A widowed mother from Texas says she was only worried about getting her son and 75-year-old mother home when she was thrown off a United flight for mistreating an employee.
Jenna Longoria claims the trio was kicked off a flight from San Francisco to Austin on Wednesday after she “accidentally” addressed an employee posing as a woman as a man.
Footage shared by Longoria shows the moment United Operations Manager Gabriella Chidom informs her that she cannot come on board because of “what came out of her mouth.”
Chidom was not the employee who was misdirected, Longoria said
United claimed in a statement that Longoria was denied boarding due to a problem with a carry-on bag, but video of the incident appears to indicate a different reason.
Longoria told DailyMail.com on Thursday that the airline’s explanation “doesn’t make any sense” and that the company is presenting a different version of events because they know what they did was “unjust.”
Jenna Longoria accused United Airlines of blocking her and her mother from flying from San Francisco to Houston on Wednesday after she used the wrong pronoun for flight attendant
She said there had been a discussion about her carry-on luggage, but it was resolved before she was told she would not be allowed to board the plane and could even be banned from the airline for life because of her words.
The mother of one claims that a United employee who identified herself as a woman was visibly shaken when Longoria — who was distracted by her son having a meltdown — said “thank you sir” as they handed her back her boarding passes.
Longoria said she was exhausted and struggled with her suitcases because her mother, who had come along to help her with them, was not allowed to board the plane with her and her son ahead of time.
As she was about to board the plane, Longoria encountered a male flight attendant and asked him for help, saying something like, “Can you help me? He won’t let my mother on.”
Footage shared by Longoria shows the moment United Operations Manager Gabriella Chidom informs her that she cannot come on board because of “what came out of her mouth.” According to Longoria, Chidom was not the employee who was misunderstood
According to her Linked In, Chidom is ‘experienced in developing and implementing DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs, which help improve employee engagement’
The flight attendant then reportedly became upset and asked her, ‘who is he? That’s a woman. She’s wearing a dress.’
“He then tells me to get off the plane. He says something like, ‘I don’t like what you said, I can deny you boarding, someone will come help you,'” Longoria said.
She added that she had apologized repeatedly for not being good at using pronouns and for being concerned about carrying her son and their bags, but it made no difference.
When she got back to the gate at the airport, she was approached by United manager Chidon. He told her she was not allowed to board the plane because a filmed incident had taken place.
Longoria claims that Chidon did not offer an alternative flight or additional information, but only said that someone would contact her and threaten that she could be banned from the airline.
Longoria said she apologized for misnaming the airline employee’s gender, adding that her son had a “breakdown” as they waited to board the plane.
In footage shared by Longoria, Chidom is seen saying, “I need to get facts. I need to get my crews together. I need to get them their statements during the flight. I need statements.
“I don’t want to verbally tell what I thought I heard.”
According to the Texas mother, United only offered her a later flight after she shared the story on social media.
Longoria insisted she is not a political person, she did not mean to upset anyone, and she was simply distracted while interacting with her baby and elderly mother.
“My priority was my son,” she told DailyMail.com.
“I don’t have an agenda… the trans stuff, it’s not on my radar. I’m just a mom trying to get from point A to point B with my baby and elderly mother.”
Longoria is a leading women’s health specialist known as ‘The Period Guru’
According to her Linked In, Chidom is “experienced in developing and implementing DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs that help improve employee engagement.”
United Airlines released a statement questioning Longoria’s version of events.
“A party of three traveling from San Francisco today was denied boarding after a dispute over carrying too much carry-on luggage,” a spokesperson said.
“The issue was resolved and customers took a later United flight to complete their journey.”
DailyMail.com has contacted the airline for clarification on their statement and what the United employee said on video, but has not yet received a response.