This Woman Says She Was Forced Off An Emirates Flight For Complaining About Period Pains
She was forced to spend a further USD700 to reschedule her trip.
By Sadho Ram — 23 Feb 2018, 03:00 AM
A 24-year-old woman has alleged that she and her boyfriend were removed from an Emirates flight shortly before it took off for Dubai.
Why? According to the woman, it's because of her period pains.
The woman, Beth Evans, says that she was talking to her boyfriend about experiencing some mild cramps due to her period.
However, a flight attendant overheard her making the comment about her cramps, following which the couple were ordered off their USD560 Dubai-bound flight.
The Washington Post reported the couple saying that the flight attendant, who overheard Beth's conversation, expressed concerns about her health.
While Beth said she rated her pain "1 out of 10" when sitting down, and was happy to make the seven-hour flight from Birmingham airport, Emirates crew decided the couple must get off the flight as there was no doctor on the scene, according to the Sun.
"To be kicked off for period pains, it was madness"
Her boyfriend, while speaking to the Sun, said that they were forced to pay extra USD700 (RM2,738) to book themselves on another flight out to Dubai.
"To be kicked off for period pains, it was madness. Beth was in tears and getting upset when the hostess was asking her questions.
"It's embarrassing to have to explain about period pains when it's being overheard.
"They didn't have anyone look her over. They just contacted a medical team in the US and they said Beth couldn't fly," the boyfriend was quoted as saying by the Sun.
However, Emirates, in its statement, said that Beth was "offloaded" due to "a medical emergency" after she "alerted the crew onboard" about suffering pain and "mentioned that she was feeling unwell"
"The passenger alerted the crew onboard that she was suffering from discomfort and pain and mentioned that she was feeling unwell.
"The captain made the decision to request medical support and offload Ms. Evans so she could access medical assistance as needed.
"The safety of our passengers and crew is of paramount importance, and we would not have wanted to endanger Ms. Evans by delaying medical help had she worsened during the seven-hour flight to Dubai. We hope Ms. Evans felt better soon and look forward to welcoming her onboard again soon," Emirates' statement read.
Reaction to the incident hasn't been positive for Emirates
People on social media bombarded the airline's Facebook page with comments, ridiculing it for removing a passenger because of period pains.
While one person wrote, "WTF is wrong with you people? Removing a pax because of period pains!", another person warned others to not take Emirates flight if they are having their period.
"Please be sure not to fly Emirates if you’re having your period. You may be thrown off your flight."
On Twitter, several prominent women lambasted Emirates
A BBC broadcaster and journalist, Emma Barnett, wrote, "Way to go Emirates! Instead of making Beth Evans a cup of tea & perhaps a hot water bottle, you utterly shamed her for a natural bodily function that happens to be painful."
Another senior BBC journalist wrote, "You mean Emirates not a single member of cabin crew could offer any of the following because NO ONE KNOWS HOW PERIOD PAIN WORKS?"
A blogger at Telegraph wrote, "Remind me again which century we are in?"
And a period subscription service called, Freda, offered their "pads and tampons" for Emirates' toilets, "as essential as loo rolls and not as luxurious as hand cream."
It's important to note here, though, that while Emirates lists on its website certain medical conditions under which passengers may not be permitted to fly, the airline does not list period pain
