Breastfeeding mum unfairly kicked off flight

You’d think by now people in public spaces would know that women have breasts, and often need to use these breasts to feed their infants.

This is part of our species and is as natural as hunger.

However, one mum is making international headlines for being unfairly kicked off a US airline after her behaviour was considered “non-compliant” with airline protocol.

The Grammy award-winning pianist who also spends her time researching cancer – no, her career is not necessarily relevant, but wow, that’s some resume – was booted from a Spirit Airlines flight along with her elderly parents and 2-year-old son.

According to The Washington Post, Mei Rui was aboard a flight from Houston to Newark which was facing continual delays as the plane needed to be de-iced.

In an attempt to kill some time, Rui began breastfeeding her son, at which point, all hell broke loose.

As per The Post, while the plane doors were still open, Rui was asked to strap in her son.

“I asked for just a couple more minutes to finish because if he woke up at that point he would have made a lot of noise,” Rui said.

“I said, ‘I promise I’ll finish before you close the plane’s door.’”

As soon as Rui stopped breastfeeding her son, he continued crying and the entire family was ordered to get off the plane.

“It’s not like I was resistant, I put him in the seat,” she told the paper.

“If they had shown a little compassion, it wouldn’t have happened, they didn’t have to let it escalate.”

Rui was met by police officers at the gate, where a Spirit rep told her she would not be allowed back on board.

She then asked why she was not able to reboard, and reps were short with their words to say the least.

Luckily, Rui captured the entire exchange on her mobile.

Check it out here:

https://youtu.be/86_wc-hZBf4

In a statement to Houston’s KHOU, Spirit defended its decision to kick Rui and her family off the plane.

“Our records indicate a passenger was removed from Flight 712 after refusing to comply with crew instructions several times during taxi to runway and safety briefing,” the statement said.

“To protect the safety of our guests and crew, FAA regulations and airline policies require all passengers to stay seated and buckled during takeoff and landing.

“We apologize for any inconvenience to our guests. As a courtesy, we’ve issued a full refund to the passenger in question.”

“I had never imagined something like this could happen to our family. I am heartbroken that I could not protect my old parents and Lukas from this cruelty!” Rui wrote on Facebook.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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