American Airlines has apologized to a black father who was detained for suspected child trafficking when a flight attendant falsely determined that his white children may have been victims.
American Airlines Offers Apology To David Ryan Harris For Child Trafficking Allegation
Musician David Ryan Harris posted an update on Instagram, quoting correspondence from American Airlines suggesting expressing an apology over the error:
“To summarize our investigation….we and our flight attendant realized that our policies regarding suspected human trafficking were not followed, and through coaching and counseling … our flight attendant realizes that their interaction and observations did NOT meet the criteria that human trafficking was taking place.
Our flight attendant in question wanted to make sure that you were aware that they sincerely offer a heartfelt apology to you and your family for their actions, and the results that their actions generated.”
It appears the statement may not be in its entirety, but I do wonder what it is that policy really looks like.
Harris accepted the apology, explaining, “I applaud American Airlines for eventually reaching out to me, conducting an investigation and hopefully reviewing and/or ameliorating their current policies. I told the higher ups at American to let the flight attendant in question know that I wholeheartedly accept and appreciate her apology.”
But he also added:
I still, very much think that non-response from the airline smacks of corporate arrogance at worse and a gross undervaluing of customers at best. That I had to resort to shaming the airlines to get a response at all speaks to a general lack of a meaningful customer service apparatus.
The original story, which appeared on September 25, 2023, is below.
Another American Airlines flight, another false accusation of child trafficking. As is often the case, the father had a different skin color than his children. No matter how well-intentioned, I find it difficult to accept the “better safe than sorry” approach to these sorts of situations…
Black Father Detained For Suspected Child Trafficking At LAX…But Why Was American Airlines Flight Attendant Suspicious In The First Place?
Musician David Ryan Harris and two of his children traveled from Atlanta (ATL) to Los Angeles (LAX) on American Airlines last week. One of his sons has a much lighter complexion than he does, which may have made a flight attendant suspicious. That flight attendant took it upon herself to interview the children and when she found they did not engage with her, she alerted the authorities in Los Angeles.
Four police officers and a member of AA ground staff met the Harris family upon arrival in LAX and interrogated them to probe whether the child was being trafficked. It was quickly determined that the family was fine and they were allowed to depart.
Harris sought an apology from American Airlines and took to social media only after hearing nothing back for eight days.
View this post on Instagram
Are These Hard Cases Or Not?
I’ve written about these stories a fair amount and my question is always the same:
How does American Airlines train its flight attendants to recognize potential human traffickers? What signs are they looking for?
Here, Harris says that the flight attendant interviewed his children and they stared back blankly at the questions.
The US Department of Homeland Security offers a number of signs to identify victims of trafficking, including:
- Is the person disoriented or confused, or showing signs of mental or physical abuse?
- Does the person have bruises in various stages of healing?
- Is the person fearful, timid, or submissive?
- Does the person show signs of having been denied food, water, sleep, or medical care?
- Is the person in the company of someone to whom he or she defers? Or someone who seems to be in control of the situation, e.g., where they go or who they talk to?
- Does the person appear to be coached on what to say?
Did you catch what I bolded above? So the flight attendant thought the kids looked suspicious, ostensibly because their skin color was different, and then decided to chat with them. Their refusal to engage in what may have felt like an awkward encounter became the confirmation bias of the trafficking.
If it was not for the difference in skin color, what would have roused suspicion in the first place? It seems quite far-fetched to think it could simply be the kids were using electronic devices. And look at the picture at the top…the kids look quite “normal” or “happy” to me.
Harris blames racial prejudice for the indent:
And I don’t care what you say, if this had been a white dad/mom with two little black kids, they would probably been offered an upgrade, not an interrogation.
That assumes facts not in evidence, but it seems to be fathers with darker skin who tend to get accused…(see here, here, and here). Of course, there are exceptions, like the white woman who was accused of being a child trafficker on Southwest Airlines because her child had dark skin.
I’m just not a fan of the “better safe than sorry” approach and it is not at all clear to me that the children failing to respond to odd and ill-timed questioning from the flight attendant provided sufficient ground to detain the family.
I also think American Airlines should have apologized to Harris instead of ignoring him until he took to social media. It seems like a bit of compensation would have shut him up (based on the video above). That’s not unreasonable when he and his children were detained on flimsy and unreasonable grounds.
Harris later posted that he expected the following note from American Airlines:
And if they’re so concerned about child trafficking, shouldn’t the airlines have some protocol in place to stop me from flying with a child I stole long before I’m ON THE PLANE???
You’re telling me that they can stop me from carrying a Capri Sun through TSA, but they can’t put safeguards in place for actual human beings? Make it make sense……but first, how about a “Hello Mr. Harris I want to thank you for your years of customer loyalty I see here that you’ve been a frequent flyer with us for quite while and you’re getting awfully close to your million miler mark!! Congratulations.
