Mum's anger at being kicked off plane after flight attendants 'told her to stop breastfeeding son'
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A mum is furious at being kicked off a plane shortly after being 'asked to stop breastfeeding her baby son'.
Mei Rui, a cancer researcher, was forced to leave the aircraft after flight attendants told her to stop feeding her two-year-old and put him in his seat, she said.
The mum from Houston, Texas, was flying with Spirit Airlines to New York to conduct research in the city when she was told to get off the plane, along with her elderly parents.
Footage recorded from her phone shows her baby son crying because she stopped breast feeding him.
Ms Rui told the Washington Post that she was breastfeeding while the plane's doors were still open and people were moving around the cabin.
(Image: KHOU)
Then one cabin crew member approached her and said her baby had to be in his seat for takeoff.
She told the newspaper: "I asked for just a couple more minutes to finish because if he woke up at that point he would have made a lot of noise.
"I said, ‘I promise I’ll finish before you close the plane’s door.'"
The attendants conferred amongst themselves and Ms Rui stopped feeding her son, but he began to cry.
Then the crew told her to get off the plane.
She recorded the moment she asked them why they were telling her to leave, but no one gave her an answer.
The accomplished pianist said she was told she was not "complying with the rules" but they refused to tell her what rule she had broken.
(Image: Mei Rui/Facebook)
In another video, she asks a member of staff: “If this happened to your family, what would you do?”
To which he replies: “This would NEVER happen to my family, I assure you!"
Ms Rui said afterwards: "It was humiliating to be chased off a plane in front of hundreds of people.
"We had never been through anything close to this.
"You just don't have to treat people that way."
She also wrote on her Facebook page: "I am terribly sorry for the trouble and inconvenience this has caused to all other passengers on the plane.
"We tried everything I could to stop my poor baby from crying and disturbing the other passengers, but he was jolted awake a 5th time because of the 3 hour delay that resulted in unboarding/reboarding, lots of loud announcements.
"He completely lost it, but crying is not a criminal offense [sic], especially since if you let me do my job as his mother, nobody on the airplane would have even noticed his presence!"
Another passenger who witnessed the incident, Holly Barton, said: "Absolutely DISGUSTED with how this woman was treated on my flight this morning leaving IAH.
(Image: Mei Rui/Facebook)
"After a 3.5 hour DELAY where we were stuck on a plane for a majority of the time (and had to get off and re-board) this woman's child started to cry and not want sit in his seat.
"Flight attendants were so rude to her and tried to kick her off, even though the plane wasn't moving or even about to move.
"After the woman refused to get off, they made everyone get off the plane for a SECOND time only to not allow this woman to get back on.
"Does Spirit not understand that 2 year olds cannot sit still in a seat belt for 3+ hours? He was well behaved for the first two hours, but does that not count? Was calling the police necessary?"
Spirit said in a statement: "Our records indicate a passenger was removed from Flight 712 after refusing to comply with crew instructions several times during taxi to runway and safety briefing.
"To protect the safety of our guests and crew, FAA regulations and airline policies require all passengers to stay seated and buckled during takeoff and landing.
"We apologize for any inconvenience to our guests. As a courtesy, we’ve issued a full refund to the passenger in question."