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Home  >  Frontier • Law In Travel  >  Female Pilots Sue Frontier Airlines For Punishing Pregnancy, Motherhood
FrontierLaw In Travel

Female Pilots Sue Frontier Airlines For Punishing Pregnancy, Motherhood

Matthew Klint Posted onDecember 11, 2019December 11, 2019 11 Comments

Eight female pilots and flight attendants are suing Frontier Airlines, claiming the budget carrier discriminates against pregnant women and those who are breastfeeding.

Take Randi Freyer. She’s a Frontier Airlines pilot and a mother of two. Two months before the due date of her first child, Frontier Airlines unilaterally grounded her. Freyer’s doctor had cleared her to continue to fly, but Frontier cited its standard policy. However, rather than reassigning her a position on the ground, as had been extended to other employees, Freyer was placed on unpaid leave.

Freyer underscored the stress of being placed on involuntary, unpaid leave right before a baby was due (with all the expenses that child brings…).

When Freyer returned from her unpaid leave, she was still nursing and allegedly denied schedule modifications in order to find time to pump. This led her to develop mastitis, an infection causing painful, burning sensations in her breasts.

She was also prohibited from pumping in the flight deck or in the lavatory during the flight. Instead, she had to squeeze into the lavatory before or after the flight in order to take care of her pumping. This caused further pain and leakage.

Now stop for a moment. We have one side of the story, told in an op-ed column by Galen Sherwin, an attorney for the A.C.L.U. Women’s Rights Project. Her motive is clear: build a convincing case for her clients.

Frontier denies that it denies accommodation to pregnant or breastfeeding mothers. On the contrary, it stated:

“Frontier Airlines has strong policies in place in support of pregnant and lactating mothers” and “offers a number of accommodations for pregnant and lactating pilots and flight attendants within the bounds of protecting public safety.”

There are also strict attendance policies at play, which really beg the question: should a woman have to give up breastfeeding in order to hold  keep her job? That’s exactly what one of the flight attendants party to this lawsuit says she was forced to do.

CONCLUSION

Whatever the precise solution is to this problem, I think most can agree that this is a problem. I saw how time-consuming and sometimes stressful breast pumping could be for my wife. Women should not be stigmatized for caring for their children. No one should be forced to squeeze into a grimy airline lavatory to lactate. Child bearing should be encouraged, not treated as a disability. I trust this lawsuit will lead to policy changes at Frontier and other airlines that will provide greater accommodation and therefore greater dignity to women who are pregnant or recently gave birth. 

image: Frontier

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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11 Comments

  1. debit Reply
    December 11, 2019 at 10:43 am

    Equality. Single guys should get the same benefits. People shouldn’t have to pop out green house gas emitting flesh sacks to enjoy the same benefits.

    Women are evil. Your personal problems are not a concern of the society. Everyone gets the same benefits.

  2. James Reply
    December 11, 2019 at 11:06 am

    The only reason there’s a topic of equality between man and woman, because men are tired of their woman’s nagging about it.

    Demanding equal pay and raise, at the same exact moment demanding to work less and others to comply to their “special” needs of giving birth, breastfeeding, menstrual cramps, pms, etc.

    What a silly creature…. No wonder royals used to have multiple wives. You can easily “removed” the “troubled” ones…

  3. Andy K Reply
    December 11, 2019 at 11:44 am

    I am all for equality but the truth is that certain jobs cannot be performed by women who are pregnant and/or breastfeeding. While I don’t think this pilot should lose her job due to having a child, she needs to accept the conditions that Frontier is offering her. This is a matter of passenger safety.

    The equality movement, with its blind demands, has yet to come to grips with the reality of being human.

  4. Steve S Reply
    December 11, 2019 at 12:16 pm

    Came for the angry men comment section…did not disappoint wow 2/2 right out of the gate

    • Andy K Reply
      December 11, 2019 at 1:07 pm

      Wow, women must adore you so much. #cuck

      • Steve Reply
        December 11, 2019 at 1:21 pm

        The ultimate empty insult from anonymous internet randos…

        Your comment wasn’t actually bad, but the two guys above you, sweet Jesus – I’d like to see them share those thoughts with their mothers.

        “Women are evil” “What a silly creature”

        • Shawn Reply
          December 11, 2019 at 2:43 pm

          I agree that that comment wasn’t as bad, but I don’t think it accurately reflects what is reported to have happened. In this one case, the pilot asked to be accommodated by being staffed temporarily in some other capacity *as Frontier had done for others*. The allegation is that that request was denied without explanation. So, it’s a little more nuanced than someone just complaining that the company didn’t permit her to fly while pregnant.

    • Shawn Reply
      December 11, 2019 at 2:40 pm

      Having read the NYT article, I just came hoping to get some insight from Matthew on Frontier’s side of the story. I, sir, did NOT anticipate the angry men comment section … nor its ferocity. So I give you kudos for your insight, Steve! ;). Wow! It’s very difficult for me to read and interpret some of these comments as being sincere and not silly or sarcastic.

  5. Madddy Reply
    December 11, 2019 at 4:38 pm

    Someone, please show me what I’m missing in the logic below.

    1. Let’s agree that women and men are equally capable and perform the same job identically.
    2. We equalize pay: female pilot salary = male pilot salary. $300K/year. An average pilot works 300 days/year.
    3. Assume that -on average per year- female pilots work 300 days. The reason for such discrepancy might matter socially, but let’s stick to strict rationality for now.

    Therefore, both produce identical value/output for the first 299 days and are paid equally for the effort. Yay!
    But on day 300, males produce as usual, and female output declines. They no longer produce the same value.

    Employers pay for your work and don’t benefit from childbirth, so why pay you when you’re not working?
    If they did, should we expect to repay the employer with extra work later? If not, is it unfair for men to work more for the same pay?

    Should each be paid according to the value produced, regardless of characteristics? What if our system factored in the average extra work that men do while women are absent for childbirth? I think it does, which seems perfectly rational and fair.

  6. Scott Reply
    December 12, 2019 at 2:24 pm

    I think that Madddy’s argument is rational, however, the flaw is that in the US we think about equality the wrong way. If, instead of thinking, “oh, well women have babies so they will never be able to work as many days a year as women…” we should be thinking…. why are we not giving men more time off to be with their families when they have young children?

    If we gave everyone both men and women 6-12 months paid leave when they have a baby, then this would be much less of an issue from an equality standpoint.

    • James Reply
      December 12, 2019 at 6:21 pm

      You, sir, could never become an employer, or a boss as a matter of fact. 6-12 months paid leave?

      I would then adopt a baby, and return them to the orphanage after few months claiming perpetual paid leave.

      Crazy? Naaah…. Same as you dud…

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