Newark, NJ – A flight from Newark to Toronto was delayed early Monday morning after an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man refused to sit in his assigned seat because his seatmate was a woman. Now, Christine Flynn, 31, is demanding an apology from Porter Airlines for how the situation was handled.
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According to Flynn, she had just strapped into her seat when the ultra-Orthodox man came down the aisle and refused to make eye contact with or speak to her. “He turned to the gentleman across the aisle and said, ‘Change,'” Flynn recounted. The female passenger said initially she did not understand why the man was pointing towards her, but speaking to the man across the aisle. She then realized the haredi man did not want to sit next to her because she was a woman.
“He could have made a plan, he could have put in a request,” Flynn told the CBC (http://bit.ly/1VNrgOY). “When someone doesn’t look at you, and when someone doesn’t acknowledge you as person because of your gender, you’re a lot less willing to be accommodating. Leaving it to the last minute and expecting me to move is appalling. He’s expecting me to fall in to that archetypical feminine role and acquiesce.”
The man across from Flynn declined to change his seat, so the ultra-Orthodox man asked the man behind him to switch seats. A flight attendant finally intervened and asked what the problem was.
“I said, ‘This man is refusing to sit next to me because I am a woman,’ Flynn said. “At that point, another man behind … offered to switch with me and the airline attendant said, ‘Would you be willing to move? and I said, ‘Absolutely not. This is ridiculous,'” she said. “I was without words.”
The haredi man was eventually seated next to another male traveler and the flight took off. But Flynn said she’s angry she was asked to move and frustrated that her fellow passengers were even willing to accommodate the ultra-Orthodox man.
“I have a problem with that. He [the flight attendant] probably, maybe, didn’t realize that asking a woman to move because the fact she had a uterus made the man next to her uncomfortable … I don’t think he even would have put it together that that’s kind of insulting and maybe even discriminatory,” she said. “If someone had refused to sit next to me because I was gay and maybe they were some kind of old-school religion that doesn’t like gay people, no one would have switched with him. It would have been off the table.”
Flynn admitted there may have been a language barrier, noting the man’s English “wasn’t terrific,” and said she may have changed seats if had he spoken to her directly and asked her nicely to switch seats. But the man’s refusal to make eye contact with her deeply offended her.
A spokesman for Porter Airlines, Brad Cicero, defended the airline’s handling of the situation saying the flight attendant “did his best to manage the situation as efficiently and reasonably as possible in order to avoid an unnecessary delay.”
He said there were very few seats available to place the man because the flight was almost full. “Only a few seats were available, and no row was entirely unoccupied,” Cicero said. “The flight attendant politely asked Ms. Flynn if she would be able to change seats. She declined, so the flight attendant began asking other passengers if they would be willing to assist. Someone did agree to move and it was not perceived to be a particularly contentious situation by the flight attendant.”
Flynn said she is still holding out for an apology from the airline. “I’d like an apology,” she said. “There really should be a policy around this. If people are going to get on flights and demand that they sit next to someone of the same sex, there should be an area where they can go. I should not have to move because someone has a problem with my uterus.”
Assuming her account is accurate, there is no excuse for this kind of behavior. One who wants to be machmir in this area should simply purchase two seats. I have seen a number of chashuvim do just that. Yes it will make flying much more expensive but there is really no other mentshlicha way to do it. Even asking nicely and sweetly is often perceived as insulting.
Chusid shoiter
He’s either a KODOSH or a SHOYTAH!!
I believe its more about safety then anything elso,
The women next to u on the plane might decide she dosent like u and tells flight attendand u touched her and u face 20 years in prison,
it happens alot
“The flight attendant politely asked Ms. Flynn if she would be able to change seats. She declined, so the flight attendant began asking other passengers if they would be willing to assist. Someone did agree to move and it was not perceived to be a particularly contentious situation by the flight attendant.”
So where is the problem? Objectively, there isn’t. A very different question: What is her problem? And here is the perfect tell: “He’s expecting me to fall in to that archetypical feminine role and acquiesce.” All that – after he was politely asked, refused and left alone… Her poor relationship with English language aside, she is a feminazi!
Why should any decent man, especially a religious one, be punished by being obliged to make eye contact with this chaleria?
With all the understanding and tolerance, this “ultra-orthodox” man was not truly “machmir”. He caused a chilul Hashem, and caused bizyonos for other people. He is entitled to his preferences (which he somehow calls chumros), but does not have the right to impose these on others. I am embarrassed by his disgraceful behavior.
Why an apology from the airline? Nothing wrong with politely asking her if she’d mind switching seats.mjo big deal was made about it. She is just basking in her 5 minutes of fame. Much ado about nothing.
