Christine Flynn, 31, said she was buckled in and waiting for Porter Airlines Flight 121 from New York to Toronto to take off early on Monday morning when an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man approached.
"He came down the aisle, he didn't actually look at me ... or make eye contact. He turned to the gentleman across the aisle and said, 'Change.'"
Flynn said she was confused at first, wondering why the man was speaking to the other passenger and gesturing towards her. Then it dawned on her that he did not want to sit next to a woman, she said.
"I was taken aback," said Flynn.
"At no point did he make eye contact with me," Flynn said.
Finally, she said, a flight attendant approached and asked if there was a problem.
I said, 'This man is refusing to sit next to me because I am a woman.' At that point, another man behind ... offered to switch with me and the airline attendant said, 'Would you be willing to move? and I said, 'Absolutely not. This is ridiculous,'" she said. "I was without words."
Eventually the man was seated next to another male passenger and the flight departed.
Flynn says she's frustrated she was asked to move and upset others on the flight were willing to help the man.
"I have a problem with that. He [the flight attendant] probably, maybe, didn't realize that asking a woman to move because the fact she had a uterus made the man next to her uncomfortable ... I don't think he even would have put it together that that's kind of insulting and maybe even discriminatory," she said.
"If someone had refused to sit next to me because I was gay and maybe they were some kind of old-school religion that doesn't like gay people no one would have switched with him. It would have been off the table," she said.
Porter Airlines spokesman Brad Cicero confirmed that the situation occurred but said the flight attendant "did his best to manage the situation as efficiently and reasonably as possible in order to avoid an unnecessary delay."
Flynn said she hopes to hear from the airline.
"I'd like an apology. There really should be a policy around this. If people are going to get on flights and demand that they sit next to someone of the same sex, there should be an area where they can go," Flynn said. "I should not have to move because someone has a problem with my uterus."
Porter Airlines seat change sparked by religious accommodation, says passenger - Nova Scotia - CBC News
"He came down the aisle, he didn't actually look at me ... or make eye contact. He turned to the gentleman across the aisle and said, 'Change.'"
Flynn said she was confused at first, wondering why the man was speaking to the other passenger and gesturing towards her. Then it dawned on her that he did not want to sit next to a woman, she said.
"I was taken aback," said Flynn.
"At no point did he make eye contact with me," Flynn said.
Finally, she said, a flight attendant approached and asked if there was a problem.
I said, 'This man is refusing to sit next to me because I am a woman.' At that point, another man behind ... offered to switch with me and the airline attendant said, 'Would you be willing to move? and I said, 'Absolutely not. This is ridiculous,'" she said. "I was without words."
Eventually the man was seated next to another male passenger and the flight departed.
Flynn says she's frustrated she was asked to move and upset others on the flight were willing to help the man.
"I have a problem with that. He [the flight attendant] probably, maybe, didn't realize that asking a woman to move because the fact she had a uterus made the man next to her uncomfortable ... I don't think he even would have put it together that that's kind of insulting and maybe even discriminatory," she said.
"If someone had refused to sit next to me because I was gay and maybe they were some kind of old-school religion that doesn't like gay people no one would have switched with him. It would have been off the table," she said.
Porter Airlines spokesman Brad Cicero confirmed that the situation occurred but said the flight attendant "did his best to manage the situation as efficiently and reasonably as possible in order to avoid an unnecessary delay."
Flynn said she hopes to hear from the airline.
"I'd like an apology. There really should be a policy around this. If people are going to get on flights and demand that they sit next to someone of the same sex, there should be an area where they can go," Flynn said. "I should not have to move because someone has a problem with my uterus."
Porter Airlines seat change sparked by religious accommodation, says passenger - Nova Scotia - CBC News
