A passenger who says United Airlines gave her first class seat to Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee has fired back at the congresswoman’s accusations of racism—while demanding an apology from the airline.
“That could have been Donald Duck in my seat,” Simon told the news station. “I could not see who had boarded the flight. I didn’t even know who she was.”
She further claimed the airline threatened to throw her off the plane for making her objections known and for taking a photo of Jackson Lee sitting in her first-class seat.
In response, Jackson Lee issued a statement on Dec. 22 suggesting that Simon’s complaint was due to racism.
“Since this was not any fault of mine, the way the individual continued to act appeared to be, upon reflection, because I was an African American woman, seemingly an easy target along with the African American flight attendant who was very, very nice. This saddens me, especially at this time of year given all of the things we have to work on to help people. But in the spirit of this season and out of the sincerity of my heart, if it is perceived that I had anything to do with this, I am kind enough to simply say sorry. I understand the airline is working to address the passenger’s concerns. I am glad of that,” the congresswoman said in her statement.
On Dec. 26, the congresswoman tweeted the airline’s statement of the incident claiming that Simon had canceled her flight from Houston to D.C.
However, Simon vehemently denies that she had canceled it and is challenging United’s account of the incident.
“I’m not some AARP grandmother who doesn’t know how to use a phone,” she told Fox News. “I know how to cancel a flight and I did not cancel this flight.”
Simon confirmed on Dec. 27 via Twitter that the letter she had posted to the United customer care officer and chief legal counsel demanding a formal apology has been received by the airline but United has not provided a response.
In her latest post on Facebook, Simon has demanded United to also produce evidence that she had canceled her Dec. 18 flights.