The narrative all ties into the no secular education narrative. We as a scoeity have moved way more to the right than our ancestors. I had chasidish rabbiem who took the city bus even in the summer when untznuis ladies were present.
I don’t see where there is a problem with the story only this woman has thin skin. she is upset that a flight attendant nicely asked her to switch seats. the only reason that this would be a chilul hashem is if he had demanded some one switch seats but he did not. He did nothing wrong you might have a problem with his way he acts when around women but he said nothing.wrong he just nicely asked to switch seats.
Just write her a check for $5.9 million and case closed!
Give me a break, this woman is being so silly. I can understand why it would bother her, but to SUE? I mean, honestly. If it were anyone from any other religion for another religious reason she’d have no problem with it. The man who didn’t want to sit next to her also probably doesn’t speak to women, and his English is not that great either. She should grow up and stop being so obstinate.
It looks like this woman likes to stir up a pot. He didn’t do anythign wrong, you can decide not to sit next to a woman, and it’s his choice to lead whatever lifestyle HE wants.
This has happened to me many times when I am flying with my husband. He likes to sit on the aisle due to his size and I sit in the middle. The hasids refuse to sit next to me and insist that I sit in another seat!!! Needless to say my husband is upset because the plane is delayed and many times all seats are taken. What nerve to ask a married woman to change seats!
I am sometimes shocked at the comments of some of the bloggers here. Why do you have to dismiss out right if someone follows a more stringent opinion. Did you ever discuss this with a rov. There are differences of opinions if someone can or should sit next to a woman. I have a bigger problem with the woman’s attitude. We live in a world where we are expected to respect every person’s orientation. So my question is why can’t she. But especially my fellow commenters who should know better.
She should be happy that chasid didn’t want to sit next to her!
The man never sought to involve her in the first place. He was trying to switch with other men. It was the flight attendant who first approached the woman herself. And, in the end, he switched with another man anyway. So this lady’s involvement was peripheral at best, and she’s just engaged in anti-religious campaigning. Witness how she brings in “gays.”
I’ve flown with Porter Airlines many times and they are extremely good and very professional. The yid is wrong for not dealing with the situation properly but I think that this woman is really taking things out of proportion. It happens very often that people are not comfortable with their seats and usually people are understanding especially when it comes to religious reasons.
I believe Porter has a lot of business from yiden as i’ve witnessed when i fly with them and i believe part of it is because they really try very hard to accommodate everyone.
Story with Reb Moshe (Feinstein, for those under 30).
He went to a doctor, where the doctors’ mother was working as a receptionist. The woman saw Reb Moshe and got up and touched him. The doctor chastised his mother and said that you are not allowed to touch Rabbonim, especially Reb Moshe.
Reb Moshe (who saw the tattoo on the mother’s arm, said to the doctor – it is forbidden to talk harshly to the Kedoshim.
This was a gadol hador……….
Whatever she wants to say about that Jew, what about her.
No one asked her to change
No one did it because they don’t like her, or because she is of an inferior class
It’s a religious issue someone has about sitting near a woman, not matter of what religion.
The whole comparison to Gay is as absurd it could get. The issue is simple, woman are attractive and “liked” (not the opposite) and that’s the reason he didn’t want to sit near a woman. It’s not because he didn’t like her gender.
She is just looking for attention, which VIN News is gladly giving her.
His Rebbe must be proud of him!!!–next time let him buy 2 seats
I do not understand her anger. The airline did not wrong her, maybe the fellow passenger did. She has little to sue him for so she is attacking the airline.
When booking a flight a customer needs to make it known they have special needs, in this case, a man not seated next to a woman, for religious reasons. He should have asked to be seated near a man and explain why. The woman in this story was offended that the man did not make eye contact with her. He was not discriminating against her for being a woman. She wasn’t aware that Jewish men are not supposed to have physical contact or speak with women other than their wives, mothers, daughters. This guy was being machmir because in the normal course of events a plane can jolt causing accidental touching. That was his fear – accidental touching. People need to be reasonable; he should have made his needs known prior to boarding had he not done so when making reservations. And yes, men and women can sit next to each other in cars, buses, trains, planes. For those who prefer otherwise, they should buy two adjacent seats. Never make a Chilul Hashem; always make a Kiddush Hashem.
Maybe she was stinking from fish?!
Did you catch the part of the article where it quotes her as saying, “some kind of old-school religion that doesn’t like gay people”?
Oh, I wonder about whom she might be referring?
