This diary is a follow-up to my diary of November 16.
For those just hearing of this incident--
Emily Gillette, a 31-year-old woman from New Mexico, was kicked off a Freedom Air (oh, the irony!) commuter flight operating under Delta Airlines. She refused to cover up with a blanket while nursing her 22-month-old daughter River.
(there's more...)
On October 13th, Emily Gillette boarded a commuter plane at S. Burlington, VT's International Airport with her husband and daughter. The plane was delayed three hours before it prepared for takeoff. Emily began breastfeeding her daughter. A flight attendant handed Ms. Gillette a blanket and asked her to cover up with it. Emily declined. The flight attendant then stated she was offended and asked Ms. Gillette to leave the aircraft.
The Burlington Free Press contacted Delta Airlines and The Mesa Air Group, which owns Freedom Air. A Freedom Air spokesman had this to say last Monday:
"A breast-feeding mother is perfectly acceptable on an aircraft, providing she is feeding the child in a discreet way that doesn't bother others", Skellon said. "She was asked to use a blanket just to provide a little more discretion, she was given a blanket, and she refused to use it, and that's all I know."
Last Wednesday, a group of women organized a nurse-in at the Delta ticket counter in Burlington. About 30 people showed up to protest and moms nursed their kids in full view of passengers and ticket counter workers. The airport was, by all accounts, quite cooperative and friendly.
Emily Gillette found a Vermont civil rights attorney on the internet. That attorney, Elizabeth Boepple had this to say--
"The case has been a triggering event for activists and supporters of breast-feeding," said Boepple, who, at the suggestion of one of her "enormously helpful" staff members at the firm, has been following the case's development in the blog world from a hot topic to a full-blown cause celebre. She credits blogs and online message boards both with spreading the story and with providing an easily accessible tool for social organization around the issues involved in the Gillette case.
Needless to say, this incident has sparked quite a bit of interest, including blogs, newspapers, and morning talk shows. And it isn't over yet.
Chelsea Clark, the mom who organized the nurse-in at Burlington International Airport, has organized a national nurse-in. Anyone that is interested in supporting Emily Gillette and breastfeeding moms should come to the nearest Delta ticket counter on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 at 10AM. Oh, and don't forget to bring some signage to inform others what the protest is all about.
So, you might be wondering what happened to the flight attendent? What do Delta and Freedom air have to say for themselves now that this story has gone nationwide?
Freedom Airlines, a regional airline for Delta, said it has disciplined the flight attendant who ordered Gillette off the plane when she declined to cover up with a blanket. Spokesman Paul Skellon said the attendant did not meet company expectations when Gillette was told to leave the plane.
A spokesman for the airline said the pilot apologized and asked Gillette and her family to get back on the plane, but Gillette said that never happened.
What Delta did do for the Gilette family was to provide ground transportation and a hotel before booking the family on a different airline the next day. Well, that was nice of them. But still there are laws that have been violated. And Emily Gillette has filed a complaint with the Vermont Civil Rights Commission. Vermont's Public Accomodation Law says this,
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a mother may breastfeed her child in any place of public accommodation in which the mother and child would otherwise have a legal right to be.
Sources:
Mothering.com
NBC10.com
Burlington Free Press
USA Today
BenningtonBanner.com