Bob CollinsUnited Airlines and American Airlines are standing up against the Trump administration’s policy to take children away from parents who cross the border. You’re up, Delta.
CNBC says the two airlines have asked the government not to fly the kids to detention centers on their airline.
They made the request after a Facebook post claimed a flight attendant said more than a dozen migrant children appeared to have been transported on an overnight flight from Phoenix to Miami, according to CNBC.
My friend Ånika Łodzinski is a flight attendant. Today her coworker posted the following about a REDEYE flight from…
Posted by Victoria Cook on Friday, June 15, 2018
“We have no desire to be associated with separating families, or worse, to profit from it,” American Airlines said in a statement. “We have every expectation the government will comply with our request and we thank them for doing so.”
“Our company’s shared purpose is to connect people and unite the world,” United’s CEO Oscar Munoz in his statement. “This policy and its impact on thousands of children is in deep conflict with that mission and we want no part of it.”
Some have suggested the social media posts were a hoax, according to the Arizona Republic newspaper. But a flight attendant’s union official confirms that the incident happened, although the paper itself stopped short of concluding that it did.
It says it contacted Anna Lodzinski, who is said to be a friend of the flight attendant on the flight. But she refused to divulge her friend’s name nor airline.
In a series of tweets, Department of Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Houlton rejected the airlines’ criticism, calling it a false narrative. He did not specifically say, however, that the depiction of the flight was inaccurate.
Despite being provided facts on this issue, these airlines clearly do not understand our immigration laws and the long-standing devastating loopholes that have caused the crisis at our southern border.
— Tyler Q. Houlton (@SpoxDHS) June 20, 2018
For 15 years, @DHSgov has worked diligently with America’s airlines to secure aviation and facilitate the travel by air of millions of Americans and visitors and we will continue to do so.
— Tyler Q. Houlton (@SpoxDHS) June 20, 2018
Delta and Southwest Airlines have not responded to requests for their position.
