On a recent American Airlines flight, rapper Juvenile, who was traveling in first class, was downgraded and asked to sit in a different cabin. This resulted in a tense conversation between him and the airline staff.
Juvenile downgraded from first class
American rapper Juvenile (Terius Gray) recently took to social media regarding this recent experience with American Airlines while traveling in first class with his wife. He said that the carrier treated him unfairly when he was asked to move to economy.
Apparently, the airline only asked Juvenile to move and not his wife, who was heard saying, “I’m his wife, so how could you downgrade him and I can still stay?” The rapper was clearly upset about having to give up his seat and was heard saying,
“I’m a celebrity. I’m telling you this is going to be repercussions. It’s going be repercussions to this because I’m going to get off the plane. I’m going to get off the plane. I’m not going to let y’all disrespect me like that. I’m not going to let y’all choose me out of all the people on the plane and disrespect me. So I’m going to get off the plane.”
Indeed, Juvenile was seen getting up from his seat to leave the aircraft. American Airlines told Simple Flying that the reason for Juvenile being asked to change seats was because the equipment for flight AA 1871 was changed from an Airbus A320 to an A319, which has fewer first-class seats. The customers were identified by an automated process and were offered “a Main Cabin Extra seat in lieu of a First Class seat.” The carrier’s spokesperson gave the following statement to Simple Flying,
“American Airlines strives to provide a positive experience to every traveler and we apologize for Mr. Gray’s recent experience with us. An unplanned change in aircraft type affected his seat assignment, and we regret he wasn’t notified prior to boarding. A member of our team has spoken with Mr. Gray personally to resolve the situation.”
Not the first time
Airlines sometimes ask passengers to change seats or cabins for various reasons. Often, these incidents are reported widely when a person involved is a public figure. In 2019, ex-US Governor John Kasich was downgraded from his first class seat on an Alaska Airlines flight, which did not go down well with him.
The incident took place on a New York to San Francisco service, and the airline had to transport a pilot for duty reassignment at the last minute. Union rules dictate that the pilot, in such cases, has to travel in first class, following which Kasich was asked to move to premium economy. However, he refused to move to a different seat and instead sat in another passenger’s seat in the same cabin. The passenger who was assigned that seat eventually chose to take a different flight.