JetBlue has banned its flight attendants from wearing political pin badges, including Free Palestine flag pins, after an altercation onboard a recent flight, which ended up with a Jewish passenger being banned from a flight because he took objection to the political message.
After facing accusations of antisemitism, JetBlue quickly issued an internal memo, telling flight attendants that it had modified its uniform policy and would no longer allow crew members to wear pin badges on “certain issues or political topics”.
The badge pin ban has been brought into effect after a recent incident in which flight attendants called the cops on a Jewish passenger and had him banned from his return flight.
According to passenger Paul Faust, 54, he noticed a flight attendant wearing a slew of bin badges, including a Free Palestine badge pin. During the flight from Fort Luaderdale, she wore the Free Palestine badge on her service apron while the other pin badges were covered by the apron.
The passenger says he approached one of the flight attendant’s colleagues and told them he found it upsetting. The flight attendant’s colleague said they would speak to the crewmember and that was, apparently, the end of the matter.
On landing in Las Vegas, however, a member of JetBlue ground staff boarded the plane and escorted the Jewish passenger off onto the jetty. The ground staff allegedly told the passenger that the pilot had called ahead due to a ‘disturbance’ on the flight and demanded to see his ID.
When the passenger refused to hand over his ID, the ground staff called the police, but the passenger walked off before they arrived. He then discovered that his return flight had been canceled.
According to JetBlue, the airline was already working on an update to its uniform pin policy, which allowed flight attendants to wear up to two pin badges – one connected to JetBlue and one of their choosing.
The airline had been working on the update due to the current political climate, especially with an upcoming Presidential election, but a spokesperson says the policy change was “urgently expedited” after the recent incident aboard one of its planes.
JetBlue says the policy change was developed in partnership with the Transport Workers Union, which represents flight attendants at the airline, limiting the second pin to either one that represents a state, country or territory served by JetBlue, a pin representing first responders or a union pin.
The airline also says it is still “urgently investigating” the onboard incident and that the matter is being taken “very seriously”.
As part of the change, Black Lives Matter pins will still be allowed.
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