A black mother claimed American Airlines prevented her family from checking in their disabled child’s stroller at the gate while extending the courtesy to white families on the same flight.
The mom posted about her experience on TikTok, accusing the airline of discriminating and humiliating her family during a recent trip.
The incident allegedly occurred on July 12, when the family was traveling with their four-year-old daughter, who has a disability that prevents her from walking unassisted in public.
According to the mother, who posts under the username @nneomastorm_, the stroller is not only necessary but a federally protected mobility aid.
When the family attempted to bring the stroller through security and check it at the gate, the mom claimed they were met with hostility from three white American Airlines employees who refused to even glance at the child’s medical documentation.
‘So this morning at 5am two exhausted parents traveling with two sleeping babies, we’ve flown countless times, were told by American Airlines staff that our stroller – the same stroller we’ve gate-checked without issue on Southwest and United – had to be dropped off at baggage,’ she explained.
‘No empathy. No compromise. Just refusal.
‘But what broke us wasn’t just the grueling walk through TSA with heavy children in our arms. It was watching, yes, watching as white families in the same line were allowed to keep their strollers,’ she continued in the clip, her voice trembling.
The mom posted about her experience on TikTok, saying the airline discriminated and humiliated her family during a recent trip
When the family attempted to bring the stroller through security and check it at the gate, the mom said they were met with hostility from three white American Airlines employees who refused to even glance at the child’s medical documentation
‘But what broke us wasn’t just the grueling walk through TSA with heavy children in our arms. It was watching, yes, watching as white families in the same line were allowed to keep their strollers,’ the mom explained
‘Same setup, same flight process, different treatment.
‘We were told our stroller was different. The only difference is the color of our skin.’
The mother said that when the family landed, the stroller was damaged and had parts missing.
In a second video posted on July 18, she discussed the Air Carrier Access Act, a federal law requiring airlines to accommodate passengers with disabilities, including allowing mobility devices such as strollers for disabled children to be brought on board and gate-checked free of charge.
She appeared to be responding to commenters on her first video who claimed her stroller was too big to check at the gate.
‘The law is on our side,’ she said.
American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Mail.
