Black passenger’s fury after being asked to move out of business class queue by white Gatwick staff member
Passenger Seth Allen was flying business class to Marrakech when he experienced what he said was 'blatant racism' from a worker
A BLACK passenger at Gatwick was left shocked and angered after he experienced "blatant racism" from a white staff member at Gatwick.
Frequent flyer Seth Allen was flying business class to Marrakech when he was told he was standing in the wrong queue to board the plane.
Seth, 28, an entrepreneur from Reading, told Sun Online Travel: “I had been in the business class lounge and when boarding was announced I headed over to the gate to board. I was in the middle of a queue of around eight predominantly white people, apart from one Asian man.
“A man working at Gatwick was standing at the front of the queue, shouting something at me. I had my noise cancelling headphones in, so had to remove one of them to hear what he saying.”
Seth said that he was shocked by what the man said to him.
He said: “He said, ‘This is the business line. General boarding is that way.’”
“I was taken aback and told him, ‘Yes, and?’"
“The man’s tone was really insistent that I was in the wrong place. He then repeated himself again that general boarding was over there, as if I was in the wrong queue.”
Seth said he stayed in the queue where he was, put his headphones back in, and went through the gate.
As he exited the queue, he said that the man came over to him, and patted his shoulder.
The worker said: “Oh, so you were with that guy then?”
As he said this, Seth said he inferred that he was talking about the man that was in front of him, a white man who had also been in the business class queue.
Seth said: “He was inferring that I wasn’t there of my own right, and that I was a guest of someone else in the queue.”
Shocked by the events, Seth said he got onto the plane without complaining, but was left feeling uncomfortable that he had just been the target of “blatant racism”.
Seth said: “When the worker approached me he hadn’t heard my voice, as I was keeping myself to myself with my headphones in.
“I was also dressed smartly in a white blazer, blue jeans and smart shoes, and was carrying my laptop bag. It’s not like I was wearing scruffy clothes or a hoodie.
“I can only assume, then, that I was being targeted because of my skin colour. I wasn’t trying to jump the queue – I had paid to be there. I am a frequent flyer, and I often travel business class but this has never happened to me before.
“I feel like this is a clear example of racism, masked by a worker who was giving the impression that he was just doing his job."
“The worker wasn’t doing this in a private manner – it was obvious. He shouted across a whole queue of people assuming that I was in the wrong place because of my skin colour.
“He felt that he was empowered enough to do this, which is a sad example of his mind-set.”
A Gatwick spokesperson said: “We are appalled to hear this report of Mr Allen’s recent experience travelling through Gatwick Airport and apologise to him on behalf of the airport community.
“We are investigating the matter fully in conjunction with the airline that Mr Allen was travelling with.
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“Gatwick does not tolerate such behaviour from anyone working at the airport and these attitudes do not reflect our values.
“Gatwick and the airline will ensure the necessary measures are taken, to address such behaviour with the member of staff involved, once identified.”
Sun Online Travel previously revealed that a disabled man was left stranded at Manchester airport after he said Ryanair refused to let him board.