A new mother was left feeling ‘shocked’ and ‘violated’ after a male flight attendant on a British Airways long-haul flight fully exposed her bare chest as she was breastfeeding her baby.
The woman was lying underneath a nursing cover with her child when the crew member allegedly lifted the cover without warning, fully exposing her breasts to the entire cabin.
The reason given by the flight attendant was so that he could ask if she wanted to eat, even after she stuck her hand out from underneath the cover to indicate that she was busy.
Flying with an infant can be a pretty overwhelming experience at the best of times, but the mother, writing on Reddit, says her flight with British Airways left her feeling like her privacy and body had been violated.
When she complained to British Airways, however, she claims all she received in response was a generic “copy-paste response.”
“I was flying solo with my 7-month-old baby on British Airways two days ago, and my male flight attendant completely crossed a line,” the woman wrote in a now viral post on Reddit.
A male flight attendant lifted up my nursing cover while I was breastfeeding on my flight
byu/Brilliant_Release829 inbreastfeeding
“Before takeoff, I told him my baby would be falling asleep around 6:30 PM, and that I might be nursing her during meal service. He responded rudely that there was no option to serve me later. I said I was totally fine skipping the meal if needed.”
You would think that might be the end of the matter, but when the meal service started, the flight attendant allegedly didn’t leave the mother alone.
“I was lying down nursing my baby under a nursing cover with my head under the cover to see her,” she explained. “The flight attendant touched my leg to get my attention, and when I stuck my hand out and gestured that I was busy, he lifted my nursing cover up! Fully exposing both of my boobs and my baby.”
“Just to ask if I wanted my meal.”
The woman came face to face with the flight attendant, “towering over” her and getting “a full view of everything.”
Understandably, the woman added, “It was horrible. I can’t believe BA doesn’t do some sort of sensitivity training around traveling moms with infants, or is this guy just crazy?!”
Many commentators rushed to the woman’s defense, reassuring her that she had every right to feel violated by what had happened.
“A mom traveling with an infant is already in a vulnerable situation. A mom breastfeeding said infant, even more so,” one person commented.
Another added: “That’s insane. And I’m so sorry that happened to you. I would totally be freaking out.”
A third person told the mother, “This is so wrong. It’s assault and sexual harassment in my eyes. To touch you repeatedly, and then to expose you when he had already been told you were going to be nursing at that time is atrocious.”
In an emailed statement, British Airways did not address the allegations directly but a spokesperson told us: “We are in contact with our customer and are looking into these allegations.”
Airline Breastfeeding Scandals
Several airlines have been caught up in breastfeeding controversies in the last few years, with flight attendants allegedly scolding new mothers for feeding their babies during a flight.
Here are some of the most viral breastfeeding scandals that have hit airlines:
American Airlines: In 2021, an American Airlines flight attendant allegedly called a new mother “disgusting” for breastfeeding her baby during a flight from Dallas Fort Worth to Atlanta.
The flight attendant demanded that the mother cover up her breast and then threw a paper towel at her child. American Airlines opened an urgent investigation into the incident.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines: The Dutch flag carrier, KLM, got itself in hot water after telling breastfeeding mothers to cover themselves to avoid making other passengers uncomfortable.
The incident arose after a flight attendant forced a mom on a flight from San Francisco to Amsterdam to cover herself with a blanket. The airline quickly reversed its policy following a social media backlash.
TUI Airways: In 2023, a flight attendant at British leisure airline TUI Airways allegedly ordered a mother to stop breastfeeding her baby during takeoff.
A TUI Airways representative had also told the mother that they didn’t recommend breastfeeding onboard its flights because it could offend other passengers. An airline spokesperson later clarified that this was not its policy and that mothers are, in fact, allowed to breastfeed onboard its flights.
This must have been very upsetting for the mother but I hardly think that, whilst lying flat in a business class suite , she would have her breasts displayed to the whole cabin. A bit of an exaggeration there.
BA have MUCH bigger and more frequent service failures that need addressing rather than this one off…