A Marine Corps veteran was forced to deplane a Delta Air Lines flight at San Francisco International Airport last Wednesday, October 16 after a flight attendant took issue with their shirt.
Catherine Banks had just settled into her seat on the plane when a flight attendant informed her she would need to get off the plane because the shirt she was wearing was “threatening.”
“A male flight attendant was saying, ‘Ma’am, ma’am.’ I looked around, like, ‘Who was he talking to?’ And it was me. He said, ‘You need to get off the plane,’ and I was like, ‘What did I do?’” Banks told KNTV.
Banks, a Marine Corps veteran, complied, though she said it wasn’t until she reached the jet bridge that she learned why she had to get off the plane.
“He said that shirt you’re wearing is threatening,” Banks said. “I said, ‘Are you kidding me? I’m a Marine Corps vet. I’m going to see my Marine sister. I’ve been in the Marine Corps for 22 years and worked for the Air Force for 15 years. I’m going to visit her.’ He said, ‘I don’t care about your service, and I don’t care about her service. The only way you’re going to get back on the plane is if you take it off right now.’”
The shirt in question read: “Do not give in to the war within. End veteran suicide.”
Given no other option, Banks was forced to change her shirt in front of the flight attendant on the jet bridge. She said since she was not wearing a bra she had to turn her back in order to change her shirt.
“I feel like they just took my soul away. I’m not a bad person, and that T-shirt, I should be allowed to support myself and veterans,” she said.
Banks was eventually allowed to board the plane again, but instead of returning to the extra legroom seat she purchased, she claims she was forced to sit in the back of the plane. As a result the flight was delayed, and she missed her connecting flight.
Delta reached out to Banks to correct the situation, and according to a spokesperson for the airline, “the matter with the customer has been resolved.”
The airline’s Contract of Carriage states it can remove passengers if “the passenger’s conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers.”
Wow. How is a shirt bringing attention to veteran suicide “threatening”? This was extremely wrong on Delta’s part.