An Asian American woman recently took to Facebook to share a harrowing experience she had during a business trip to Guadalajara, Mexico on Valentine’s Day.
In her post, Facebook user Tori Vo recounted how some staff members of Volaris Airlines made her feel discriminated against.
This Valentine’s Day I was heartbroken. It wasn’t because of my husband, but I was deeply hurt regardless. It took me a few days to decide sharing this with my friends and family, but I think sharing is necessary because I know so many others were mistreated the same way, before, on Valentine’s Day of this year, and every single day after amid this Coronavirus outbreak.
A little background info, I travel for work quite frequently to Guadalajara, Mexico. As a matter of fact, I traveled so much in 2019 ( 10 times) on the same route ( San Jose-Guadalajara) that some of the flight attendants remembered me, and aside from work purpose, I enjoyed every part of the business experience because of the people I got to work with, and the people that I got to fly with. Not this time… Instead of flying with Alaska Airline round-trip, I opted for an early morning flight with Volaris in hope that I would be able to get back to the Bay Area and head straight to work. I had to check-in at the counter, and as expected, a Volaris representative asked if I’ve been to China the past 30 days, to which I responded : “ No, I have never been to China”. I did not appreciate how she turned to her coworker, whispered and giggled, but it’s alright as some people might find me funny-looking. She then proceeded to flipping through EVERY single page of my passport, but though it took a long time ( I had additional pages), I did not mind as people should exert extra caution during this volatile time with the Coronavirus outbreak. Aside from a wounded vanity, all was good: my seat was confirmed, and I passed through security with no problem, no questions asked.
I was part of group 3, to be boarded last as my seat is at the front of the plane (1A). I waited my turn, like everyone else, but the operator ( I’m not sure if he was a Volaris employee or GDL airport operator) pointed me to a table, saying I needed to be checked. I went thinking it was not a big deal since I almost always needed to have my passport verified at the gate, but even after the lady said I was clear, the man refused to let me board. Upon me asking why that was, he curtly said : “NO, NO, go there you need to be checked”. They checked my body, every compartment in my backpack and carry-on luggage, and once that was done, the man yanked the ticket from my hand, and I was one of the last to board the plane.
To make the matter worse, I stepped through the door with a cold, silent greeting from a flight attendant, and found that my seat was taken by another passenger, the first three rows completely occupied. I turned and asked the attendant if there was a mistake, showed her my ticket, and she said: “ Can you take seat 12A? Still priority.” I was going to ask if the man needed to sit close with his family, but she cut me short, saying : “ You can’t sit in seat 12? I don’t have anywhere else to put him….” ( I looked up to at least 4 empty rows and empty seats all over the plane)…then continued with her monologue “….but ok if you want to sit in seat 1A, I can ask him.” I did not know what she started to tell the passengers as it was in Spanish, but seeing the confused look on the passengers’ faces, I quickly realized that I was the only foreigner on the plane and that most people did not know what was going on let alone what had happened before boarding. It was not ok for her to give a seat away when people were still boarding, and her attitude was unacceptable, but I was not about to cause a scene, especially when our flight was already late, and there was no one to back me up. I was upset, and struggled to put my luggage up to the overhead bin. The attendants only stared at me, one swerved past me, no one helped. I was by myself, more leg room for sure, but I felt so isolated, discriminated and was brimming with tears.
It was the longest 4-hr flight. I must have been invisible because they accidentally skipped my row when the cart came for food and beverages. I asked for a glass of water, so the same attendant took out a bottle and dropped it onto the seat next to me without saying a word or turning her head. When they were handing out custom forms, I had to ask if I could also get one, and they said they did not have any English form. Luckily I know some Spanish, but halfway through filling out the form, I saw them handing out an English form to someone two rows in-front of me. Was I nothing more than an incubus of viral plague?????? How can these people represent an airline? How can these behaviors be acceptable?
Living in the U.S for 14 years now, I’ve never been this mistreated before. It is human nature to fear the unknown, but discriminating against Asians doesn’t mean you’ll be immune from the virus. While waiting for scientists to evaluate the risks of this unknown Coronavirus and figure out how to contain it, people should focus on taking protective measures, but don’t let this affect your daily lives if you can. Discriminating against Asians is not one of those measures against Coronavirus. It only fuels the biggest epidemic of all: Racism.
I want to thank the immigration officer at SJC airport who noticed my swollen face, asked if I was ok, and comforted with me with : “ Hey, good thing you’re safe now. Welcome home!” If it weren’t for him, I would have lost it completely.
Please keep traveling to a minimum during this time to avoid very unpleasant situations like this. I’ve heard stories of how people were mistreated much worse, and trust me, it scars you for life. I’ll have to resume business traveling at some point, but I will never ever fly with Volaris again, and wholeheartedly advise everyone against flying with them if you are of Asian descent.
Volaris Airlines, you truly mis-represented your beautiful country.
#volarisairlines Volaris 930 Feb 14th, 2020 GDL –> SJCUPDATE Feb 19th:
I do not have any Twitter or Instagram account to share this experience, but I thank everyone kindly for sharing & comforting words. I also apologize for my own ignorance by making it seem like I believed racism is exclusive to a certain group of people. Please don’t divert the blame to any specific group of people; I was mistreated by individuals who were driven by fear and ignorance, simply as that! An outbreak, mistreatment, misconceptions, it’s a lose-lose situation for all of us . If you believe my story, I thank you for spreading awareness. If you don’t, you don’t!A Volaris representative gave me a call this afternoon to discuss my situation and asked for me to retell the story. Her name was Sandra, who was very patient with me when I got a little emotional, and she informed me that The operator who refused to let me board and had me searched twice works for GDL airport. She will pass on the info but GDL does go back to Volaris for an update or follow up. Volaris will work internally about the flight attendant’s misconduct. They offered me $50 flight credit for my next flight, but I refused saying I do not feel comfortable flying with them or accepting this compensation until they have this case documented down in email communication, and until I know exactly what Volaris plan to do to prevent this from happening to passengers. Any further info or discussion will have to be via email, clearly documented, but I really appreciated Sandra reaching out to me.
I’ve reached out to GDL airport about the operator and am waiting to hear back from them.
Ricky Head is Editor in Chief and Publisher of VietShowNow. He brings over 20 years of experience as a columnist, reporter, and photo journalist. In addition to concert coverage, he is a Content Creator, Writer, Photographer, and Videographer based in Seattle, Washington, and he photographs hundreds of concerts, festivals, and events each year. He takes pride in providing rich, high-quality images at a rapid pace.
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