Alaska Airlines has been taking a lot of heat from customers on social media lately. And it just got hotter for the “woke” company that is based in Seattle.
It all started June 23, when Alaska Airlines kicked a woman off of a jet at SeaTac International Airport for what it said was a mask violation.
Recently two more women, in two separate incidences, said they were kicked off of a jet for showing their midriffs. They were wearing tops that were like bathing tops.
In the most recent case, a Fairbanks woman says the airlines was fat-shaming her for showing too much skin. Both of them covered up when asked to do so, but they were kicked off the flights anyway, and said they were humiliated in front of other passengers.
Alaska State Sen. Lora Reinbold has been put on the Alaska Airlines no-fly list, for lack of mask compliance, although it appears her “offense” didn’t take place on board the flight, but in the waiting area.
Reinbold has now asked to be excused from the rest of the legislative special session because she can no longer fly to Juneau, since Delta Airlines has ended its summer service to the Capital City.
But now it’s really serious for the airlines. On TikTok, a social media app that displays short videos, the CEO of Alaska Airlines is being accused of having affairs with women employees, associates, or contractors.
“Meet Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci,” the video narration starts. “In 2016, Ben, who was married at the time, had a secret love affair with this woman…” This woman? She was the designer for the Alaska Airlines uniforms.
The video goes on to claim that he also had an affair with an airline flight attendant from Virgin Air, who bore his child.
Minicucci has been with the airlines for 17 years, and was with the company when it bought Virgin Air. In March, he became CEO of the Alaska Air Group. The airlines has taken a frontline position in the culture wars, supporting the terrorist group Black Lives Matter and eliminating the phrase “Ladies and Gentlemen,” since it may offend some people onboard. Alaska Airlines is also promoting special deals for black Americans.
The TikTok video embedded here has been edited at the beginning to remove the specifics of the allegations against Miniccucci, but the entire video is available on the TikTok account of pnw.huntress, the handle used by Sara Gamache.
Gamache was the woman removed from a flight in June because of her Trump mask, which also had the words, “Fuck Your Feelings” on it.
Read: Woman was tossed from Alaska Airlines flight due to her Trump mask
Within days of that incident, Gamache launched a website to begin to collect stories from others abused by the airlines. She has dozens of stories now, many of them from employees of Alaska Airlines.
One flight attendant wrote to Gamache with the following complaint about Alaska Airlines:
“I have been employed by Alaska Airlines for 30 years. I have seen the horrific changes over the decades, from being a family airline with prayer cards on the meal trays, to this liberal, CCP, bill crap that Alaska has become. I have been wanting to be a whistleblower for quite some time, and your heroics have opened the door for that opportunity.
“As employees, we have been suffering the bullying and punitive actions of Alaska for quite some time. The conservatives have had to live in fear and hide everything to avoid bullying and termination.
“Alaska changed the most when our CEO and COO were buying Virgin America and were hobnobbing with Richard Branson. Need I say more? … Time to expose Alaska. Let me know how I can help you. Thanks from thousands of us for being our angel and exposing this darkness.”
Regarding Gamache and her mask, Alaska Airlines issued a statement telling its side of the story:
Statement from Alaska Airlines:
Sara Gamache threatened legal action and called for a boycott of Alaska Airlines after being removed from a flight on June 24, 2021. Ms. Gamache falsely claims that she was removed for wearing a mask with a pro-Trump political slogan. In fact, she was removed for refusing to follow crewmember instructions on multiple flights and because a profane statement appeared on the mask in violation of Alaska’s policy.
After boarding her June 24 flight in a mesh mask, Ms. Gamache became confrontational when a flight attendant requested that she wear a proper mask in compliance with federal law. Ms. Gamache reluctantly agreed to do so, but then put on a mask that said “Trump 2020; Fuck your Feelings.” The flight attendant informed Ms. Gamache that the profanity violated Alaska policy and that she needed to change masks yet again, which escalated Ms. Gamache’s disruptive behavior. Per Alaska’s procedure, Ms. Gamache was asked to exit the aircraft. The video Ms. Gamache posted on social media was taken after her confrontational exchange with crewmembers, once she changed her mask for a third time.
This was the second incident in which Ms. Gamache defied crewmember requests to comply with the federal mask policy. In January, Ms. Gamache received a yellow card for repeated refusals to wear an appropriate mask. We expect our customers to comply with Alaska policies and federal law when they choose to fly with us. We must take action when they refuse to do so. We’re thankful and appreciative of the efforts of our dedicated crew members who are committed each day to keeping travel safe and respectful.
Read: Woman who was thrown off Alaska Airlines flight starts website to expose airlines
Meanwhile, Gamache’s story and others have hit the social media world, and black conservative Trump supporter David Harris has championed the Washington bowhunter’s cause on Instagram.
And now, Gamache has gone nuclear on the CEO of Alaska Airlines, in a video that puts the company into crisis communications mode to defend its reputation as a woke airlines.
