Read the racist text a Qantas passenger caught writing about a woman and her toddler son when he thought she wasn’t looking – while mum is left in tears after the mid-flight confrontation
- Mother and son on flight from Auckland to Melbourne
- The man sitting in the front asked her toddler to stop kicking
- She caught him calling her “fat islander woman” in text messages
A Qantas passenger is horrified after seeing a man write ‘racist’ lyrics about her and her son after claiming the toddler kicked the back of his seat.
The woman and her year-old were aboard Qantas flight QF158 from Auckland to Melbourne on Sunday night when she saw the disgruntled passenger describe her as a “fat woman from the island” and her son as a “black boy who kicked me.”
She says the ordeal left her in tears and wondering if she would ever be able to fly again without her husband.
The mother said tensions between her and the man sitting in front of her son started when he turned and shook his head at the toddler.
She asked the passenger if anything was wrong, who she said replied, “I just hope he doesn’t kick my seat all the way.”
A Qantas passenger is horrified after seeing a man write ‘racist’ lyrics about her son after claiming the toddler kicked the back of his seat (picture is caption)
She said she felt confused because from her son’s position, his legs could barely dangle from his own chair, let alone kick the chair in front of him.
As the plane was about to take off, the man asked the baby to stop kicking.
She replied that her son’s legs were too short and added that if he was so concerned about sitting in front of a child he should have booked business class.
While on air, the mother saw the man vent his anger at a friend via text message, calling her “fat islanders” and her son a “black boy.”
“I feel like the whole interaction had nothing to do with my son ‘kicking’ his chair, but just how we looked with his racist comments or simply because I had a kid sitting right behind him” , she wrote. .
The woman claims that when she confronted the man about the nasty texts, he seemed “shocked” and immediately started deleting the message.
The mother said at the time that she and her son were both “tired, frustrated and angry.”
The woman claimed that her son could not have kicked the man’s seat since his own legs barely reached the end of his own (pictured is her one-year-old son on the plane)
She eventually moved to the back of the plane after a flight attendant became concerned about the incident.
In her Facebook post, the woman thanked a man and his teenage son who volunteered to sit in their original seats behind the disgruntled man.
“Shoutout to the flight attendants who went above and beyond to make sure we were okay the entire flight, even though my son wouldn’t settle,” she wrote.
“I’m not one to share or write statuses but this one was asked in the hopes that if you see something like this I hope you’re not a bystander like the many people on that flight who didn’t bother to help or anything doing.’
The woman said that despite the incident, she and her son were doing well. However, she will ‘definitely’ not travel again without her husband.
She slid into the back of the plane to calm her son down and told a flight attendant about the incident who moved the couple to different seats at the back of the plane (pictured)
Facebook users quickly sympathized with the woman.
“You are so brave, even in tears you are still the greater person who stood up for yourself against such bullying and racism,” one wrote.
“Traveling with a toddler is hard and that punk made it worse for you!” said another.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that sister, my god what audacity this man has,” a third commented.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Qantas for comment.