… on those airlines that haven’t yet figured out how to deal with the ultraorthodox.
[Melanie] Wolfson had paid an extra fee for an aisle seat on [an Easyjet] flight to London that took off October 10. An ultra-Orthodox man and his son were already sitting in the row when she arrived. As soon as she sat down, the son got out of his seat, climbed over to the row behind, presumably to avoid physical contact with her, [LOLOLOLOLOLOL] and proceeded to look for a male passenger who would be willing to change seats with her. A few minutes later, he returned, and the father asked Wolfson to switch seats with a man a few rows ahead.Â
It gets better.
The father insisted that she move but made sure not to look her in the eyes while speaking to her…
Wolfson, enraged and humiliated, eventually felt compelled to move in order not to delay the flight, but flight attendants (who’ve obviously had more than enough of this shit) insisted she sue, and IRAC has gone ahead and arranged that for her. She’s only asking for a pittance; I’d have advised her to ask for a hundred thousand – not only for public humiliation and bullying, but for being forced to watch that guy climb over the seats. Can’t have been pretty, and she wasn’t warned in time to shade her eyes.
Although the airline is not based in Israel, IRAC will argue that it was subject to Israeli law while the plane was on the ground at Ben-Gurion International Airport, where the incident took place.