A mom says she was humiliated by an airline supervisor after she tried bringing a breast pump on a f

July 13, 2024

2018-05-15T15:59:00Z

American Airlines passenger and breastfeeding mother Kelsey Myers encountered difficulties when she tried to bring her breast pump onto her flight on May 6.
Even though the airline's policy states that medical devices such as breast pumps do not count as a carry-on item, the airline representatives told her she had to check one of her bags.
Myers also claimed that an American Airlines supervisor humiliated her by screaming, "How many boobs do you have?"
According to Myers, American Airlines offered her a $100 voucher as compensation, but she did not feel like it was enough.

Breastfeeding mothers are often shamed and stigmatized by society.

American Airlines passenger Kelsey Myers said she had a particularly humiliating experience when she was stopped from bringing her breast pump on a recent flight. She claims that an airline supervisor even asked her, "How many boobs do you have?"

On May 6, breastfeeding mother Myers prepared to board an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Chicago with her friend.

She brought a carry-on, a personal item, as well as a bag containing her breast milk and breast pump. The first-time mother of a 2-year-old son, Myers told INSIDER that she felt nervous about the flight and was overprepared.

"I made sure to check their policy," Myers said. "I went on the websites for Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, and TSA, and confirmed that the breast pump doesn't count as a carry-on item."

The American Airlines website states that mobility and medical devices don't count toward carry-on limits.

"Our normal carry-on policy allows customers to bring one bag and one personal item on board, but we do have exemptions that allow another bag," a representative for American Airlines told INSIDER. "One exemption is a medical device, and a breast pump is a medical device."

However, when Myers attempted to board the American Airlines flight at Los Angeles, she encountered difficulties.

According to Myers, an American Airlines representative named Daniel stopped her as she was boarding and told her that she was carrying too many items and that she had to check one of them. Myers said that she explained to him that one of her items was her breast pump, which is a medical device that was allowed on board. However, he insisted that she needed to check one of her bags.

Myers asked Daniel if she could speak to an American Airlines supervisor. While she waited for his supervisor to arrive, she started to feel anxious that the boarding process was taking so long.

"I really needed to pump," Myers said. "And I wanted to find a seat next to my friend on the flight, because I don't feel comfortable pumping next to a stranger."

When the airline supervisor named Juliette arrived, she asked Myers what was in each of her bags. Myers explained that her carry-on item contained some additional breast pump parts. "I was pumping all weekend," she told us. "So I was carrying all of my extra stuff, just in case."

According to Myers, it was at this point that Juliette said, "How many boobs do you have?"

Myers said that it was very humiliating to be spoken to like that in front of the other passengers.

"She said this to me in front of about 50 people who were waiting to board the plane," Myers told us. "She practically screamed it. It was so disrespectful."

According to Myers, she tried to tell Juliette that the breast pump was a medical device and that she needed to carry it on, but Juliette continued to scream at her. Ultimately, Myers decided to check her carry-on item, bringing only her personal item and breast pump on board the flight with her.

On board the flight, Myers said that she ended up not taking up any overhead space with her belongings. And she said that there was not only plenty of room in the overhead compartments, but there was even a man on the flight who managed to bring on board "two bags and a huge skateboard" without attracting any trouble.

Myers said that the treatment she experienced from American Airlines was unfair and humiliating. She did manage to bring her breast pump on the plane with her, but she said that she was worried about people with more serious medical issues.

"My brother is a Type 1 diabetic," Myers said. "If the airline didn't let him bring insulin on the flight, what would happen to him? He could die."

Later that day, Myers posted about her experience on the American Airlines official Facebook page.

In her Facebook post, she recounted the difficulties she experienced when she tried to bring a breast pump on board the flight.

"I have never felt more harassed, disrespected, and humiliated in my life," Myers wrote, referring to Juliette's comment in particular. "I'm shocked that a supervisor would show such disrespect. I'm also surprised that a supervisor would have no knowledge of what seems to me like a simple policy."

She also posted a photo of Daniel, the American Airlines representative who first told her that she needed to check one of her belongings. Myers told us that she tried to take a photo of Juliette as well, but when she took her phone out, Juliette quickly turned her back and walked away to avoid getting photographed.

At the time of this post, her Facebook post has received thousands of likes as well as hundreds of shares and comments.

Most of the people in the comments are sympathetic to Myers' plight, expressing the hope that the airline takes disciplinary action against the employees and also compensates her for what she went through.

However, Myers said that she was not properly compensated by American Airlines for her experience.

Myers told us that she managed to get the airline's attention with the following tweet:

—Kelsey Myers (@KelseyM24324857) May 7, 2018

According to Myers, a woman from American Airlines called her and apologized for what she went through.

Myers was surprised that the airline representative did not ask her for more details about the situation.

"If they really wanted to follow up, they would've asked me for all the details, or they would've asked to speak to Juliette or Daniel," she said.

Then the representative offered her a $75 voucher as compensation. Myers said that she laughed. "First of all that gets you nowhere," she said. "Second of all, I'm never flying with American Airlines ever again."

—Kelsey Myers (@KelseyM24324857) May 8, 2018

Myers told us that the call dropped, and the woman did not call her back. A few days later, after her story had attracted the attention of major media outlets, she received another call from the same woman from American Airlines. This time, she offered Myers a $100 voucher.

Again, Myers told her that that wasn't enough. She told the American Airlines representative that she didn't want a voucher; she wanted to hold the employees Daniel and Juliette accountable. According to Myers, the airline representative told her that would not be possible.

After that conversation, Myers said that the airline did not reach out to her again.

A representative from American Airlines told INSIDER that they had reached out to Myers a couple of times to apologize and offer goodwill compensation for the incident.

"The agent was in error telling Myers she had too many bags," the airline representative told us. "When these things comes up, we use them to remind our team members of our policies and procedures. Hopefully this won't happen again."

The American Airlines representative did not disclose the exact amount of compensation that was offered to Myers, nor did they comment on whether or not disciplinary action was taken against Daniel and Juliette.

Many people in the comments of Myers' Facebook post perceived this incident as an example of discrimination against breastfeeding mothers.

Many people online observed that Myers's experience falls into a larger pattern of mothers who are shamed and humiliated for breastfeeding. From a breastfeeding mother in Disneyland who was told by onlookers that she should nurse in a restroom rather than in public, to a breastfeeding mother at Target who was verbally assaulted by a man who called her "nasty" and "disgusting," to a breastfeeding mother at a museum who was told by an employee to stop, there are innumerable examples of mothers who have been criticized for breastfeeding.

"Moms have a hard enough time juggling everything for their families, but to be publicly humiliated for something like this is inhumane and cruel," one person commented on Myers' post on the American Airlines Facebook page.

"Freaking normalize breastfeeding," another commenter wrote. "You're not smuggling drugs, you're supplying food for a tiny life."

Myers told INSIDER that she experiences many difficulties as a breastfeeding mother.

"Breastfeeding itself is a battle for me," she said. "I've wanted to give it up so many times." She said that this experience with American Airlines was particularly unpleasant for her because she felt like she was being shamed for breastfeeding and for carrying her breast pump with her.

"I wish I could take the weekend off breastfeeding and leave my breast pump at home," she told us. "But it's simply not an option for me."

Follow INSIDER on Facebook.

Follow INSIDER on Twitter.

Watch: We searched for the best tacos in LA

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonyjvsSaqq2elZqxqrrGZqSorJiav2601KagpaGRqbKlecWloKCgpGJ%2FcX2XZmw%3D