A Marine Corps veteran claims a Delta Air Lines employee forced her to remove her “end veteran suicide” shirt or face ejection from a flight. If true, Delta owes this woman a public apology and the employee should face discipline not just for what was done, but for how it was communicated.
Veteran Claims Delta Air Lines Forced Her To Remove “End Veteran Suicide” Suicide Or Be Denied Boarding
On Wednesday, October 16, 2024, Catherine Banks boarded a Delta Air Lines flight in San Francisco (SFO). She was wearing the shirt pictured above, which read:
Do Not Give In To The War Within
End Veteran Suicide
According to Banks, a flight attendant (probably a gate agent or other member of ground staff) approached her and asked her to step off the aircraft.
A local TV station in San Francisco interviewed her, with Banks telling NBC Bay Area a Delta employee scolded her for wearing the shirt and demanded she remove it or face removal from the flight:
“He said that shirt you’re wearing is threatening. I said, ‘Are you kidding me? I’m a Marine Corps vet. I’m going to see my Marine sister. I’ve been in the Marine Corps for 22 years and worked for the Air Force for 15 years. I’m going to visit her.’ He said, ‘I don’t care about your service, and I don’t care about her service. The only way you’re going to get back on the plane is if you take it off right now.’”
Banks was told she could not just put a sweatshirt on over her t-shirt but had to remove her t-shirt or turn it inside out. She wasn’t wearing a bra, leaving her in the uncomfortable position of removing her top as she turned away from the Delta employee in order to turn it inside out on the jetbridge.
She was permitted back onboard, but claims that she was placed in the last row rather than the extra legroom seat she paid extra for.
Thus far, Delta has only said:
Delta is seeking to make contact with the customer directly to hear more so we can begin to look into what occurred.
My Thoughts On This Matter
First, Delta’s dress code (included in its contract of carriage) is vague, stating:
“Delta may refuse to transport or may remove passengers from its aircraft…[w]hen the passenger’s conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers.”
In a sense, that allows Delta to prohibit almost anything…but that doesn’t excuse what happened here.
One Mile At A Time speculated that maybe she was told to cover up for not wearing a bra…I mean, maybe? I suppose it’s possible, but that seems highly unlikely and I see no basis to even remotely suspect that she made her story up.
I understand that veteran suicide is not a light topic for a crowded airplane, but it is a huge problem and Banks’s effort to combat it is laudable; the sort of public service we should all applaud. You can buy this particular shirt from the Til Valhalla Project, which supports therapy for veterans in need.
There was nothing inappropriate about her shirt. Nothing.
And while I will not foreclose all possibility that there was not something else at play (maybe she became vocal about her cause onboard, which would not have been appropriate), I find that difficult to imagine. Remember that it was only months ago that American Airlines ground staff removed every black man onboard because it was alleged that one of them smelled (and they could not quickly determine which one). These sorts of crazy incidents are thankfully few and far between, but still happen.
My theory is that the employee was not the sharpest knife in the drawer and did not read the shirt carefully, thinking it was either calling for veterans to commit suicide (you’d have to go to a college campus to find shirts like that…) or another inflammatory message. But this message was not inflammatory.
CONCLUSION
A veteran claims she was removed from a Delta flight until she removed her anti-suicide t-shirt. This appears to be an instance of foolishness on the part of a Delta Air Lines employee and it is now time for Delta to quickly and publicly clarify this matter.
Finally, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 hours a day at 988 (in the USA) via text or voice. You can also visit 988lifeline.org. You’re not alone.
Hat Tip: The Bulkhead Seat
the premium airline…
premium BS
First I would like to thank Banks for her service, and commitment to suicide prevention. If the Delta employee did say the only way to get back on the flight was to remove the shirt ” right now “. Banks complied with the request and should not be judged.
Delta owns this embarrassment and needs to make it right. While I am not certain they can retrain stupidity, wearing any shirt with a message can make a passenger vulnerable to this type of outrageous treatment.
So Delta Airlines according to a rep. doesn’t care about someone’s military service or anyone else’s. As a proud Viet Nam vet. I am calling on all vets to boycott your company and will address my local VFW and American Legion chapters to encourage a nation wide boycott.
Thank you for your service. Good on you for doing something about this.
Great idea. This flight attendant should be fired and made an example of for being ignorant and arrogant and not smart enough to realize that there are people in this country willing to put their lives on the line every day of the week. Talk about being ungrateful, this clown wins the prize.
