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Californians Melissa Elmira Yingst, 40, and Socorro Garcia, 34, who are both deaf, use sign language to explain how they were allegedly mistreated by a Delta Air Lines agent during boarding at Detroit Metro Airport on Jan. 28, 2019
A deaf California couple is lashing out at Delta Air Lines, claiming one of its agents at Detroit Metro Airport refused to communicate with them in writing and instead of helping them rolled her eyes at them.
The couple said they just wanted to know if they could be seated together. Turned out, the plane was full, but the couple still had questions.
Confusion followed. Police were called. The passengers were asked to leave.
By Monday morning, the airport incident had gone viral on social media as the couple ended up being denied boarding. They wound up at an airport hotel — hurt, confused and angry.
"Whew. This is raw. I see this kind of stuff happen to many Deaf, DeafBlind, and DeafDisabled people in the news. I've always listened to those stories with disbelief. ... Even though I have seen this many times, it was a huge shock when it happened to us ... The feeling of being oppressed is very traumatic," airline passenger Melissa Elmira Yingst said in a Facebook video, where she used sign language to explain what happened.
The 40-year-old Yingst, who is a TV personality in California for Tru Biz and a social activist, also took to Twitter.
"Wow. Am at @Delta airlines in Detroit. Front desk attendant Felixia refuses to communicate with us in writing and even threw away the paper she wrote on with us," Yingst tweeted.
Delta Air Lines tweeted back.
"Hi Melissa, I am so sorry to hear this. Please provide me with your confirmation number, travel dates and city pairs using the link below for further assistance. *TMU"
According to Delta, the two passengers knew in advance they weren't seated together as they had purchased their tickets separately. The airline said that the boarding gate agent at issue accommodated the two passengers in letting them know that the plane was full, and that she would work with the flight attendants to see whether someone would give up a seat so they could sit together.
Delta also said the couple was ultimately refunded their tickets and denied boarding because one of the passengers aggressively went behind the counter — which isn't permitted — and pushed the agent to get to a trash can to retrieve a note.
“Delta is in contact with two customers who reported having difficulty communicating with a gate agent prior to their flight. We are reviewing the situation with our Detroit team and will work with these customers to better understand what transpired. As always, we take situations like these seriously and we are using this as an opportunity to learn and improve” Delta Air Lines spokesman Michael Thomas said in a statement late Monday.
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