Three Jewish travelers were ordered off a JetBlue flight this week after being told that an amicably arranged seat swap with another passenger made the flight crew uncomfortable.
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The Forward (bit.ly/4aBWUuJ) reported that the incident took place on a December 31st red eye from Palm Springs to New York’s JFK Airport, when an elderly Orthodox Jewish man tried to take an apparently vacant seat in order to avoid sitting next to an unrelated female passenger in his assigned spot. After being told by a flight attendant that he couldn’t stay in the seat he had chosen, the Jewish man tried sitting in a different spot, only to be rebuffed by the flight attendant a second time. Attempts by his traveling companions, two Orthodox women, to explain the man’s religious concerns to the flight crew fell on deaf ears, prompting passenger Ron Passaro to voluntarily trade seats to accommodate the Jewish man’s request.
Passaro’s girlfriend, Rachel Sklar, shared details of the incident on X, formerly known as Twitter, explaining that the Orthodox man was assigned to 18A, a window seat, while she was seated in 19B, next to the man’s daughter in 19A. Passaro traded his aisle seat -20D – with the Jewish man and it seemed as if the problem had been settled with little fanfare until the plane’s captain and a member of the JetBlue security team approached the Orthodox passengers and ordered them off the plane.
“What *was* unusual here – this was resolved pretty easily (my boyfriend gladly switched seats once he realized what the need was) and everyone was seated & waiting,” tweeted Sklar. “Then they were kicked off.”
JetBlue security told the group that the crew was “not comfortable” with their presence on the flight. Attempts by the man’s companion to allow them to remain on the flight asking if they appeared “dangerous” or “unsafe,” fell on deaf ears. A security member can be heard on an audio recording captured by Sklar that “changing seats is a violation when it comes to weight imbalance.”
Sklar also tried to intervene, explaining that passengers were happy to accommodate the man’s request. But her efforts also proved fruitless, with JetBlue personnel insisting that the problem was weight related and had nothing to do with religion. The Orthodox passengers, who were described by Passaro as “svelte,” were eventually removed from the plane, saying that they felt that they were being targeted because they are Jewish.
“They said obviously this is clearly anti-Semitism and I was like ‘It sure seems like it to me.’” said Sklar. “The whole thing was really upsetting. It seemed very unnecessary and kind of bewildering.”
Sklar was mystified by JetBlue’s actions, saying that she has had flight attendants cheerfully make seat changes to accommodate her allergy to cats.
“Flight attendants have a lot of discretion,” said Sklar. “They can switch people around. The weight thing didn’t make any sense.”
What a disgrace. I hope this hurts their pockets. Done with JetBlue and their clear anti-semitism.
Time to boycott JetBlue.
Everyday it’s something new. where jews are reminded daily about the current situation and their place in the world today..
I get to choose seats on flights and they have no clue if I am 100 lbs or 300lb, and every time I get to keep my seat. No one ever said hey please change your seat we have a weight imbalance. Apparently it was a convenient excuse to throw them off the plane. JetBlue has some explaining to do.
The whole “weight imbalance” thing sounds like a phony excuse. How does the airline know in advance if someone is 400 lb or 98 lb? I find it hard to believe that changing seats makes any difference in the weight balance of the plane.
Not to mention that sometimes the airline requests you to change seats. I have been asked to change seats so a child could sit next to his or her mother. Which I did, gladly. Now I probably outweighed that child by more than 200 lbs. What happened to the weight imbalance?
Sue Sue sue
The weight thing is absolutely bonkers. Somehow the original configuration is never a problem.
Weight issue, right…
Taking all that weight off the plane, and leaving those seats empty, is not a weight issue ???
Was once told by united your suitcase weighs too much and is dangerous for the plane.
However if you pay $80 you can take it.
For all those judging and tying this event to changing seats and insisting not sitting next to women.
My entire family of 7 were removed from JetBlue flight from. FL to NY after being told that minors can’t sit in exit row (which they were placed there by JetBlue). We promptly complied and switched without any issue. But suddenly they removed our entire family. Saying we were non compliant. When not a word was said. We were only given the reason once we all were removed.
They are heartless anti-semites. Stop blaming “chusid shoteh” stuff. It’s a fact we are hated and tragic. We chose not to make a scene simply out of fear what else can be done to us.
I remember watching a Documentary about a Rav Avraham Belinsky who in 1850 was traveling from Poland to San Francisco to become the Ruv of the Shul (& to marry the daughter of the Shul President). On a train heading out west a not tsnius women sat next to him & he got up & moved. If that was in 1850, imagine how much worse it is today.
Time to involve a senior airline exec, disguise him as Orthodox Jew, film him kicking off the flight attendant who tries to remove him for no reason.
Pure unadulterated bull crap!! Jet Blue needs to pay for this blatant act of overt Anti Semitism ! This is what ADL etc. should be sinking their teeth into
There is a very fine line between being polite and rude in situations like this. I can’t judge, unless I witnessed it myself, neither can anyone else. I choose to fly, based on pricing and scheduling as do most people. I can’t see a single person spending more money or inconvenience themselves because of report like this. Either way it should be a wake up call to the industry that people notice and should also be an opportunity for jews to think about how to best approach these issues when they come up
Rules, regulations and the discretion
of the captain aboard a flight are different,much more strict. If they tell you to stay in your seat,just do it. You may feel justified but it’s certainly not worth the aggravation that can follow.
Did you ever see the overstuffed carry on suitcases that people bring on board? They don’t want to pay. Jet Blue should fire this anti Jewish staff. Giving the airline a horrible name
Weird.
Doesn’t make sense
Airline is Just making up story regarding weight
No questions about eight when booking a seat
Good law suit
Fire the pilot. Fire the attendants. Obviously a racially biased incident.
Shameful Antisemitism. I will NEVER fly Jet Blue!!!!
Didn’t think Jet Blue would jump on the anti Jewish bandwagon. Such a sad shame.
I won’t ever fly Jet Blue and wonder if I have to be careful about any other airline. Will my last name be deemed too Jewish soon? What’s the next antisemitic unoriginal act to come?
Is there any update on this story? If it was true surely some canny lawyer is going to sue. If there is no court case that is an admission that the story as published in VIN and other sites is all just hogwash.
Why is all the VIN readers always blaming antisemitism. Couldn’t just be weight. Distribution issue.
What I find strange is how much a man will spend on a nice Menorah or Esrog not because of Halacha but because of “Hiddur Mitzvah” but tell that same man to buy an extra seat next to him to avoid all this nonsense & all of a sudden he’s cheaper than “Velvel the Miser” Would you eat the treif meal if the Kosher meal cost more? Would you fly on Shabbos because it’s 30% cheaper? What’s the difference? If it’s important you make it happen (by paying extra) & if you refuse it shows you don’t really care.
Statement from the Jazz:
“The Utah Jazz Code of Conduct is in place so that games can be played without distraction and disruption. No matter where someone is in the arena, if a sign becomes distracting or sparks an interaction with a player, we will ask them to remove it….”
“During an out-of-bounds play in the first quarter of yesterday’s Jazz game against the Dallas Mavericks, there was a group sitting courtside whose signs sparked an interaction with a player that created a distraction and interfered with play of (the) game. As the next step in standard security protocol, the fans were asked to take down their signs.”
Another “Chasid Shoteh” causing Antisemitism.
Show me one legitimate source anywhere in Halacha that says a man can’t sit next to a women on an airplane. I’ll wait …..
I fine it funny that anytime something happens to a Jewish person that they don’t like then is racism, but if someone of African descent says the same thing then they need to get over it!!
Time to stop this silliness of the need to change seats because of who is sitting next to you.