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A California mother says she was left “violated” on a British Airways red-eye flight in June when a crew member lifted her nursing cover without consent, exposing her while she breastfed her infant daughter.
Shayanne Wright, a Costa Mesa business owner and city commissioner, was traveling alone with her then 7-month-old on the long-haul flight.
She says she alerted the crew ahead of meal service that she would be nursing her baby to sleep and asked for her meal to be served afterward, a request she says was denied.
During meal service, Wright says the attendant tapped her thigh several times. “I stuck my hand out to wave him away,” she recalled. “Then, without asking, he lifts the nursing cover up completely. It wakes her up. Both my boobs are out. And he doesn’t even apologize. He goes, ‘Do you want your meal?’”
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Shayanne Wright of Costa Mesa smiled together with her child daughter in her arms. Wright mentioned a British Airways attendant lifted her nursing cowl mid-flight. (Courtesy of Shayanne Wright / FOXBusiness)
Wright described additional undesirable bodily contact through the flight, together with repeated touches on her leg and makes an attempt to lock her seatbelt for her. “There was just a very hostile, physically invasive vibe,” she mentioned.
British Airways has acknowledged receiving Wright’s grievance. In a press release to FOX Enterprise, the airline mentioned: “We have looked into these allegations and have been in contact with our customer directly to resolve the matter.” Wright disputes that, saying the airline by no means immediately apologized and as an alternative provided reward playing cards of $250 and later $1,000.
“It honestly felt like I was complaining about a broken headset,” she mentioned. “It’s taken threatening legal action to get them to pay attention.”
Pissed off by what she describes as a type response, Wright turned to Reddit’s r/breastfeeding group. Her viral put up struck a nerve, racking up greater than 600,000 views.
“It was extremely validating,” she mentioned. “So many women urging me not to let it go gave me the confidence to push forward.”
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Shayanne Wright, a Costa Mesa enterprise proprietor and commissioner, mentioned her Reddit put up concerning the British Airways breastfeeding incident went viral. (Courtesy of Shayanne Wright / FOXBusiness)
Wright says she has characterised the incident to the airline as sexual harassment.
“That’s what it was,” she mentioned, although she emphasizes that her authentic hope was for coaching and accountability reasonably than punishment. “At the beginning, my best-case scenario was that they would implement sensitivity training around this. They’ve just totally avoided any semblance of accountability.”
Some questioned her resolution to journey with an toddler in enterprise class. Wright rejects that: “I paid the same amount of money as everybody else. I was wearing a cover. I waved him away. There’s nothing else I could have done differently.”
A British Airways plane taxied at London Metropolis Airport in 2025. A California mother accused the airline of violating her privateness whereas breastfeeding. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg by way of Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
She additionally reminds those that don’t help younger households touring the legality of breastfeeding in public. “Feeding your baby is a basic need. A cover isn’t even required. It’s legal to do everywhere, and most airlines allow it regardless.”
Each U.S. and U.Okay. rules explicitly shield the rights of breastfeeding moms when flying.
In america, the TSA exempts breast milk and formulation from customary liquid restrictions, and within the U.Okay., breastfeeding is protected underneath the Equality Act 2010.
Whereas the airline’s web site lacks a devoted breastfeeding coverage, Condé Nast Traveler reported that British Airways mentioned, “We carry thousands of infants and their families on our flights every year … And we welcome breastfeeding on board.”
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For Wright, the expertise has solidified her willpower to talk out. “Never apologize for protecting that space you’re creating for your child with nursing,” she mentioned.
Whereas she vows by no means to fly British Airways once more, her message to airways is straightforward: “Just because someone is nursing, that’s not an invitation to touch them, their cover, or their baby. Stay away from that space.”
