Gay Couple Forced to Separate on Alaska Airlines Flight So Straight Couple Could Sit Together - Towleroad Gay News

A gay man and his  partner were forced to separate on an Alaska Airlines flight to make room for a straight couple who wanted to sit together. David Cooley, the owner of the West Hollywood nightclub The Abbey, wrote about the incident on Facebook.

Wrote Cooley: “I have never been so discriminated against while traveling before. I was removed from an Alaska Airlines flight # 1407 from John F. Kennedy International Airport to LAX to give preferential treatment to a straight couple. After my traveling companion and I had been seated in our assigned seats for a while, we were approached by the flight attendant and my companion was asked to move from his premium seat to coach, so a couple could sit together. I explained that we were a couple and wanted to sit together. He was given a choice to either give up the premium seat and move to coach or get off the plane. We could not bear the feeling of humiliation for an entire cross-country flight and left the plane.”

Cooley added: “I cannot believe that an airline in this day and age would give a straight couple preferential treatment over a gay couple and go so far as to ask us to leave. We will never be flying Alaska Airlines or their recently purchased Virgin Airlines Group ever again. Thank you to Delta Air Lines for getting us home safe. If you are an  # LGBT  person, please spend your travel dollars with an LGBT friendly airline like Delta.”

Alaska released a statement about the incident, acknowledging that it did take place: “When boarding flight 1407 from JFK to LAX, a couple was mistakenly assigned the same seats as another couple in Premium Class. We reseated one of the guests from Premium Class in the Main Cabin. ‘We are deeply sorry for the situation, and are investigating the details while communicating directly with the guests involved to try and make this right. Alaska Airlines has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind, and our employees value inclusion for our guests and each other.’”