I would like to explain and apologize for the unfortunate set of circumstances around your flight and subsequent interrogation. I’m sure that was harrowing to you and your family. There has been a recent uptick in human trafficking, and you being stopped was all part of us doing our part to combat this societal scourge. Once again I apologize for any inconvenience and here is a voucher for lifetime supply of drinks, Sun Chips, and the 200k miles needed to get you across that finish line”?
I’m not sure 200K miles is warranted, but he’s right that a simple explanation like this would have gone a long way.
CONCLUSION
I do not think this particular flight attendant or most flight attendants have bad intentions when making child trafficking accusations. Occasionally, they make the right call. But it seems to me there is a serious training deficit and a culture, particularly at American Airlines and Southwest Airlines that takes the “better safe than sorry” approach. This is not a valid approach when it involves accusing people of something so serious as trafficking on very flimsy grounds.
Image: drh3 / Instagram // H/T: View From The Wing
Looking at the father and son photo, (before reading this post) my first thought was how cute. They both have the same smile.
If not willingly speaking with a flight attendant is a “clue” to being abducted, they must get a lot of false positives.
By this criteria, every time a flight attendant does a credit card pitch and walks the aisle fanning applications, I must look like I’m being trafficked.
It’s a tough line though and something hard to train across broad numbers. I went through training with the FBI when I was an airline manager, and the airport I was at for many years did offer training for anybody’s employees conducted by Homeland Security/HSI and state police. My employees did have a couple of false positives, but the signs were so plentiful that one would be hard pressed to not at least think the question… like a white man traveling with a young Asian woman about 60 years his junior, telling her not to speak to the airline employees, when she uses the bathroom walked her to the family restroom and stood outside the door, wouldn’t let her hold her boarding pass, etc. Turned out to be innocent but I can see why it would be questioned. But this situation on board AA is not one that I would probably have thought suspicious.
Trafficking is serious and we want eyes open and the ability to catch it. There will be some mistakes, but how about when it is a mistake they have a protocol. You have interrupted a family vacation etc and scared the crap out of them.
This requires a well thought out explanation and apology.
Tell me one time an FA successfully identified human traffickers on a flight. Now show me all the times they have accused innocent fathers over the last year or two. This is not a one time incident. It’s repeatedly an issue and, quite frankly, TSA is the only one equipped to identity these people at security checks with ID scans etc. Airlines need to stop encouraging FA’s in something that is way out of their ability and start training them to actually provide a decent level of service instead.
Former police officer. Man, this just sucks. There is no easy explanation and mistakes are going to happen. The airlines are trying to do the right thing but they’re asking a heck of a lot of their employees to spot human trafficking when the reality is I highly doubt they have the necessary training to really attempt this without some errors.
For this man to wait eight days without a response is ridiculous.
We have stopped many a family in vehicles that met the description of a vehicle with wanted felons in it. All you can do is apologize profusely, explain the circumstances and do everything you can to make sure they understand why you did what you did and any way you can attempt to fix the wrong….you need to do it. It’s not that difficult.
With respect, though, this is not the same thing.
– FA sees black man with white child/children.
– Because a black man has white children with him, FA suspects human trafficking.
– When young children don’t want to talk to the FA (hell, children often just ignore people they DO know), FA calls police because obviously a black man with white children is trafficking them.
Likening stopping a car that fits a particular description to this situation implies that “black man with white children” fits a description of human trafficker.
AA should absolutely be sued for discrimination.
Stop the hysteria. The family was asked a few questions and they were on their way. Child trafficking i s a serious issue. An explanation from AA and law enforcement was certainly in order.
Too bad we have an open border that facilitates trafficking.
I think his language about claiming if it was a white person with black kids they would have been offered an upgrade is playing the race card. The suspicion on the part of the FA was that the child was traveling with only one parent/guardian who (to the FA) didn’t appear to be similar to them. And yes, I traveled alone with my daughter because my wife was on family business and I purposely got a notarized letter from my wife explaining the situation in case an official requested it. In other words, I even anticipated that such questioning could occur and if it happened, I wouldn’t have made a big deal about it. Would the media have been sympathetic to me, a white man stopped traveling alone with a child slightly inconvenienced?
That being said, in this modern age it’s actually more likely that a child lives in a household with either a single parent or with a step-parent whose not biologically related to them. (No judgement, just a statistical observation.)
In the case that Matt refers to of an alert gate agent noting certain strange aspects of a one-way first class ticket, bought for minors by someone with a different last name, and little luggage, that would raise eyebrows for a variety of reasons including perhaps even drug or money mules.
Do people want special checks on all minors? That could catch estranged spouses trying to run away with the kids
How about young women ( or all young people), some of whom may be traveling for sex work?
This is the downside of empowering employees with basic training. Flight attendants have immense power. They’re de facto police officers. Refusing to obey a flight attendant can get you arrested. I’m sure AA will respond with a bunch of DEI/CRT training, which will only compound the situation.
Is it too much to ask an adult traveling with minors to prove custody or parental rights, regardless of race or ethnicity, at check-in? 30 years ago, when I was a kid my father (a single father) had to produce my birth certificate a couple of times when he was pulled for speeding on the interstate.
