Jenna Longoria claims she and her family were removed from a United Airlines flight for misgendering a flight attendant, while the airline cites a carry-on baggage issue.
Texas, Bollywood Fever: United Airlines has issued an unusual explanation after a Texas mother, Jenna Longoria, claimed she and her family were removed from a flight for accidentally misgendering a flight attendant. Longoria, her 75-year-old mother, and her 16-month-old son were allegedly booted from a flight from San Francisco to Austin on Wednesday after she referred to a flight attendant who identifies as a woman as “sir.”
Longoria recounted the incident to the New York Post, stating, “When [the flight attendant], who identifies as a woman, gave me our boarding passes I said ‘thank you, sir.’ That is it. That is it.” She further explained that the flight attendant became upset and subsequently held her mother back, preventing her from boarding the plane.
However, United Airlines disputed this account in their official statement, attributing the incident to an issue with carry-on baggage. “A party of three traveling out of San Francisco today was not allowed to board following a discussion about having too many carry-on items,” a spokesperson said. “The matter was resolved and the customers took a later United flight to finish their trip.”
Before being rebooked, Longoria took to Instagram to express her frustration, claiming that she was accused of a hate crime and might face a ban from flying with United in the future. “They’re saying it’s a hate crime that I did and that I might not even be able to ever fly United again,” she said in one clip.
Longoria, a widow known as “The Period Guru” for her work as a women’s health specialist, expressed her regret, explaining, “I said, ‘I’m really sorry, I’m not very versed in pronouns.’ I was holding my son, he was having a temper tantrum, I had the car seat on my back. I wasn’t really focusing on anything except getting my son’s car seat on the plane and getting him comfortable.”
Video footage from the incident suggests there may be more to the story. In one clip, a United Airlines staff member tells Longoria that it was the captain’s decision to deny her boarding due to “what came out of your mouth.” The employee is heard saying, “I gotta fact find. I gotta get my crews together. In flight has to get their statements. I need statements. I don’t want to go verbal about what I thought I heard.”
Longoria expressed her confusion and desperation in another clip, pleading with her 20,000 Instagram followers for advice on her rights. “We don’t know how we’re going to get back today,” she said. “I don’t know what to do, I really don’t know what to do.”
The situation remains unclear, with conflicting accounts from Longoria and United Airlines about the incident’s cause.
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