An EasyJet plane from London’s Gatwick Airport to Malaga in Spain experienced a revolt after passengers onboard came together to protest the removal of two Black men.
The viral incident reportedly occurred when the plane was taxiing and preparing to take off from Gatwick Airport to Malaga. Police were called in by the flight attendants to remove the two Black passengers for “huffing at a member of the crew” after they were told to put their shoes back on until after takeoff.
When police got on board and tried to remove the two Black men, the other passengers protested, telling the young men “no, don’t get off,” as well as “sit down.” A Twitter user by the name of Luke Gayle shared the video.
“@easyJet attempting to remove 2 black boys from the flight for huffing at a member of the crew! Absolutely disgusting. We’ve been delayed 2 hours and counting! Police on board,” the user posted.
The protest paid off as the two Black men were allowed to stay on the flight. The flight attendants were subsequently changed. But a statement from EasyJet said the flight attendants were replaced because they exceeded the time limits on their shifts and not because of complaints from the incident.
The statement to the Daily Mail added that EasyJet does not discriminate against individuals regardless of their race and that safety remains its highest priority. Also, the airline said its crew members are to ensure that safety requirements are followed by passengers before take-off.
“EasyJet does not discriminate against any individual. Safety is our highest priority and there is nothing to suggest that discrimination played any part in the issue onboard,” the statement read. “The primary responsibility of our crew is for the safety of everyone onboard.”
The statement continued: “An issue arose onboard the flight during taxi, the aircraft returned to stand and was met by airport police to resolve the issue before safely departing with all passengers onboard.
“Our crew must ensure that safety requirements are followed by all passengers and as part of their role must check prior to take-off that everyone is compliant with these. This is particularly important for passengers seated in emergency exits rows where crew ensure there are no loose items during take-off.”
“We are aware of the feedback from some customers onboard on how this was handled. We take feedback of this nature seriously and have been in touch with them to discuss their experience and assure them that we will review this internally.
According to EasyJet, it has commenced an investigation into the matter.
