10-23-2020
10:59 PM
I was recently on a flight from Denver to Ontario, Ca last weekend, and my family and I, including my husband when I told him, as well as several people that I spoke to on the plane, felt that the boarding agent was very racist towards my family and I. First off I was traveling with my two daughters as well as my elderly mother. Normally my husband accompanies us on trips, and deals with checking in our luggage and tickets etc, but due to work, he had to meet us out a day later. So being that this was my first time doing this by myself, I got a little confused. The Plane next to us was boarding at the same time as we were, so It was a little bit difficult for me to differentiate between our flight and the flight directly next to us, as both planes were also traveling to the same area. The gate agent that was boarding the other flight had said that anyone with a FB which stood for family boarding could board, so we lined up. The agent at our gate was very rude, and told us that we could not board because we were not FB. I showed him my ticket that clearly had FB on it, and he replied with that FB boarding was for the flight next to us. So I said ok no worries, not a big deal, and we waited on the side until it was our turn to board. A few minutes later another gate agent who was definitely at our gate, because I was standing right next to her by the counter, announced that our flight was not full, and so If you are a family member, or traveling with someone that has a different boarding pass number than you, such as they are in group B, and you are in group C, that it was ok to board together as long as no one had a problem with it. This was a relief for my elderly mother and I to hear, because she checked into the flight later then us, and while we were in group B, she was supposed to be one of the first to board in group C, but that did not happen. She was also very stressed out about putting her luggage up on the rack, or possibly having low blood sugars as she is a diabetic. She was also stressed about not being able to sit next to or near us so that I could retrieve a snack from her bag for her, in the event that she did have a low. She also has trouble walking as she broke her neck last Spring. So when It came time for our group to board, one of the gentlemen that was ahead of us in our boarding group, which was now apparently group B according to our tickets, told us we could go ahead of him. The rude boarding agent told him that no we could not board, and that we had to wait for our exact number. He then got racist when he told me that my white privilege does not give me the right to board before everyone else. I was stunned, seriously wow! I may look white, red hair, and hazel eyes, but I am very much Hispanic, and my children very much look and are also Hispanic. So while this is not the point, and I should not have to explain myself, just wow! I nor my family was not attempting to board in front of anyone or cut them off, that is just bad manners, and rude. The boarding agent that was racist and very rude towards us is a heavy set African American man. With everything going on in the world recently, this broke my heart, as well as I had to explain to my daughters who have unfortunately experienced their share of raciest behavior before, that this was very unprofessional of him to do, as well as should not have said that. On top of all of this, as my younger daughter and I were boarding the plane, my older daughter went ahead of us as we were staying in line order as he told to do, when this man, the boarding agent, accused my daughter and I of having the same name and boarding pass, and that he had to double check everything before we were able to get on the plane, really! How was this possible! My daughter and I have very different names that do not even start with the same letter. We would have also not have been able to print out our tickets, or get through security if this was the case. This also freaked out my older daughter as she was on the plane at this point and did not know if we were going to be able to board the plane on or not. Upon us finally getting on, the gate agent proceeded to make my elderly mom who also looks white, not only go into the last boarding group, but he made sure that she went last, even though she did not have the last boarding number, and once again, a few people offered to let her go ahead of them, however the boarding agent was not having it. What happened to we had to line up in order? I guess that only applied to my family. My family and I fly often, and have flown on several different airlines over the past few years, and we have never been treated like this. SW used to be one of our favorite airlines however after this incident, however, now I am not sure if we will ever fly on this airline again. Also with cameras being everywhere in the airport, especially near the boarding area of the plane, I am sure that SW airlines will have no problem verifying this unfortunate situation. Several people on our flight told me that I should report this incident to the media, and blast this employee who also refused to give me his name, but I am waiting a couple of days to see if SW ignores this incident and sweeps it under the rug, before I let my social influencer daughter, and my news reporter brother- in-law unleash on them or not.
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