(NEXSTAR) – A Marine Corps veteran from the San Francisco Bay Area was temporarily removed from a Delta flight on Wednesday by a crew member who deemed her T-shirt to be “threatening,” according to a local report.
The veteran, identified as Catherine Banks, told KNTV that the shirt she was wearing featured a message that was she felt to be important for the veteran community.
“Do not give in to the war within. End veteran suicide,” reads a message across the shirt. It’s sold by the Til Valhalla Project, whose mission is to provide memorial plaques for the families of veterans who died by suicide, according to its website.
Banks told NNTV that a flight attendant escorted her off the aircraft and told her the shirt was “threatening.” The attendant then reportedly waited while she changed (with her back to him) before allowing her back on — a process she described as humiliating.
“I feel like they just took my soul away. I’m not a bad person, and that T-shirt, I should be allowed to support myself and veterans,” Banks told the station.
Delta’s contract of carriage currently stipulates that the airline can have passengers deplaned if their “conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers.” Other major commercial carriers have similar language in their contracts of carriage, prohibiting travel for passengers with clothing deemed to be “offensive,” “lewd” or “obscene.”
Airlines have also cited the contract after removing passengers over the years, including once in April 2022 when a South Korean DJ was removed from an American Airlines flight for wearing pants printed with various phrases containing the f-word.
It’s unclear why Banks’ shirt was deemed to be in violation of Delta’s contract of carriage, though she claimed a flight attendant told her it was “threatening.”
When asked, a representative from Delta’s communications team did not say whether the passenger’s shirt violated any of the airline’s rules. But the rep said Delta is continuing to “review” her claims, which also included allegations that she lost her extra-legroom seat when she was reseated.
Still, the airline said the issue had been “resolved” with Banks.
“The matter with the customer has been resolved,” a representative for Delta said. “We appreciate her patience as we continue to work to understand what occurred during this event. Most importantly, we are thankful for her service to our country.”
Banks told KNTV that Delta had indeed contacted her to resolve the situation, but did not disclose what the carrier’s representatives said.