Singapore Airlines apologizes for forcing one-armed woman to switch seats

Isabella Beale, a congenital amputee without a left forearm, said cabin crew had made her feel “humiliated” by asking her to move from her seat in an emergency exit row to meet regulatory requirements, the South China Morning Post reported.

Beale was traveling with the airline from Australia to Europe and back with her familyin January this year when she says she was singled out for being seated in emergency exit row seats that had been booked by another family member, according to ABC News.

“All of a sudden an air hostess approaches me and, in quite a loud tone and quite, like frantic and rushed, she just says, ‘Get out, get out of that seat now, you need to get up,” Beale said.

“I had a little cry just because it was such an affronting thing to happen. It was very humiliating and upsetting.”

Singapore Airlines said that to meet regulatory requirements, passengers with a disability, restricted mobility or who are not able to assist with the emergency exit door should not be seated in the emergency exit row.

The requirements to be seated in the emergency exit row are available on the airline’s website and must be reviewed and agreed to at the time of booking. While this decision should have been made either at check-in or during the boarding process, it was not.