She is a proud Marine vet , who helped raise $ 150,000 for a home for a paraplegic vet . Hopefully Marine vets will about read this , and a good Marine vet lawyer will step up and represent this good fellow Marine .
To her , I say “Semper Fi” from all vets , from all services .
If this story is true then it is abhorrent behavior by the Delta ground staff.
Having said that…why did they give away her seat so quickly?
Why do I think there is more to this story.
When schools indoctrinate students instead of teaching them that’s what you get. Don’t think the FA did this because he was bad, he was ignorant.
@Santastico … +1 . Exactly correct about FA’s ignorance . However , his ignorance does not excuse his insistence she take off her shirt , and his dismissal of her explanations about her and her sister’s service in the Marines . He was rather rude , no ?
Oh , I So Wish there had been an off-duty Gunny present to School the FA about Marines !
Indoctrinate students in what way?
One example might be gender fluidity , being taught to children , without parental consent , no ?
How often does that happen?
Also, why does the notion of gender fluidity offend you so much?
Dude, come on! Nobody on “college campuses” is wearing shirts encouraging veterans to commit suicide. I know were just being cheeky, but don’t throw more red meat to the wolves.
Yup.
I am sorry, but to make her take her shirt off in front of the public is sexual harassment. She should have been given privacy to visit the closest restroom to do what a male flight attendant asked of her. I hope he offered this option to her. This male flight attendant needs to be educated that many woman have been sexual abused and to have to take your shirt off in public makes them re-live this experience all over again. Shame on him! And shame on the women flight attendants, if there were any, who didn’t protest a male colleague to do this to an another woman. I am sure some of the woman flight attendants who work in this industry have been also abuse too because the statistics would show it is most likely. People like this male flight attendant just may have made a veterans mental state worse to feel even worse about themselves for wearing this shirt. Many have overcome suicide themselves to help others and still deal with what their country asked them to do for years. Totally unacceptable!
@D.M. … +1 . Obviously .
SHENA
I suspect what really happened was the GA and FA wanted to upgrade one of their buddies.
That is why the pax was shunted to coach from comfort plus
+1 … Possibly you are correct .
This is my suspicion as well.
Bingo
Only two kinds of people join the US military, morons and sociopaths.
Said the coward who has spent a lifetime hiding behind the blanket of freedom of those who protect him have provided. Well done!
As a Gulf War Army veteran and sociopath, I agree.
Oh well remember that the next time you need them. What a disgusting comment.
Statement tshirts of any kind should be disallowed.
+100
You’re traveling in public and will be seen by 1000’s of people.
You’ll be stuck in a metal tube together with 100’s for hours on end.
Dress normally without slogans or the like.
Is that so hard to ask?
Tim Dunn very quiet. Since he wears a bra, we know it wasn’t him.
Thank you for your service to us and to all before l, now and after
That comment comes as large a crazy is. Some ppl should shut up. Or that
As an airline employee and a Vietnam era Veteran, there must be more to this story than we know. Yes, most airlines have a dress code in the contract of carriage. However, I’m sure that Delta has strict protocols in place for such an event. Where was the Redcoat? How about the onboard leader and the captain? Next, why didn’t the woman just put her sweatshirt on OVER the “offending” shirt? Obviously she had the sweatshirt in her carry on. That was the first thing I thought of. It doesn’t make sense. She also claims that she was forced to sit in the back of the aircraft and not in the seat she paid for. She was never denied boarding so her seat should not have been “given away”. Again, doesn’t make sense. Was this Marine “looking for trouble”? We don’t know…we were not there. Way to many people get their asses up on their shoulders when confronted for any reason…whether it is a policeman, flight attendant, gate agent, bank teller, etc. Just quietly try to comply and ask “WHY??” in a calm and rational manner. It works EVERY TIME for me. “Judge Judy” has said many times, “If it doesn’t make sense, then most likely it’s not true.” She may well be correct in this case.
In this day and age, in this society, I daily learn of many, many surrealistic stories in the news, but this one takes the proverbial cake.
I will never again put my life in the hands of such stupid, ignorant, ill-mannered unprofessionals as Delta Airlines. I ask everyone who reads this post to join me in boycotting Delta forever, and to ask everyone they know to ask everyone THEY know to do the same, and so on, and so on, ad infinitum…