There was a funny story I read a while ago back in Reader’s Digest (yeah, I’m that old!).
A mother was at the grocery store with her toddler who was acting up and someone called the police thinking it may have been a kidnapping. The cops ask for proof of parentage and certainly she doesn’t have a birth certificate on her and she smiles:
“Ok. So you’ll have to follow me home then and the child can ride WITH YOU!” She happily got the car seat out of her car ready to give it and the child to the officers and one of them said:
“OK… we see what you’re doing. You want a break! That definitely means you’re the parent!” So they asked her a few questions and let her go and the child looked up to her and said “Mommy? Did I do something to get in trouble?”
I’ve traveled alone with my daughter on many occasions over the years. TSA tends to be where the questions are asked. It’s awful and embarrassing at times but at least it’s not inside an aircraft with everyone watching. That’s where these things can be better identified. There is absolutely no reason that a flight attendant should be given any reason to think they should be making judgements like this. It’s not like they strolled on the plane without ID checks etc.
Bottom line? How many human trafficking incidents were legitimately identified by a flight attendant in the last few years? How many examples do we have where they were clearly wrong. That should be enough to stop this nonsense right away.
TSA and Clear love to profile my sons. I travel alone with them for different sports activities and they always press the kids to answer questions about their relationship with me. It is annoying but I guess they are doing their jobs.
I agree with your remark about the power given to flight attendants. If one flies on the asian airlines, such as Japan Air Lines, Singapore Airlines, All Nippon Airways, etc., the passengers are treated with the upmost respect and courtesy. This is the way is was in the 1940-1970’s, on the American carriers. Today, the flight attendants are de facto sky marshalls, and can be very cruel, and obnoxious. Many of them have attitudes towards passengers, which go unchecked by the airlines, especially when they act in a demeaning and hostile manner towards passengers, even when passengers don’t deserve such actions. Essentially, they act as guards or wardens in a prison, during a flight.
I read it as not asking for 200k miles but pointing out that he has flown the airline enough to get over 800k. I understand FA not being trained enough but like Dublin says, “Hey we messed up and we are sorry!” would have gone a long way. Oh wait this AA, nevermind it is BAU.
I am white and my son was adopted from Ethiopia so we obviously don’t look alike. When he was younger we were interrogated after a TSA employee flagged us based only on appearance. This goes both ways (we’ve certainly never been given an upgrade) and it is awkward and unnecessary. Child trafficking is a problem that need attention, but detaining people based solely on appearance isn’t the answer.
Perhaps they should spend time policing their own flight attendants. Like the AA predator flight attendant filming young girls in the loo.
The responsible for this should be sacked!
I noted that one of the “signs” is the following: “ Is the person in the company of someone to whom he or she defers? Or someone who seems to be in control of the situation, e.g., where they go or who they talk to?”
According to this “sign,” all well-behaved children who follow their parent’s instructions, including where to sit and how to get to the bathroom, could suspect as victims of trafficking. Only misbehaved children who are running amuck are above suspicion because they are obviously not under any adult’s control.
Just handing someone a list of signs that they can interpret on their own is going to lead to problems. More extensive situational training is what is needed. We will never get to perfect. (No one can tell in every situation when they are being lied to.) But we can do better. For instance, AA should have promptly responded to Mr. Harris. That’s another department of AA in obvious need of situational training.
GET OVER IT!! And quit with the media sensationalism on this topic! Anybody who is “inconvenienced” by flight attendants and law enforcement who are doing their d@mn jobs should just say thank you and move on. Trafficking is REAL I’m tired of reading about whining adult babies who are being treated oh so unfairly….boohoo. GET OVER IT!
Why is it that a mixed-race family is inherently suspect? Why?
How nice, a heartfelt apology that was graciously accepted by the aggrieved party. Making such allegations is severely dangerous, bordering on slanderous activity that could affect the party’s reputation. Come on American, how a domestic First Class ticket for the father and son as compensation.
I guess Flight Attendants have taken up the role of the POLICE or the Dept of Homeland Security. Americans (not just the airline) will be suspicious of ANYTHING, especially after 9/11/2001, and it’s probably a worldwide phenomenon to be suspicious of people. Just like in public where the police may stop you for no reason while driving and sometimes they find something but mostly not. But there are not many police patrols around in our cities anymore except at our airports and immigration border crossings. In fact, the main reason why they want you to apply for these Global Entry, Pre-check memberships is so they have a profile on you and wherever you are at all times for the rest of your life, as an approved member or not.
Another day, another flight attendant being a dumpster fire and a bacon purse.
Can we fire literally all of them?
I suspect the success rate is really dismal. The percentage of people caught is probably really low, under 1%, particularly if sugar babes count as human trafficking. The percentage of false accusations is probably high, maybe greater than 90%?
What if there were 1,000,000 cases of which there were 300 false accusations and 1 true accusation. Would it be worthwile even though 999,999 cases would be undetected? Some say yes. Some say no.
Quite a contrast in skin tone. No harm in asking what’s going on here. The Dept of Homeland Security wants to know everything.