By JOHN CURRAN, AP
MONTPELIER, Vt. (Nov. 20) - The ejection of a nursing mother from a Delta Air Lines commuter flight last month has prompted plans for "nurse-ins" to be held Tuesday at more than a dozen airports.
Emily Gillette, 27, filed a complaint last week against Delta Air Lines Inc. and Freedom Airlines, which operated the commuter flight for the Atlanta-based carrier, over the Oct. 13 incident at Burlington International Airport. In the complaint, Gillette said she was breast-feeding daughter River, 1, aboard the New York-bound plane when a flight attendant tried to hand her a blanket and told her to cover up.
When Gillette balked, she and her husband were ordered off the plane before takeoff, triggering a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission, a "nurse-in" last week at that airport and now the national protest action, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. local time at 19 airports from Anchorage to Islip, N.Y.
"This is not an isolated incident," said Valarie Roney, 24, of Carrollton, Ga. "It's every day in every city, people walking up to women feeding their babies, saying `You should go to the bathroom,' or `You should put a blanket over her.' They wouldn't want to eat in a bathroom or eat lunch with a blanket over their heads."
Freedom Airlines has said Gillette was offered a chance to reboard the plane and declined it. The female flight attendant involved has been disciplined, and the company says its policy is to allow breast-feeding on planes.
According to organizers, the protests were all planned for 10 a.m. local time at Delta ticket counters at airports in the following cities: Anchorage, Alaska; Burlington, Vt., Tucson, Ariz.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Hartford, Conn.; Atlanta; Louisville; Baltimore; Detroit; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Albuquerque, N.M.; Columbus, Ohio; Nashville, Tenn.; Portland, Ore.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Washington; New York, Las Vegas; Islip, N.Y.
"Delta fully supports a mother's right to breastfeed her baby onboard," said Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton. "We very much regret their decision to remove the passenger from the flight."
Asked how the airline would handle the protests, she said Delta would work to make sure customers get checked in and board their flights on time.
11/20/06 16:00 EST
MONTPELIER, Vt. (Nov. 20) - The ejection of a nursing mother from a Delta Air Lines commuter flight last month has prompted plans for "nurse-ins" to be held Tuesday at more than a dozen airports.
Emily Gillette, 27, filed a complaint last week against Delta Air Lines Inc. and Freedom Airlines, which operated the commuter flight for the Atlanta-based carrier, over the Oct. 13 incident at Burlington International Airport. In the complaint, Gillette said she was breast-feeding daughter River, 1, aboard the New York-bound plane when a flight attendant tried to hand her a blanket and told her to cover up.
When Gillette balked, she and her husband were ordered off the plane before takeoff, triggering a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission, a "nurse-in" last week at that airport and now the national protest action, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. local time at 19 airports from Anchorage to Islip, N.Y.
"This is not an isolated incident," said Valarie Roney, 24, of Carrollton, Ga. "It's every day in every city, people walking up to women feeding their babies, saying `You should go to the bathroom,' or `You should put a blanket over her.' They wouldn't want to eat in a bathroom or eat lunch with a blanket over their heads."
Freedom Airlines has said Gillette was offered a chance to reboard the plane and declined it. The female flight attendant involved has been disciplined, and the company says its policy is to allow breast-feeding on planes.
According to organizers, the protests were all planned for 10 a.m. local time at Delta ticket counters at airports in the following cities: Anchorage, Alaska; Burlington, Vt., Tucson, Ariz.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Hartford, Conn.; Atlanta; Louisville; Baltimore; Detroit; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Albuquerque, N.M.; Columbus, Ohio; Nashville, Tenn.; Portland, Ore.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Washington; New York, Las Vegas; Islip, N.Y.
"Delta fully supports a mother's right to breastfeed her baby onboard," said Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton. "We very much regret their decision to remove the passenger from the flight."
Asked how the airline would handle the protests, she said Delta would work to make sure customers get checked in and board their flights on time.
11/20/06 16:00 EST
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