This woman has an agenda with anyone with Torah values, it has nothing to do with this particular incident, and she would probably be just as hostile to observant people of many forms of A”Z that maintain conservative social standards.
I’m sorry but I do NOT believe her story. She’s saying it with too much venom. The way she sounds, whatever sliver of truth there might be, is defused by her obvious bout of וסס!!
I’m sick and tired of hearing these stories on the news. It’s a big chillul hashem and it gives all of us frum yidin a bad name. The men who are really machmir not to sit next to women need to work it out with the airline before they get on the plane.
the guy is a dope and so is she – what does the airline have to do with it? She should demand an apology from him.
in all honesty, we are in an age now where there is a heightened sense of discrimination, and although some of it is completely of a non-kosher origin, such as the gay issue, real gender discrimination is very real. i completely understand this woman’s point, as many orthodox men do not feel the need to address women with respect, and being that she was not Jewish, i can only imagine the contempt she felt from him. somewhere these ultra-orthodox folks are going to suffer for their inability to address this issue among themselves. being publicly humiliated due to one’s gender can have lots of negative repercussions, and this man will be lucky is he doesn’t get sued for defamation. My suggestion is that everyone treat everyone else with respect, weather warranted or not, because not to do so is becoming increasingly dangerous, not to mention being unkind. We do not determine halacha among the nations. if we are uncomfortable with something, we have either a choice not to participate in it or pre-arrange it for our needs. but to demand that non-Jews spontaneously re-arrange themselves for us is the height of arrogance and narcissism, traits that have no place in real halacha.
2 words: chillul Hashem
Just replying to all of you telling him to purchase 2 seats it does not work. If there are people on stand by the airline will stick them on the plane.
It happened to me personally I once purchased tickets for my family and for whatever reason my wife and one of my children did not come along and the airline put stand by people on those seats even though I told them that they were mine and I paid for them.
I smell the word law suit. that’s what its all about
Such a big tzadik should have grown wings immediately and flown by himself to wherever he wanted to go.
She a total idiot who needs to get a life.
It’s super ironic since a large percentage of these guys go to women of the night. Ask the ladies.
This happened to my wife on a plane to Israel and there was an empty seat between her and the guy. When he saw we werent moving or acquiesing he tried telling the stewardess to get us to move and the stewardess basically told him to go jump in a lake (why he didnt try to move himself I dont know probably because he had an aisle seat he didnt want to give up). the guy proceeded to hold a newspaper opposite her face and then when his hands got tired he built himself what could be best described as a pillow fort (from which he kept on peeking out at us). Keep in mind my wife was dressed tznius and was wearing black stockings…. Her stocking covered knees were revealed for 2 seconds and the guy got all excited and put on tallis and teffilin at 3PM local time. We laughed it off but I can see how someone would get offended by such behavior. I have seen similar behavior on other flights to and from Israel. So yes I definitely believe and understand this story.
The need here is to understand the difference between a ‘chumra’ and the halacha.
One is obligated to observe the halacah, but a chumra is something that a person takes on himself but has no right to expect another to suffer from his chumra, rather, instead of inflicting suffering on another, he should just observe the halacha.
In this lies the problem: few understand that what they are doing is a chumra and not halacha. Those who can not differentiate are ‘am harezt’ in spite of their ability to dress so frumly.
And what if someone refused to sit next to you because you are Jewish? Someone barks orders at others to switch seats so they can sit next to you, a *jew*. You bought your seat and don’t want to move. You managed not to get a kicking passenger behind you, your carryons are all stowed and you just want to leave already. You are asked to move because you are a Jew and they don’t want to sit next to you.
How would you feel????? Would you cry antisemitism? Want an apology because the airline acquiesced to the others wishes not to sit near you?
Now why the calls that she is a rabid feminist who wants her 5minutes of fame?
#60 You say men shouldn’t look at women. If she is two seats away from him, why can’t he look straight ahead and keep whatever chumras he wants. He can not only not look sideways and avoid looking at the woman, he can look straight ahead or in the other direction. Absolute bobamaasos.
unfortunately on my last flight to California the women next to me had a perfume smell like dead fish. By the time i got of the plane i had to order an oxygen mask to survive.
If she’s gay, what’s the problem? This woman is obnoxious and deserves nothing. He asked, she said get lost, zeh hu. He didn’t throw a tantrum, but she seems to have.
So the maybe d’rabbonon this ois vorf ferd put before the d’oraisa of chilul Hashem once again proves our tribe is laden with morons.
The Torah does not forbid men seeing women in public. There was no mechitza at Sinai.
I’d rather sit near a woman than a frummy who pulls out a midflight tuna sandwich.