DETROIT -- A Deaf California couple is lashing out at Delta Air Lines, claiming one of its agents at Detroit Metro Airport refused to communicate with them in writing and instead of helping them rolled her eyes at them.
The couple said they just wanted to know if they could be seated together. Turned out, the plane was full, but the couple still had questions.
Confusion followed. Police were called. The passengers were asked to leave.
By Monday morning, the airport incident had gone viral on social media as the couple ended up being denied boarding. They wound up at an airport hotel - hurt, confused and angry.
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"Whew. This is raw. I see this kind of stuff happen to many Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and Deaf-Disabled people in the news. I've always listened to those stories with disbelief. ... Even though I have seen this many times, it was a huge shock when it happened to us ... The feeling of being oppressed is very traumatic," airline passenger Melissa Elmira Yingst said in a Facebook video, where she used sign language to explain what happened.
The 40-year-old Yingst, who is a TV personality in California for Tru Biz and a social activist, also took to Twitter.
"Wow. Am at @Delta airlines in Detroit. Front desk attendant Felixia refuses to communicate with us in writing and even threw away the paper she wrote on with us," Yingst tweeted.
Delta Air Lines tweeted back.
"Hi Melissa, I am so sorry to hear this. Please provide me with your confirmation number, travel dates and city pairs using the link below for further assistance. *TMU"
According to Delta, the two passengers knew in advance they weren't seated together as they had purchased their tickets separately. The airline said that the boarding gate agent at issue accommodated the two passengers in letting them know that the plane was full, and that she would work with the flight attendants to see whether someone would give up a seat so they could sit together.
Delta also said the couple was ultimately refunded their tickets and denied boarding because one of the passengers aggressively went behind the counter - which isn't permitted - and pushed the agent to get to a trash can to retrieve a note.
“Delta is in contact with two customers who reported having difficulty communicating with a gate agent prior to their flight. We are reviewing the situation with our Detroit team and will work with these customers to better understand what transpired. As always, we take situations like these seriously and we are using this as an opportunity to learn and improve” Delta Air Lines spokesman Michael Thomas said in a statement late Monday.
Meanwhile, the couple is reeling.
"This has been very traumatizing for us and we right now are currently collecting resources to figure out the best way to remedy this situation," Yingst wrote to the Free Press in an email Monday. "We booked a different flight out of Detroit with a different airline. Currently on our way to LA. Just looking forward to a hot shower tonight!"
The incident happened about 8 p.m. Sunday as Yingst and her partner, Socorro Garcia, 34, were heading back to Los Angeles after attending a 'creating-change' conference in Detroit.
According to Yingst and Garcia, who gave a detailed account of the incident on Facebook, here is what they say happened:
During check-in, a Delta agent explained to them that once they got to the departure gate, they would be given seats together.
So the couple went to departure gate A64, where, they say, they encountered an unhelpful agent named "Felicia."
The couple communicated to the agent their request to sit together through an iPhone, but the agent "kept talking to us without writing anything down."
According to Garcia, Yingst started questioning why they couldn't sit together, but the "gate agent rolled her eyes at us." After a few moments, the agent "finally wrote on a piece of paper" that the flight was full and that the couple couldn't sit together.
Garcia wanted to continue communicating and tried to write on the agent's note, but said "instead of giving us the paper we asked for, (the agent) crumbled it in front of us and threw it in the trash."
Yingst then pulled out her notepad and started documenting the incident. She said she asked the agent for her name, but that the woman refused. So she looked at her badge, wrote down "Felicia" and kept pressing the agent to work with them on paper.
Meanwhile, Garcia ventured to the trash can to retrieve the agent's note, but was pushed away by the agent.
That's when Yingst started videotaping the incident. So did the agent, who ultimately called the police and accused Garcia of assaulting her.
In the video taken by Yingst, the agent is heard telling Garcia: “You can’t come back here.” Then someone says, "You want me to call the police?" The agent says 'Yes,' waves her hand at Garcia and says, "No more. No more talking."
The couple said that when police arrived, they told them that nothing could be done about the seating arrangement and asked them to leave. They advised the couple to book another flight back to Los Angeles, they said, so they got a hotel near the airport and vented on social media.
"This really isn't about us not being able to sit together but how they handled communication and refused to provide us access to the needs we asked for," Yingst wrote.
Garcia added: "Loss for words. What did we do wrong?"
SOURCE - Detroit Press Press
UPDATE:
A Deaf couple who was kicked off a Delta Air Lines flight following a dispute with a boarding agent over seating assignments has threatened a lawsuit against the airliner unless these conditions are met... Read more: Deaf couple threatens to sue Delta Air Lines over agent's behavior.
Related Posts: #DeafCouple - #DeafLesbianCouple - #DeafPassengers
#Airport - #Discrimination - #Oppression
