{"id":1115,"date":"2023-10-24T03:59:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T19:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/2023\/10\/24\/chinese-american-mom-kicked-off-flight-for-breastfeeding\/"},"modified":"2024-07-04T22:31:25","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T14:31:25","slug":"flight-for-breastfeeding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/flight-for-breastfeeding\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese-American Mom Kicked Off Flight For Breastfeeding"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Chinese-American cancer researcher was removed from a Spirit Airlines flight in Houston, Texas after breastfeeding her baby, causing uproar online from around the world.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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A Chinese-American cancer researcher was removed from a Spirit Airlines flight in Houston<\/a>, Texas after breastfeeding her baby, causing uproar online from around the world.<\/p>\n

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\"\u56fe\u72471.png\"<\/p>\n

Photo: wncn.com<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Mei Rui is an accomplished concert pianist and cancer researcher. On Friday, she was headed from her home in Houston to New York City for a recording session as part of her cancer study. Accompanying her on her trip were her elderly Chinese parents and her two-year-old son.<\/p>\n

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Rui said that their Spirit Airlines flight which was to take off at 6:30 am ended up being delayed for several hours due to bad weather. When it finally appeared<\/a> that they were almost ready to depart, Rui decided to breastfeed her child, worried that otherwise he wouldn\u2019t stay quiet during the three-hour flight.<\/p>\n

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According to Rui, the plane\u2019s cabin doors were still open as she began breastfeeding. Soon, a flight attendant came up to her and told her that she would have to prepare her child for departure. Rui says that she asked for just a few more minutes to finish. \u201cI said as soon as the plane\u2019s door closes, I will put him in his seat,\u201d she told local news<\/a> station KHOU.<\/p>\n

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After conversing at the front of the plane, the flight attendants returned and ordered Rui to get off the plane. By that time, she had stopped breastfeeding her child, and had started recording the incident on her cellphone.<\/p>\n

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Rui says that she and her family were escorted off the plane and into the tunnel where police officers and other personnel were already waiting at the gate, blocking her from getting back on the plane.<\/p>\n

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\"\"\"\u56fe\u72472.png\"<\/p>\n

Source: supplied.com<\/p>\n

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In the cell phone footage, Rui can be seen asking one Spirit Airlines representative why they had been taken off the plane. \u201cBecause you were not compliant,\u201d the man tells her, though he refuses to elaborate on what exactly she had done wrong.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf this happened to your family,\u201d Rui says, before being cut off. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t happen to my family, I can assure you,\u201d the man replies.<\/p>\n

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In the aftermath of the incident, Spirit Airlines has stood by its decision to kick Rui and her family off the flight, sending this statement to KHOU:<\/p>\n

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Our records indicate a passenger was removed from Flight 712 after refusing to comply with crew instructions several times during taxi to runway and safety briefing. To protect the safety of our guests and crew, FAA regulations and airline policies require all passengers to stay seated and buckled during takeoff and landing. We apologize for any inconvenience to our guests. As a courtesy, we\u2019ve issued a full refund to the passenger in question.<\/p>\n

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A spokesman for the ultra-low cost American carrier has also accused Rui of \u201crepeatedly\u201d failing to follow flight attendants\u2019 instructions to buckle her son up, claiming that \u201cmultiple reports from the crew and other passengers nearby confirm the doors were closed when the incident happened.\u201d The spokesman also alleged that police were only called when Rui tried to force her way back on board the plane.<\/p>\n

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\"\"\"\u56fe\u72473.png\"<\/p>\n

Photo: facebook<\/p>\n

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Rui has said that Spirit is lying about the incident, offering her cell phone footage as proof for her side of the story. A Yale graduate with degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry and music, Rui moved to the US from China when she was 16 years old. She now works at a prominent cancer clinic in Houston.<\/p>\n

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She says that her elderly parents were both shaken by the incident. After arriving back home, her father collapsed and was rushed to the emergency room. Rui is currently living in temporary housing after Hurricane Harvey destroyed her home and many of her possessions, including her piano.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was humiliating to be chased off a plane in front of hundreds of people,\u201d she told reporters. \u201cWe had never been through anything close to this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not lawbreakers or trouble seekers. We\u2019re the elderly, a baby and his mother, why did they have to treat us this way?\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"\"\"\u56fe\u72474.png\"<\/p>\n

Photo: facebook<\/p>\n

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Rui has accepted the refund, but has said that she won\u2019t be flying Spirit again.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, Rui\u2019s story has been making waves on Chinese social media<\/a> with netizens casting the incident as yet another case of harassment against Asians in the United States and calling on Asian Americans to speak up for their rights. Some have even said that they will do their part in this struggle.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSpirit Airlines? This is the first time I have ever heard of this airline, but I promise never to fly with them!\u201d wrote one Weibo user.<\/p>\n

Source: Medium.com<\/p>\n

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