Passenger Kicked Off Flight for Wearing a ‘Black Panther’ Hat

Flight crews don’t read many comic books, apparently.

Maxim Staff

Oct 13, 2016

An innocent passenger was removed from a United Airlines flight to Chicago Wednesday due to simple but apparently ill-advised clothing choices: A Marvel’s “Black Panther” baseball hat and an A$AP Rocky-designed upside down American flag tee.

Via social media Amanda Stevens shared the images of her clothing, along with her ongoing conversations with United. The story is as baffling as it sounds.

https://twitter.com/sagegnosis/status/786262101006356480

While on traveling from Albany to the League of Legends quarterfinals in Illinois, Stevens was told her clothing made the pilot “uncomfortable,” and then asked to remove the items.

https://twitter.com/sagegnosis/status/786262732265914370

After having an exchange with a flight attendant and looking understandably upset and angry, Stevens was asked to leave the flight. Instead of being booked on another aircraft, the journalist was left waiting for hours with no assistance given.

Kicked off the flight

— Mandi🦄🏳️‍⚧️✨ (@AmandaTNStevens) October 12, 2016

Amanda, could you please DM your confirmation number and MileagePlus information? We'd like to follow-up on this. ^KV

— United Airlines (@united) October 12, 2016

United sent out multiple statements that offered no real explanation, with one directed at a completely different woman:

“We have reached out to Ms. Campos to discuss her concerns. Our goal is to provide safe and comfortable travel for all of our customers and we regret that Ms. Campos was unhappy with the handling of the seat assignments on her flight. United holds our employees to the highest standards of professionalism and has zero tolerance for discrimination.”

After realizing “Ms. Campos” was the incorrect addressee, United said:

We are in contact with Ms. Stevens to discuss this matter further. Both United and SkyWest hold our employees to the highest standards of professionalism and have zero tolerance for discrimination.

Check out all of the back-and-forth tweets and texts above. We’re all for safety regulations but this situation was beyond the pale.

h/t i09