A woman breastfeeding her baby on a plane was asked to cover up to ‘be respectful of people of other cultures’ (AKH)

Philippe Wojazer/Reuters

• Shelby Angel said she took a Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) plane from San Francisco to Amsterdam with her one-year-old daughter last month.
• When she started breastfeeding her baby, a female flight attendant tried make her cover up with a blanket, Angel said.
• Angel explained that her baby "doesn’t like to be covered," adding: "I do my best to be discreet, but sometimes some skin shows."
• KLM told her that while it allows breastfeeding on flights, it may ask passengers to cover up "should other passengers be offended by this."
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Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) is facing criticism after it asked a woman who was breastfeeding on its plane to cover up to "be respectful of people of other cultures."

Shelby Angel had been breastfeeding her one-year-old daughter on a San Francisco-to-Amsterdam flight last month when a female flight attendant tried to give her a blanket, Angel wrote in a Sunday Facebook post.

Read more: American Airlines made a doctor wrap a blanket around herself because a flight attendant found her summer outfit ‘inappropriate’

Angel said her daughter is "a busy toddler who doesn’t like to be covered. I do my best to be discreet, but sometimes some skin shows."

She says the unnamed flight attendant told her: "If you want to continue doing the breastfeeding, you need to cover yourself."

KLM

Angel said she complained to KLM after her trip, and was told that she needed to "be respectful" of other cultures.

"I was told that I needed to be respectful of people of other cultures and that this flight attendant’s response was in line with company policy," Angel said. She said that KLM showed it has "antiquated values that shame women’s bodies."

She added that she had never received any complaints from flight attendants or passengers in the past about her breastfeeding.

 

KLM clarified in a Wednesday tweet that it allows breastfeeding on flights, but reiterated that "we may request a mother to cover herself while breastfeeding, should other passengers be offended by this."

Read more: Dutch airline KLM apologized after a tweet telling followers you’re more likely to survive a plane crash if you’re sitting at the back

Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images

Airlines such as Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic allow breastfeeding on planes. Many others do not have official policies, but train their crew to help breastfeeding mothers.

Last year EasyJet apologized after a male flight attendant asked a British passenger to be "discreet" while she was breastfeeding her son, despite the airline’s policy expressly allowing women to breastfeed without interference.

Earlier this week KLM apologized for a tweet from one of its verified regional accounts that said where on a plane that you are most likely to survive a crash.

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See Also:

• Dutch airline KLM apologized after a tweet telling followers you’re more likely to survive a plane crash if you’re sitting at the back
• One of the world’s largest airlines appears to be rebranding its Boeing 737 Max jets as customers say they don’t want to fly on the plane after 2 fatal crashes
• A YouTube star was killed in the UK’s first fatal crash involving an electric scooter

Source: Business Insider – ama@businessinsider.com (Alexandra Ma)