Delta apologises after passenger was unable to board with a breast pump

WHEN this passenger was left dismayed at her treatment by an airline, she took to social media to get revenge. That’s how #BoobsOnBoard began ...

A Delta Airlines jet is pushed back from the terminal before departing Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, 12/09/2009.

A US airline is facing a social media backlash after a nursing mother was stopped from carrying her breast pump on board.

Lauren Modeen has launched the Facebook page Boobs on Board, and used #Boobsonboard on Twitter, demanding to know why Delta Air Lines forced her to check-in the device.

Modeen was boarding Delta Flight 2034 from Atlanta to Minneapolis when she said

gate staff stopped her over the breast pump, which was packed in her standard carry-on suitcase.

She also had her purse and a cooler with ice packs to transport her breast milk.

Delta and other airlines allow one carry-on bag and one personal item, such as a handbag, for free. Medical devices, strollers and certain other equipment are also allowed, according to airline policy.

The staff member first told her she needed to consolidate her luggage, even after Modeen says she told the them that the suitcase included a medical device.

“She then said the computer just gave her a message stating that all passengers starting with me would need to check their bags,” Modeen told CNN.

“When I later entered the jet bridge, passengers lining up behind me had their suitcases.”

Tommee Tippee one-handed Breast Pump with carry bag, teats, screw cap hood and /travel disks. household

Passenger Peggy Flanagan, who says she doesn’t know Modeen, said she saw and heard much of the exchange as she was waiting in line to board the aircraft.

“I saw a young woman who seemed really troubled, and the ticket agent continued to say, ‘you can’t take it on; you’re going to have to check your bag,’” said Flanagan, executive director of the Children’s Defense Fund of Minnesota.

“She kept saying, ‘I have a medical device I need to bring with me on the plane,’ over and over, visibly upset,” Flanagan told CNN.

“The ticket agent and her supervisor, who she eventually called over, were not helpful and not supportive.”

“When I got onto the flight, there were at least five available spots in the overhead bins,” Flanagan said.

Even if the flight had been full, Flanagan said, they could have asked for volunteers to check their luggage so Modeen’s breast pump could be carried on the flight.

“There was no initiative to help her.”

I just watched 2 @delta employees refuse to allow a nursing mother to bring her breast pump onboard because it was an additional carry-on.

— Peggy Flanagan (@peggyflanagan) January 20, 2015

In a statement, Delta said it supported breastfeeding women.

“Breastfeeding and breast pumps are permitted aboard any Delta flight and in Delta ground facilities. We have apologised to the customer for her experience,” Delta spokeswoman Lindsay McDuff wrote in an email.

Delta’s policy on its website, under infant travel, explicitly mentions breast pumps: “Delta fully supports a woman’s right to breastfeed on board Delta and Delta Connection aircraft and in Delta facilities. Breast pumps are allowed on board.”

Other US airlines have similar policies.

“Southwest welcomes nursing mothers who wish to breastfeed on the aircraft and/or within our facilities,” Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Brandy King wrote in an email. “We do not have restrictions on nursing. Breast pumps are considered a medical device and do not count towards the number of carry-on items.”

“When flying on an American Airlines flight, breastfeeding mothers are welcome to do so

during all phases of flight,” American Airlines spokeswoman Brianna Jackson wrote in an email.

“They are welcome to bring breastfeeding equipment on board as it does not count as a carry-on item.”

American’s policy isn’t online, but passengers can call the reservations number to get more information, Jackson said.

NOVEMBER 21, 2006: Protesting mothers breast feed their babies in mass inside Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, 21/11/06, in front of the Delta Airlines ticket counter. The mothers were protesting as a result of a prior incident in which Emily Gillette was breast feeding her child on a Delta Airlines flight prior to take off when the flight attendant told her to cover her breast feeding child with a blanket. The flight attendant had Gillette and her family removed from the plane when the mother declined to cover her baby. USA / Demonstration / Women

“[There are] no prohibitions on breastfeeding for us,” United Airlines spokeswoman Jennifer Dohm wrote in an email. She made no mention of the use of breast pumps on United flights.

Modeen says she hopes to increase awareness around women’s rights to breastfeed and pump on airlines.

With her Boobs on Board page, she wants encourage airlines to post their pro-breastfeeding and breast-pumping policies inside all aircraft.

She says she pitched the idea to Susanna Curtis, Delta CEO Richard Anderson’s executive assistant, who she says called her to talk about the incident.

“I told her that on behalf of all nursing moms, I would be extremely grateful if this change happened,” Modeen said. (A Delta spokeswoman didn’t comment on that conversation.)

Support women's rights to breastfeed/pump while flying: https://t.co/akW4b0vLw6 #BoobsOnBoard

— Lauren Modeen (@exilauren) January 27, 2015

Modeen hopes her proposal would encourage airline staff members, increase flying women’s awareness of their rights aboard and decrease their anxiety around breastfeeding and pumping aboard, she said.

It’s not the first time Delta has faced conflict over breastfeeding.

In February, a passenger tried to confirm Delta’s breastfeeding policy before flying because her child won’t drink from bottles or be covered while eating.

An official Delta Twitter account suggested that she pump before boarding. Later, a post on the account apologised for incorrectly stating the airline’s policy and said she was free to breastfeed.