Woman ‘evicted from 1st class seat in favor of politician’

A school teacher from Washington, DC says United Airlines evicted her from her first-class seat and gave it to a powerful Democratic congresswoman, it was reported on Saturday.

Jean-Marie Simon, 63, was flying home on December 18, having boarded a flight from George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston bound for the capital.

The flight was the second leg of her return flight after a trip she took to Guatemala.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Simon used 140,000 miles she accrued from previous flights to buy a flight-class ticket.

She made the purchase on December 3.

When she boarded the final flight of her trip home on December 18, she was told by the gate attendant that her ticket was not in the system.

Jean-Marie Simon (above), a school teacher from Washington, DC, says United Airlines evicted her from her first-class seat and gave it to a powerful Democratic congresswoman

Simon, 63, was flying home on December 18, having boarded a flight in Houston bound for the capital. She said the airline denied her a seat she paid for in first class and instead gave it to Rep Sheila Jackson Lee (seen in the seat near the window)

Simon, 63, was flying home on December 18, having boarded a flight in Houston bound for the capital. She said the airline denied her a seat she paid for in first class and instead gave it to Rep Sheila Jackson Lee (seen in the seat near the window)

When the attendant asked if she canceled her ticket, Simon replied: ‘No. I just want to go home.’

Simon was then told that the seat she had purchased, 1A, was taken.

The airline compensated her with a $500 voucher and another ticket in Economy Plus.

Upon boarding the plane, Simon noticed that her seat was taken by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, the congresswoman from Houston.

Simon believes that she was removed from her seat by United in order to accommodate Lee.

The airline, however, denies this.

‘After thoroughly examining our electronic records, we found that upon receiving a notification that Flight 788 was delayed due to weather, the customer appears to have canceled her flight from Houston to Washington, DC within the United mobile app,’ United said in a statement.

‘As part of the normal pre-boarding process, gate agents began clearing standby and upgrade customers, including the first customer on the waitlist for an upgrade.’

Simon believes that she was removed from her seat by United in order to accommodate Lee. The airline, however, denies this

Simon believes that she was removed from her seat by United in order to accommodate Lee. The airline, however, denies this

Simon denied the airline’s claim that she canceled her ticket.

In August, she had to cancel a flight to Houston, where she was supposed to visit her daughter, because of Hurricane Harvey.

In a statement to the Chronicle, Jackson Lee said: ‘I asked for nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary and received nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary.’

Simon said that she saw Jackson Lee board with plane with a flight attendant before all of the other passengers.

At the time, she was not aware of who she was. After she was seated, she was told by another passenger that her original seat was occupied by a congresswoman.

Simon denied the airline's claim that she canceled her ticket, leading to the mix-up

Simon denied the airline’s claim that she canceled her ticket, leading to the mix-up

Before take off, the plane was delayed for nearly an hour due to a mechanical problem.

Simon said that during this time she went to the front of the plane and snapped a picture of Jackson Lee in her seat.

She then told a flight attendant she believed she was bumped from her seat by the airline out of favoritism toward a senior politician.

Jackson Lee said Simon, who is white, confronted a black flight attendant about the perceived slight.

The congresswoman suggested that her grievance may have something to do with the fact that she is an African American.

‘Since this was not any fault of mine, the way the individual continued to act appeared to be, upon reflection, because I was an African American woman, seemingly an easy target along with the African American flight attendant who was very, very nice,’ Jackson Lee said in the statement.

‘This saddens me, especially at this time of year given all of the things we have to work on to help people.

‘But in the spirit of this season and out of the sincerity of my heart, if it is perceived that I had anything to do with this, I am kind enough to simply say sorry.’

Simon denied any suggestions she was a racist.

‘I had no idea who was in my seat when I complained at the gate that my seat had been given to someone else,’ she said.

‘There is no way you can see who is in a seat from inside the terminal.’

Jackson Lee (seen above giving a speech in Washington, DC on September 20) suggested that Simon, who is white, complained to the airline because she and one of the flight attendants are African American women, thus making them easy targets

Jackson Lee (seen above giving a speech in Washington, DC on September 20) suggested that Simon, who is white, complained to the airline because she and one of the flight attendants are African American women, thus making them easy targets

Simon said that five minutes after she snapped the photo of Jackson Lee, another flight attendant sat next to her and asked her if she ‘was going to be a problem.’

Simon said she was so distraught by how the airline treated her that after she arrived home she wrote a letter to the CEO, Oscar Munoz, and posted it on social media.

An airline representative contacted her last Saturday morning and repeatedly apologized.

Simon has asked for a formal, written apology.

‘It’s just impossible to suspend disbelief and swallow that story that I cancelled my flight,’ she said said.

United Airlines has experienced a number of public relations headaches in the past year related to its customer service.

United Airlines has experienced a number of public relations headaches in the past year related to its customer service. On April 9, Dr David Dao (above) was violently dragged off a flight just before take off in Chicago because the airline needed to make room for crew

United Airlines has experienced a number of public relations headaches in the past year related to its customer service. On April 9, Dr David Dao (above) was violently dragged off a flight just before take off in Chicago because the airline needed to make room for crew

United Airlines has experienced a number of public relations headaches in the past year related to its customer service. On April 9, Dr David Dao (above) was violently dragged off a flight just before take off in Chicago because the airline needed to make room for crew 

The most notorious case was that of Dr David Dao.

On April 9, just before a United flight was set to take off from Chicago to Louisville, security personnel forcibly dragged Dao off a plane to make room for United crew members.

Dao refused to give up his seat and was left bloodied by the experience, which was filmed on cellphone video and posted to social media.

The viral backlash was a black eye for United, which apologized. The airline and Dao reached a financial settlement for an undisclosed sum of money.  



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