American Airlines has apologized and offered a full refund to a female passenger after the carrier allegedly asked her to “cover up” or get off of a recent flight when her outfit was deemed too inappropriate.
Houston, Texas-based doctor Tisha Rowe took to Twitter late last month to call out American, sharing photos of the strapless shirt and matching shorts she was wearing during the incident.
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“My shorts covered EVERYTHING but apparently was too distracting to enter the plane,” Rowe tweeted. “When defending my outfit I was threatened with not getting back on the flight unless I walked down the aisle wrapped in a blanket.”
Rowe said she felt “disgusted” and “humiliated,” pointing out that the incident brought her young to tears.
“As a physician, I know the negative impact of #racism on health and I am speaking up because I hope no one else has endured what I did because they don’t fit the mold,” she added. “We are policed for being black. Our bodies are over sexualized as women and we must ADJUST to make everyone around us comfortable. I’ve seen white women with much shorter shorts board a plane without a blink of an eye.”
So #AmericanAirlines just told me I couldn’t board the flight without putting a jacket over my ASSETS. My shorts covered EVERYTHING but apparently was too distracting to enter the plane. I guess that’s why they are AMERICAN airlines…. @AmericanAir
— Tisha Rowe MD, MBA (@tisharowemd) June 30, 2019
Here is what i was wearing when @AmericanAir asked me to deplane for a talk. At which point I was asked to “cover up”. When defending my outfit I was threatened with not getting back on the flight unless I walked down the aisle wrapped in a blanket. #notsofriendlyskies pic.twitter.com/AYQNNriLcq
— Tisha Rowe MD, MBA (@tisharowemd) July 1, 2019
American expressed concern over Rowe’s claims and has already “reached out to her [Rowe] and our team at Kingston Airport to gather more information about what occurred.”
“We apologize to Dr. Rowe and her son for their experience and have fully refunded their travel. We are proud to serve customers of all backgrounds and are committed to providing a positive, safe travel experience for everyone who flies with us,” American Airlines representative Shannon Gilson said in a statement to USA Today.
Last year, a black Harvard doctor alleged that she was racially profiled by flight attendants when assisting a fellow passenger on a Delta Air Lines partner flight.
