A man has accused SkyWest Airlines of discrimination after crew members allegedly refused to allow his autistic brother to sit next to him, leading to all passengers being forced to deplane and wait three hours for a new crew.
Ayo Isola, 23, claims that on a flight from Detroit to Houston, a flight attendant objected to a seat swap that would have allowed his 21-year-old brother Tayo, who is almost completely non-verbal and has OCD and sensory issues, to sit beside him. Despite another passenger agreeing to switch seats, the attendant insisted Tayo return to his original seat.
Isola detailed the incident in a viral Facebook post, stating that after 20 minutes of dispute, a supervisor allowed the seat change. However, the attendant later reported the family as a 'safety hazard' to the pilot, who then ordered all 75 passengers to deplane. Airport management and security found no safety issue, but the pilot and crew refused to fly and left the terminal.
The flight, operating as Delta Connection, eventually departed nearly three hours late with a new crew. SkyWest and Delta are investigating the incident. Delta apologized for the inconvenience but did not comment on the discrimination claims.
