Woman says she was told not to breastfeed on flight because it would make passengers ‘uncomfortable’

People are coming to a woman’s defence after she claimed that she was told not to breastfeed on a plane because it would make other travellers “uncomfortable”.

Chelsea Williams took to Facebook on 7 August to describe what she says was her experience with TUI Airways, a British airline owned by the TUI Group. She claimed that while she was in her seat during a recent flight and breastfeeding her child, one of the plane’s crew members told her to stop.

“During our outbound flight I was told I was not allowed to breastfeed (even though we were both buckled) during takeoff and landing,” she wrote. “I have never had this with other airlines, in fact, it is encouraged to help with baby ear pain!”

She then claimed that, after the experience, she was encouraged to reach out to TUI about its travelling regulations. “Before my inbound flight, I thought I’d check what the official rules were as I was shocked it wasn’t allowed as it left my baby screaming as a consequence,” she wrote.

William’s post went on to include the message that her husband, Thomas, sent to TUI, asking if his partner could breastfeed their five-week-old baby while their plane is taking off and landing.

According to the screenshot of the message, TUI then responded by encouraging Thomas’ wife to avoid breastfeeding on the plane, for the sake of other passengers.

“There are no official restrictions, however, we would not recommend it because it could make other people uncomfortable,” the message read.

Williams also added that the response from TUI was “complete discrimination and majorly disappointing”.

Speaking to The Independent, Williams said that while on her first flight with TUI, the airline employee tried to “disguise the airline’s discrimination with the guise of a ‘safety issue’ but later retracted that”.

“The cabin crew member said: ‘You’ll need to stop feeding as it is not permitted on takeoff and landing,’” she explained. “She then said my five-week old had to forward face, I said that she doesn’t have sufficient neck support at that age, which was answered with: ‘Maybe you could just sit her against you facing forward and lean back a bit.’”

She also specified that, despite what TUI had allegedly told her husband in its message, she was able to breastfeed her daughter on her flight back home.

Her…