United Airlines is facing criticism after a mom - Jenna Longoria along with her toddler and her mother were denied boarding due to a baggage limit issue, which escalated after a misgendering incident with the crew.
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Jenna Longoria who is from Texas says her main concern was getting her son and her 75-year-old mother home when she was removed from a United flight from San Francisco to Austin on Wednesday for misgendering a staff member.
Jenna Longoria claims that she and her family were taken off a flight from San Francisco to Austin on Wednesday after she 'accidentally' addressed a female-identifying employee as a man.
Jenna, a Texas mom traveling from San Francisco to Austin, described how a mistake with pronouns led to her removal from the flight and her 16-month-old toddler.
Feeling singled out and humiliated, Jenna shared her experience in a now-deleted video with her 20K Instagram followers, leading to a viral social media discussion about pronoun usage. She later shared this explanation.
Jenna explained that a flight attendant denied her boarding after she accidentally used the wrong pronoun. She later apologized, explaining her unfamiliarity with pronouns and her focus on holding her toddler and their carry-on items.
While United Airline stated that Longoria was prevented from boarding because of an issue with carry-on bags, the video of the incident suggests a different reason. Jenna denied this claim also.
"This is ridiculous,” she said in the video.
“I can’t even understand what is going on here… I was holding my son, he was having a temper tantrum, I had the car seat on my back, and I wasn’t really focusing on anything except getting my son’s car seat on the flight and getting him comfortable and safe.”
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| United operations manager Gabriella Chidom informed her that Longoria could not get on the flight . Chidom was not the employee who was misgendered, according to Longoria |
She identified a flight staff member, Gabriella, who discussed the situation with them and mentioned that the captain had decided to remove them from the flight.
Jenna said, “They’re saying it’s a hate crime that I did and that I might not even be able to ever fly United again.”
The incident began when Jenna accidentally misgendered a flight attendant by saying “thank you, sir” while receiving boarding passes. The attendant, who identifies as a woman, became upset. Jenna, managing her crying son, tried to clarify the misunderstanding but was ultimately not allowed to board, leaving their luggage and medications on the plane.
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| Jenna Longoria's Instagram page says that she is an FDNP and hormone expert. |
Footage shared by Longoria captures the moment when United operations manager Gabriella Chidom informs her that she will not be allowed to board the flight due to 'what came out of her mouth.' According to Longoria Chidom was not the employee who was misgendered.
Gabriella reportedly told Jenna, “I need you to know that because of this verbal altercation that you had with my staff, you got yourself put off this craft… I don’t wanna put words in their mouths because I still need statements, but some transgender comments were made, derogatory comments about being a bigot not being on the aircraft. This is what I heard.”