Last month, singer-songwriter David Ryan Harris was accused of human trafficking while on an American Airlines flight with his two biracial children.
According to an Instagram post that Harris shared, he and his two sons were stopped by an airline employee and four police officers on Sept. 15 upon landing in Los Angeles. Following Harris’ social media posts about the incident, American Airlines reached out to the father directly, in addition to offering him 10,000 frequent flyer miles as a consolation, a statement he also shared on his Instagram page.
“To summarize our investigation … we and our flight attendant realized that our policies regarding suspected human trafficking were not followed, and through coaching and counseling … our flight attendant realizes that their interaction and observations did NOT meet the criteria that human trafficking was taking place,” said the airline in its statement to Harris. “Our flight attendant in question wanted to make sure that you were aware that they sincerely offer a heartfelt apology to you and your family for their actions and the results that their actions generated.”
Though Harris applauded American Airlines for not only reaching out but also conducting an investigation and potentially reviewing its policies, this is not the first time an incident like this has occurred. As theGrio previously reported in August, a white mother pursued legal action against Southwest Airlines after an employee accused her of trafficking her biracial child.
When Mary MacCarthy and her daughter, Moira, were traveling for a family funeral, MacCarthy claims that a Southwest employee reported her to Denver police for possible human trafficking because of “the different color of her daughter’s skin from her own.”
While Southwest Airlines decided not comment on the MacCarthy incident, American Airlines shared an additional statement with…
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