Over Christmas weekend a story broke of a woman who claimed to have had her first class airline seat taken from her only to see it given to Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. By the day after Christmas, the pressure must have been too heavy for Lee to bear because she went on a tweet storm pointing fingers in all directions.
The story broke on Sunday, Dec. 24, with 63-year-old Jean-Marie Simon, a D.C. schoolteacher and attorney, alleging that United Airlines summarily removed her from her pre-paid, first class seat on a flight between Houston, Texas, and Washington DC. But, when she boarded the Dec. 18 flight, Simon said she discovered that the seat had been given away to Rep. Lee, a Texas Democrat.
Claims raged back and forth between Lee, the airline, and Simon with the airline insisting Simon initially tried to cancel her flight — thereby leaving the seat open — and then claiming it apologized to her. For her part, Simon denied both of the airline’s claims.
United 2 NBC:" We were concerned…found that upon receiving notification that 788 delayed due 2 weather, customer canceled from Houston= DC with… mobile app. As part of re-board. gate agents clearing standby+upgrade, inc.1st customer on list. JMS to United: show me proof!"
— Jean-Marie Simon (@JeanMarieSimon1) December 26, 2017
Simon said that she did receive a $500 voucher for the seat and that a low-level United employee apologized personally to her on the phone, but that she never got any official apology from United.
Meanwhile, as the media focused on what was occurring between Simon and the airline, Rep. Lee went on a tear on Twitter.
In her first tweet on the morning of Dec. 26, Lee almost seemed to blame the victim by alluding to a “Grinch” who was “trying to steal the spirit of the holiday”:
Here’s my statement surrounding incident on United Airlines flight 2 Mondays ago:
“I am disappointed in having to respond to this accusation, but I believe transparency is very important. Unfortunately, it looks like Grinch is trying to steal the spirit of the holiday.
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) December 26, 2017
She then unleashed several tweets explaining the story from her vantage point and insisting she did “nothing wrong”:
“to stop a tax bill that was going to cause millions of Americans to lose their health insurance.
After receiving my boarding pass, I boarded the plane in the normal process. I did nothing wrong. I asked for nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary and received nothing
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) December 26, 2017
”exceptional or out of the ordinary. I proceeded to take my seat and work on legislative issues on my way to Washington.
Although I was not involved, I observed a disruption by an individual walking back and forth in the cabin. exceptional or out of the ordinary.
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) December 26, 2017
I saw the gate agent go to the seat of the individual who was walking back and forth before we took off.
I later came to understand that the individual had canceled her own flight. However I had nothing to do with that.
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) December 26, 2017
Lee then threw the race card saying that the only reason her seating was questioned because she is black:
I noted that this individual came toward me and took a picture. I heard later that she might have said “I know who she is.” Since this was not any fault of mine, the way the individual continued to act appeared to be, upon reflection, because I was an African American woman,
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) December 26, 2017
seemingly an easy target along with the African American flight attendant who was very, very nice. This saddens me, especially at this time of year given all of the things we have to work on to help people. But in the spirit of this season and out of the sincerity of my heart,
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) December 26, 2017
if it is perceived that I had anything to do with this, I am kind enough to simply say sorry. I understand the airline is working to address the passenger’s concerns. I am glad of that. But as an African American, I know there are too many examples like this all over the nation
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) December 26, 2017
Next Lee prayed that “one day, we will accept our collective diversity”:
. I hope one day, we will accept our collective diversity. Happy Holidays.” ine, the way the individual continued to act appeared to be, upon reflection, because I was an African American woman, seemingly an easy target along with the African
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) December 26, 2017
American flight attendant who was very, very nice. This saddens me, especially at this time of year given all of the things we have to work on to help people. But in the spirit of this season and out of the sincerity of my heart, if it is perceived that I had anything to do
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) December 26, 2017
Then, Lee once again threw the race card and pleaded for “diversity”:
with this, I am kind enough to simply say sorry. I understand the airline is working to address the passenger’s concerns. I am glad of that.
But as an African American, I know there are too many examples like this all over the nation.
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) December 26, 2017
I hope one day, we will accept our collective diversity. Happy Holidays.”
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) December 26, 2017
But Lee wasn’t done. There were a few more tweets yet to come:
UNITED AIRLINES STATEMENT
“After thoroughly examining our electronic records, we found that upon receiving a notification that Flight 788 was delayed due to weather, the customer appears to have canceled her flight from Houston to Washington, D.C. within the United mobile app.
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) December 26, 2017
As part of the normal pre-boarding process, gate agents began clearing standby and upgrade customers, including the first customer on the waitlist for an upgrade."
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) December 26, 2017
Clearly the congresswoman was feeling the heat over the controversy.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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