Airline Apologizes to This Mom After Argument Over Carry-on

When you’re a mom, especially a new one, you know that traveling, especially in airports, can be a hassle. There’s so many things to remember to bring. Do you have enough diapers in the diaper bag? What about your pump?

No mom needs to be ridiculed after trying to scour through her mom brain to remember to pack everything she needs.

Unfortunately, that’s just what happened to a woman named Kelsey Myers when she was boarding an American Airlines flight in May from Los Angeles to Chicago. Kelsey was holding a bunch of bags when a gate agent stopped her, saying she had too many and couldn’t board.

Of course, the agent had a right to stop her. You’re typically only allowed one personal item and one carry-on aboard aboard a standard flight. However, once Kelsey explained her situation, she should have been let through to her flight, no more questions asked.

Kelsey had with her a personal item and her carry-on, but she was also carrying a cooler of breast milk and a pump. The agent who stopped her told her that she needed to check her bag, and Kelsey tried to explain to him that her additional bags were for a medical device and that it was necessary that she took it on her flight. The agent told her to step aside and that he had to call a supervisor, and she obliged.

Just to preface this, it states quite clearly on the American Airlines website that ’“diaper bags (1 per child), soft-sided cooler bags with breast milk, child safety seats, strollers and medical or mobility devices don’t count as your personal item or carry-on.”

When the supervisor got there, she immediately told Kelsey that she needed to check a bag, without even listening to her explanation on what was in the bags. Kelsey repeatedly informed her of what she already told the previous person, but it didn’t seem to matter. In fact, not only did the supervisor not hear her, but Kelsey says that the woman started raising her voice and in quite a condescending tone.

Then, here’s the clincher. The woman reportedly asked Kelsey, “How many boobs do you have?”

Kelsey wrote a detailed Facebook post outlining the entire incident.

“I have never felt more harassed, disrespected and humiliated in my life,” she wrote. “I’m shocked that a supervisor would show such disrespect. I’m also very surprised that a supervisor would have no knowledge of what seems to me like a simple policy.”

Kelsey eventually wound up checking her bag because the agents would not reason with her and continued to scream in front of many other passengers who were also in line to board.

Thankfully, a representative for the airline said the gate agent was completely out of line and apologized on behalf of what happened and offered her compensation for her struggles.

“It’s difficult enough to travel as a breastfeeding mom,” said Leslie Scott, a representative of American Airlines, who said that the gate agent was wrong to do what he did. “We want it to be easier, not more difficult.”

What would you do, as a mom carrying on board her necessities, if you got ridiculed like this? Can you believe someone who worked for such a popular airline commented to Kelsey in such an offending manner? Tell us your thoughts on this incident!