She tried to make her toddler stop screaming so she could regain order. She just asked for some space, but the flight attendant was having any of it. She turned and left with without a word, but Jody knew it wasn’t over. When she noticed that the plane was turning around, the flight attendant came back with her posse in tow. She knew she would regret what she said.
Jody Dejiansky was excited to see her family after months of complete isolation, but at least the initial flight from Naples to Florida went smoothly, even with her naughty two yearold with her. The flight attendant seemed to understand her position carefully and turned a blind eye whenever her child began to start his nonsense.
But it was the flight from Florida to Illinois that went far worse than she expected. The plane was packed and Jody was already an unhappy flyer at the best of times. He deposited young Hayes onto a window seat and put on her mask.
Almost immediately, Hayes started kicking the seat in front of him, and Jody felt many pairs of eyes falling on her. He started looking upset as his breathing got more deliberate. She knew what was coming, and it couldn’t have been at a worse time. A tantrum. This wasn’t the first time Hayes had had a tantrum, but as the flight attendants came to see what was going on, Jodi just assumed they would tell her to keep him quiet.
Sometimes a flight attendant would try to help, but they were few and far between. This flight attendant would unexpectedly press her for questions. She felt better once the onflight snack started going around. She had promised her small son peanuts, and that’s the only reason he had been fine up until this pound. She pulled his mask down and gave him the peanuts, hoping they were enough to contain the meltdown, but a flight attendant was watching over her shoulder.
The plane finally shifted and started moving. Jody told her son to put down the snack so he could prepare for takeoff, but Jodi didn’t know that the flight wouldn’t be that easy and that it would end in humiliation more than she had ever experienced before. And it would be one flight attendant’s fault. Yet another flight attendant approached her and asked her the same question she had been asked multiple times since they had gotten on the plane feelings overloaded with trying to handle everything. She looked up and politely said, yes, he will put his mask on before takeoff.
He’s just distracted by the snacks, but a more surprising problem would rear its head soon enough. Making a toddler wear a mask is far harder than you’d think. She had practiced with her son so many times to get it right, but it wouldn’t be that easy. The face mask was even colorful to appeal to young Hayes. She told him he looked cool, but a flight attendant would make sure all of her practicing and trying would be for nothing.
Yet again, a flight attendant approached her to ask the same question she had answered many times. Please give us some space, she begged. The flight attendant’s eyes widened as she looked at Hayes and back to Jody. Then she quietly stormed off. Suddenly, the plane came to a grinding halt right there on the runway.
What was going on? Jodie craned her neck to see out the window. She felt the motion of the plane as it began to move again and felt a moment of relief. But little did she know the plane wasn’t pulling getting ready for takeoff. Slowly it rolled around until the plane’s nose was pointing in the opposite direction.
Realizing that the plane had made a full Uturn back to the boarding gate, Jody felt her heart begin to race. Looking around at the other passengers, she was met with a sea of faces. Just as confused as she was with her panic rising, she wondered if something had gone wrong. Jody couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right on this flight. Usually planes are delayed due to bad weather conditions, but today the skies were clear.
She tried to find the flight attendant to ask about the delay, but she was nowhere to be seen. Then Jody spotted the cabin crew. There was a secretive flurry of activity as they all rushed to huddle in a corner of the plane. Then she heard whispering and they were all talking about her. A few minutes later, the flight attendant returned, accompanied by the manager, the supervisor, the flight attendants, and the pilot.
But they had no idea who they were dealing with. The flight attendant looked at her smugly and then at Hayes, who had pulled his mask down again. Jody had a sinking feeling that she knew what all this was about now. We are trying to get used to it, Jodie stammered, looking at her child as she pulled his mask back up and into its correct position. But he’s too, she pleaded.
But they didn’t care that the toddler was having a hard time keeping his mask on. They were here to enforce their rules, even if they clearly had double standards. With a glint of triumph in her eyes, the flight attendant, backed up by every staff member on the flight, coldly informed Jody that Hayes was not allowed to fly and that he had to leave now. Jody couldn’t believe it. She felt her face flush a deep red as the other passengers tutor on her.
Annoyed that their flight had been delayed due to her child’s behavior. She had never been so shocked and humiliated in all her life. Stopping the tears of frustration and shame by the power of her will alone, she resolved to fight. They were not going to get away with this. Aware of all the eyes burning into her, she began to protest, but the airline staff weren’t having it.
They refused to listen. They ordered Jodi and haste to deplane, leaving the outraged mum and her young son stranded at the airport. They said Jody had been kicked off the flight because her son hadn’t been wearing his mask correctly. But Jody knew that wasn’t the real reason. Luckily, the entire altercation had been recorded.
Jody began to formulate a plan. Jody and Hayes were now well and truly stranded. Jody couldn’t believe the injustice of it all. As she sat there simmering her son had only just turned two. Couldn’t the flight attendant have been a little more understanding?
Well, she was going to do something that would make her and indeed the entire crew on that flight regret what they had done. It was time for justice. As it happens, Jody had work experience as a brand manager for Porter Novelli, a large PR firm in New York, before she’d become vice President. According to their profile, Porter Novelli is a company best known for its position in the areas of technology, health and wellness, food and reputation management. So if anyone knew how devastating bad PR would be, it was Jodi, and she was more than equipped to engineer it.
Jody put her plan into action. She was going to take Southwest Airlines down. She called in the media for interviews and told everyone she could about how she and her baby had been treated, and the media lapped it up. She scheduled interview after interview, and soon the story took hold. Her revenge had every ingredient for a PR nightmare.
Jody saw a dozen reporters. She spread her narrative and played her part perfectly. After all, she was only asking that the airline considered becoming more flexible with their rule that Toddlers, over the age of two, wear masks on their flight. What if other mothers had to go through what she went through? Of course, an apology and a refund would be nice.
Meanwhile, another story was emerging that Jody never saw coming. Neither Jody nor the offended flight attendant and crew of Southwest Airlines had any idea that one passenger, incredulous at what she was witnessing, whipped out her phone and began to record how Jodi and her son were being treated. It wasn’t long before the backlash began to pour in, thick and fast from every direction. Would Southwest Airlines be able to stem the tide? I just felt like I can’t believe it happened.
I was left scrambling. How am I going to get home? Said Jody. What if I didn’t have the resources to buy another $600 ticket? Jody told ABC News.
Jodie also told reporters that she believes that asking the flight attendant for space was what triggered a personal vendetta against her. And how was her son supposed to eat with a mask on anyway? My toddler literally turned two two weeks ago. I know you have to draw the line, but let’s be a little compassionate with everyone’s individual circumstances, Jody told News. She was aware of CDC guidelines that state that any children age two and up should wear a proper face mask if it’s difficult to social distance.
But what she couldn’t understand was why the rules weren’t consistent on all flights. On the way back, I was surprised the flight attendants were much stricter, she said. While Jody conducted interviews, the video of her and her son being kicked off their flight began to circulate on social media and then netizens began to kick up a storm with arguments on both sides. With the story gaining so much attention now, southwest Airlines were forced to address the issue. But how would they respond?
Comments on Jody’s situation were mostly supportive. I’m guessing anyone who doesn’t sympathize here is either a not a parent or B too old to remember what it’s like to be a parent of a toddler. One Facebook user insisted while others were less supportive. It’s a law they should obey the law. What makes her and her family any better than anyone else?
If you can’t control your kids, stay home until you can do you think southwest Airlines crew was being unreasonable.