Banned by American Airlines for being “intoxicated and engaging in sexual activity” - but was it her?
Can our advocacy team referee this one?
We can, of course. But nothing could have prepared me for the drama that was to come. I mean, nothing.
A quick disclaimer: I run a no-drama consumer advocacy organization. We try to fix people's consumer problems quietly. So when we see a case that looks like telenovela, we usually politely decline. Our advocacy team couldn't have known this one would turn out the way it did.
Wright says she found out she'd been blacklisted by American Airlines just before her recent flight from Albuquerque to New Orleans, where she was hosting her sister's bachelorette party.
"I tried checking in at the kiosk and it did not work," she remembers. "So I went to the desk. A representative told me I was permanently barred from flying American Airlines. To say I was shocked is an understatement."
Wright bought a ticket to New Orleans on a different airline and figured she would fix this when she get back. But she couldn't.
Wright's case raises some questions:
But first, let's get into the details of Wright's strange case.
Banned by American Airlines after an "incident"After getting the devastating news that she'd been blacklisted, and after the dust settled from her sister's bachelorette party, Wright set out to get answers.
Why hadn't American Airlines told her she'd been banned?
Wright checked her spam folder, and sure enough, there was an email from American Airlines.
"The email quoted a confirmation ID and said I was banned for an incident, but gave no additional information," she recalls.
She called American Airlines to find out more about this supposed incident.
"When I finally got through to customer service they told me they could not assist and that I would have to email the airline. At this point, I had no clue what any of this was about."
But she would soon learn the truth.
"They sent me an email reconfirming I was on a permanent refuse list because I and [Name Redacted] have been placed on the Permanent Internal Refuse List after multiple eyewitness reports of the passengers being intoxicated and engaging in sexual activity on flight AA657 from DC to St. Louis on February 9, 2024."
Wright says although she was on that flight, she does not know the man with whom she had allegedly been engaged in sexual activity with.
Wright wanted to clear her name and get off American Airlines' Permanent Internal Refuse List. And she wanted our team to help her.
How do you get banned from American Airlines?What is American Airlines' Permanent Internal Refuse List, and how do you get on it?
American Airlines, like other major air carriers, has a blacklist of passengers that it refuses to accept. At American Airlines, it's called the Permanent Internal Refuse List.
Here's what can get you on the list:
Acting drunk or disorderlyGetting inebriated or joining the mile-high club can be a one-way ticket to the Permanent Internal Refuse List.
Failing to follow crewmember instructionsIf you stand up when you're supposed to have your seatbelts fastened or light up in the lavatory, that could be enough reason to get banned by American Airlines.
Flying on an "illegal" itineraryIf you tried to save a little money by skiplagging on an American Airlines itinerary, you could end up on the naughty list. (By the way, using one of these ticketing tricks isn't illegal in the strict dictionary definition, but the airline doesn't care.)
Threatening a crewmemberTaking a swing at a flight attendant is an almost certain way to get yourself banned — if not also arrested when you arrive at your destination.
If you do any of these things, American Airlines could permanently ban you from its flights. And getting unbanned may be difficult.
What's the process for appealing a ban on American Airlines?A review of these initial emails between Wright and American leaves the impression that there's no formal appeal process. The email is simply a one-way notification that you can't fly on the airline.
However, the subsequent emails suggest that an appeal process does exist.
American Airlines bans only the most serious offenders for life, and for good reason. You want more customers, and even after a run-in with authorities, your money is still green.
But what if that doesn't work?
What if your appeal to get unbanned from American Airlines is denied?If American Airlines insists on keeping you on its Permanent Internal Refuse List, you have options.
If the answer is still no, you can appeal your ban to one of the American Airlines managers whose names we post on this site. The team handling appeals is normally quite thorough in their review. But if that doesn't work, you can reach out to my advocacy team for help.
Often, airlines will keep the ban in place without offering an explanation. In that sense, airline blacklists are a little bit of a black box. But if you can determine the airline's reason for banning you, it might be possible to file a successful appeal.
Here's the proof it wasn't herOur advocacy team felt terrible for Wright. Eyewitnesses had accused her of trying to join the mile-high club with a passenger she didn't even know. And she'd been struggling to get American Airline's attention and to clear her name.
I reached out to American Airlines on Wright's behalf and asked it to review her file. Wright furnished the team with all the information needed to exonerate her. But the deciding factor may have been her sexual orientation.
"I am a 24-year-old lesbian female, so I am confident I was not whomever these eyewitnesses saw," she told me.
American Airlines has a right to refuse to do business with a passenger who has engaged in disruptive behavior. But it should have done more due diligence on her case, notified her that she had been accused of inappropriate behavior, and given her an opportunity to respond.
At the very least it should have contacted her with a personal letter instead of sending her a form email that ended up in her spam filter.
The airline reopened her case and responded.
"Our corporate security folks spoke with Erin today, and her ability to travel on American Airlines has been restored," a representative told me. "We're looking into where any sort of misidentification occurred. But in the meantime, we aren't preventing her from traveling with us."
But then, a very strange twist ...Shortly after American Airlines contacted Wright to notify her she'd been unbanned, I checked in with her to find out if she was happy with the results.
Wright did not respond.
Instead, she posted a video on TikTok about her experience . There was no mention of our advocacy team's involvement in her case. She solicits other TikTokers to comment on the video so that she can get a refund for the additional ticket she had to buy.
Meanwhile, my contact at American Airlines sent me emails asking why Wright was still upset. Didn't she want to get off the Permanent Internal Refuse List? And didn't American Airlines do that?
No, it turns out Wright wanted a refund for the additional ticket she had to buy. (American Airlines had already refunded the original flight to New Orleans, on which she was denied boarding.)
Wright's video caught the attention of a New York tabloid, which published a story about her being banned. American Airlines refunded her additional ticket, too — which means she flew to New Orleans and back for free.
Maybe that's appropriate compensation for being blacklisted by mistake. Maybe not.
Our team doesn't need to be credited for every case, and we're kind of relieved to not be part of this one. I'm not sure if we would have been able to advocate for a refund for both tickets, but we certainly are happy to have helped get her off American Airlines' list of banned passengers.
This story was originally published October 7, 2024, 7:30 AM.
