We've heard a lot of wild airport pumping stories over the years — but they usually involve some poor mom having to dump precious ounces of newly pumped liquid gold, thanks to overly tight airport security. However, a New York mom is speaking out this week after a pumping incident on a recent nine-hour Delta flight with her 4-month-old left her in a tricky (and upsetting) predicament.
Pumping mid-air can be hard enough. But Alix Anfang struggled with what to do when the bathroom outlets on her May 29 flight wouldn't work at all.
Seriously — what do you do in that situation?
She tried pumping in her own economy seat, but as anyone who's ever pumped knows, it can be a bit loud, and doing it out in the open is awkward and sometimes uncomfortable.
So she flagged down a flight attendant and asked for what she thought was a much better alternative option.
Anfang asked if she could momentarily swap seats with one of her in-laws, who were sitting up in first class.
The first class seats would, presumably, offer a bit more seclusion, thanks to their high seats and privacy walls. Then she could scoot on back to her own seat, problem solved. Right?
Apparently, wrong.
After a flight attendant basically told her no can do, Anfang did the only thing she could think of: She got on Twitter.
"Hey @Delta," she tweeted, "the outlets in the bathroom not working so can’t pump except at my seat in front of strangers. Tried alternative but you won’t let me sit in my in laws‘ first class seat to do it privately."
Delta's response wasn't quite what Anfang was expecting — or most of Twitter, for that matter.
While the airline did offer apologies, the new mom was expecting the rep to be ... well, a bit more accommodating.
"Hi Alix, I do apologize regarding the outlets on working in the bathrooms," Delta tweeted back. "Can you please DM your flight information? I would be delighted to forward this on to maintenance. Regrettably, you would not be able to move to the first class cabin to pump. TMC."
"But what do I do right now to feed my 4 month old on a 9 hour flight?" Anfang wrote back.
Many Twitter users jumped in to support Anfang, and also chastise the airline for its lackluster response.
"This is an absurdly bad answer to a customer's very reasonable question/request!" wrote one user. "What is wrong with you @delta?!! Patronizing, condescending and unhelpful. incredibly poor customer service! I'll be "delighted" to fly on other airlines in the future."
"Delta — this is REALLY not a good look," wrote another.
Others sided with the airline, implying the mom should have better planned ahead.
"We fly with our infant and we plan ahead," wrote another user. "Our pump has a rechargeable battery. Pump before. Bring extra bm or formula. All easily doable without bashing @Delta for not giving you a first class seat."
Fair enough, but … come on; it's not her fault the bathroom outlets weren't working.
In the end, the flight attendants on Delta did work with the mom to offer her an alternative pumping solution that she felt satisfied with.
In a statement issued to NBC News, Delta said:
“We’re sorry for any inconvenience or discomfort our customer felt during her experience. Delta’s flight attendants aboard flight 413 from Nice to JFK worked directly with her to provide a number of options and found a private alternative to enable this customer to pump during the flight. Unfortunately, the power outlets on board this aircraft and in general are not equipped to operate a breast pump or other similar medical devices."
This is definitely good info to keep in mind if you're ever on a long-haul flight and need to pump. But it also offers yet another reminder of how many ways (big and small) the world is not always set up to support pumping and breastfeeding moms. Hopefully, stories like these will help change that for the future — and in the meantime, it would be great if everyone could be a bit more understanding of the everyday struggles that face moms in general when it comes to situations like this.
