Gay Couple Had to give up their plane seats to a Straight Couple

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This Gay Couple Had to Give Up Their Plane Seats to a Straight Couple

The CEO of the Abbey, David Cooley: “I have never been so discriminated against while traveling before.”

By: Bobby Schuessler/Gay Star News

Last weekend, the founder and CEO of The Abbey David Cooley, and his partner were told to move seats on an Alaska Airlines flight in order to make room for a straight couple,

The well-known gay businessman took to Facebook to discuss the incident. A flight attendant approached them and told his partner he’d have to move to the main cabin from their premium seats because a straight couple wanted to sit together—even though Cooley explained that they were a couple. Humiliated, they chose to exit the plane altogether.
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In a statement to Gay Star News, a representative from Alaska Airlines acknowledged the incident. They are investigating the situation.“

               

 Alaska Airlines released a statement on this matter. 

“This unfortunate incident was caused by a seating error, compounded by a full flight and a crew seeking an on-time departure and nothing more than that. It’s our policy to keep all families seated together whenever possible; that didn’t happen here and we are deeply sorry for the situation. We’ve reached out to Mr. Cooley to offer our sincere apologies for what happened and we are seeking to make it right. Alaska Airlines has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind. All of us at Alaska value inclusion for our guests and each other.”

“Diversity and inclusion are part of the fabric of Alaska Airlines. We are an airline for everyone and reflect these values through our work with dozens of nonprofit LGBTQ organizations, Pride Parades along the West Coast and a perfect score in the HRC’s Equality Index. We’ll keep building on this commitment, with our employee-led LGBTQ business resource group

When boarding flight 1407 from JFK to LAX, a couple was mistakenly assigned the same seats as another couple in Premium Class…We are deeply sorry for the situation, and are investigating the details while communicating directly with the guests involved to try and make this right. Alaska Airlines has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind, and our employees value inclusion for our guests and each other.”

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