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A Black woman from California has accused Delta Airlines of bumping her to the back of a plane so that two white passengers could sit down.
Camille Henderson first recounted her recent experience on a Delta flight to ABC News 7, telling the outlet about the mid-flight incident that left her feeling "powerless."
On February 3, Henderson boarded a plane traveling from Atlanta to San Francisco and took her window seat at 15A that she purchased and had the ticket for. But when the last two passengers –– both of whom were white –– got on the plane, they argued with flight attendants about their seats.
The two claimed to have first class tickets after speaking with a Delta rep over the phone, but couldn't produce them to prove it, instead their tickets read 15B and 15C –– middle and aisle seats.
"The whole first hour of the flight, as we're taking off and after being served they kind of were going back and forth with each other about how much space they don't have, how inconvenienced they were because they were supposed to have first class seats," Henderson told The Daily Beast.
One of the passengers, a white woman, called a flight attendant to try to explain their situation, but the flight staff told the woman there was nothing to be done if they couldn't produce the first-class tickets.
After 10 minutes, while Henderson was trying to sleep, the flight attendant told her that if she moved, the other two would have more room. She agreed, stating that she didn't want to cause a scene.
"I don't want to be the angry Black woman that doesn't listen to the rules, even though the rules were that I paid for a seat and I went to my seat and I didn't ask to move.
Henderson said "the whole plane is looking at me" while she moved everything she brought on board to the very back. She said she was offered a complimentary cocktail after moving, but she doesn't drink.
Afterwards, she tried for hours to get in touch with Delta customer service and was ultimately told by a supervisor that she shouldn't have felt humiliated.
"You had a main cabin ticket. When they moved you, you still had a main cabin seat," a supervisor told her, adding that a refund wouldn't be possible –– not that she asked for one. After that interaction, Henderson decided to go public with her experience.
"I just want them to acknowledge that they made me feel powerless and that they can't do that to customers moving forward," Henderson said in an interview with ABC News 7.
The airline is reportedly investigating the incident.
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