interesting.
No mention of the other alleged witnesses or comments from them.
Were all African Americans removed from the flight or just her? If kust her then why would flight attendant choose her?
Does the flight attendant have other claims if discrimination against her or is this the first allegation? How loblng has she a fkight attendant?
So you can’t read, then?
The article does mention comments from witnesses. And not all facts matter, Facts Matter. Whether all African Americans were removed from the flight doesn’t matter. Whether the flight attendant has other claims of discrimination against her and how long she’s been a flight attendant also don’t matter. And your question why would the flight attendant choose her was clearly answered in the article. But thanks fer playin’!
On some levels this sounds like a case of “reckless eye-balling” which was an offense until the 1960’s, in cretain communities, where a black person could be accused of harming or attacking a white person with a look or direct eye contact. It required blacks keep their heads down and eyes averted while in the company of whites. As a matter of fact, black men could be lynched if a white woman claimed a black man “undressed” her with his eyes.
All true.