A gay couple with an infant daughter
has claimed that they were not allowed to board a flight in San
Francisco together during early family boarding.
Jeff Cobb tweeted about the incident,
saying that he and his husband were told by EVA Air that only one
parent was allowed to board the plane with their 19-month-old
daughter. Cobb said that he stayed behind but later found out from
his husband that opposite-sex couples were not being separated.
“My husband and I were told only one
of us could join our 19 month old in the family boarding group of EVA
Air 27 from SFO on 9/1/18,” Cobb
wrote. “I explained we were both the fathers of the child, and
they said it was their policy that only one parent can board...”
“and the other has to wait in the
normal line. Not having flown EVA before, I accepted it and let my
husband and child go while I boarded later. When I met him on the
plane, he said there were many other (straight) families all boarding
together.”
“I'm very disappointed that the EVA
ground staff at SFO thinks it's ok to separate same-sex families
during boarding. I will definitely not be flying this airline again
after this incident,” he added.
The family, however, was allowed to
board together during their connection in Thailand, despite the
airline's so-called policy.
EVA Air apologized in a statement,
saying that the incident was due to a “misunderstanding.”
“EVA Air and most especially our San
Francisco International Airport team sincerely apologize to all the
passengers affected by this incident,” a spokesperson said. “It
is our policy that passengers traveling with infants can have
priority boarding. The policy does not limit the number of
accompanying adults or specify the relationship to the infant.”