Deaf Woman Kicked Off Frontier Flight After ‘Not Listening’

A TikTok video showing a deaf woman being removed from a Frontier Airlines flight after an attendant said she was “not listening” has gone viral. The video, posted by the account @legallyswiftie13, now has a million views and has the caption: “What’s the point of listing that you’re deaf on your ticket if Frontier refuses to accommodate.” It doesn’t capture the initial confrontation that led to the woman’s removal, but the caption alleges that a member of the flight crew removed her after she was not able to hear their instructions. “I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s so embarrassing,” the woman says in between sobs as she’s being asked to leave the aircraft. The video flashes an image of a female flight attendant, whom the poster identifies as the one responsible for calling for the deaf woman’s removal. The video shows multiple passengers, including the deaf woman’s mother, on the plane advocating for her to the gate agents in the aisle. Her mother is heard fuming as she asks, “How dare that woman?” behind the camera. According to the caption, the gate agent rebooked her on another flight and apologized for the flight crew’s treatment. A spokesperson for Frontier told the Daily Beast of the incident that the passenger was removed after boarding “with an open container which she admitted contained alcohol when questioned. Bringing an open container of alcohol on board violates both Frontier policy and federal law.” The spokesperson added: “There was no indication on the passenger’s reservation that she is deaf or has any form of disability and, according to various personnel who interacted with the passenger, she was clearly and effectively conversing with them during interactions.” In response, a lawyer for Ashley Grey, the woman in question, alleges that Frontier’s claims are false. “Frontier had a choice between accountability and attack. It chose to go to national media with a fabricated alcohol story that every witness and the video itself contradict, and to publicly deny a disability that its own booking system and its own gate agent had already confirmed,” Grey’s lawyer Andrew Rozynski said, adding that a lawsuit will be filed if the company does not retract its statement.