LOL commentabout the baby meant...momseemed more concerned about her rightsto feed the baby...when she could have taken the blanket fed her baby and did what she had to do later to the flight attendant... We know the mom didn't stop at the end because of what the article says.

You see mothers everywhere who breast feed in public with a blanket thrown over there shoulder.

I just laugh when I hear people talking about the blanket as if its a burlap potato sack that the mother was offered.

The nursing mother was not being inconsiderate in any way.

the child, Mother, Father and Flight Attendant.

but this was a plane full of people which was delayed because of the situation.

Their flight was delayed three hours and anyone who has ever traveled with small children can guess what kind of condition little River was in when the family finally boarded their Freedom Airlines flight (booked through Delta Air Lines) at 10 p.m., well past the toddler’s normal bedtime. The family headed to their seats at the back of the little plane. Mother and daughter took the window seat in the second to last row; River’s dad took the aisle seat. As the plane was getting ready to move, Gillette tucked in next to the window and began to discreetly nurse River.

That’s when Gillette noticed the lone flight attendant holding out a blanket, telling Gillette that she needed to cover up. “I was holding my shirt closed with one hand. There was literally not a bit of my breast exposed,” she says. “I was being as discreet as possible.” When Gillette refused, Gillette says the flight attendant responded; “You are offending me. You need to cover up.” Gillette refused again. Gillette says the flight attendant huffed off, and returned with a ticket agent, who told the family that they were being thrown off the plane. The stunned Gillettes gathered their things and started moving toward the door. “Gillette started quietly crying,” says Elizabeth Beopple, Gillette’s Vermont-based lawyer. “She was so humiliated. As they left the plane, the fight attendant was standing there, and Gillette said in tears, ‘Why are you doing this?’ ” According to the Gillettes, the flight attendant pointed to the door and said, “Get off the plane.” One of the copilots followed them out and apologetically explained that he could not overrule the flight attendant’s decision. “He said, ‘I’m so sorry. I have two children, and there’s nothing I can do about this…The same way that I have control over the****it, she has control over the passenger area.’” As the flight left for New York, Delta arranged a hotel for them for that night and booked them on a US Air flight for the next morning. (And yes, Gillette nursed her daughter on that flight with no objection from anyone.)

The airline has disciplined the flight attendant; a spokesman, contacted by NEWSWEEK, did not dispute the Gillette family’s version of the events.

this ISN'T about a breast

Breast-Feeding, Trying To Join the Mile-High Club? Good Luck Flying
FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT=ABCNews" By MARCUS BARAM
Nov. 21 - Tis the season to be flying, but you'd better be on your best behavior. You'll be surprised to learn what got some travelers grounded.

Making out with your girlfriend, praying, breast-feeding your baby, making jokes.
What do they have in common? That kind of behavior could get you removed from an airplane, or even arrested, this holiday season.

In the wake of 9/11 and the new security regulations instituted since the foiled London terror plot this summer, many airlines have become increasingly vigilant -- perhaps even uptight -- about minor infractions. And many passengers realize they need to be on their best behavior when they take a flight.

The latest example of high-altitude hijinks was the arrest of a couple for violating the Patriot Act by snuggling and kissing inappropriately. On a recent Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles, Carl Persing and Dawn Sewell, an unmarried couple, were "making other passengers uncomfortable" with his face pressed against her vaginal area, according to an FBI indictment. When a flight attendant gave them a second warning, Persing snapped back in anger and the couple, both in their early 40s, were arrested when the plane reached its destination in Raleigh, N.C.

Charged with obstructing a flight attendant and with criminal association, Persing and Sewell have been placed under legal surveillance until their trial in February, at which time they could be sent to jail for up to 20 years. The couple's lawyer claims that Persing had his head in Sewell's lap because he wasn't feeling well and that the flight attendant had humiliated and harassed them.

"As a potential act of terrorism, it's being a little oversensitive," says Charles Slepian, an aviation security expert at the Foreseeable Risk Analysis Center. "After all, the mile-high club has been around for at least 50 years. But flight crews are sensitive that some passengers get upset when others get cozy, and that could erupt into an altercation."

Although it usually covers serious criminal activity, the Patriot Act can apply to minor infractions on flights. "You can't make any threatening gesture to an attendant, because it does violate the Patriot Act," explains Slepian. "They don't want you getting out of your seat except to go the lavatory. The whole idea is to keep control. If you react to the attendant, you're going to get locked up."

Flight attendants, with their increased power, definitely seem to be getting more sensitive to all types of behavior. Emily Gillette claims that she was kicked off a plane last month for nursing her baby on a flight between Burlington, Vt., and New York City. A spokesman for Freedom Airlines, which was operating the Delta commuter flight, says that Gillette was ejected because she declined an attendant's offer of a blanket.

One passenger on a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City was arrested for leaving his seat to go to the lavatory less than 30 minutes before landing (due to the incident, air marshals ordered all passengers to put their hands on their heads for the rest of the flight). And an Orthodox Jewish man was kicked off an Air Canada flight for praying, which attendants claim was making other passengers nervous.

Other passengers have been taken off flights for making jokes, such as asking attendants if they had "checked the crew for sobriety" and "where do you keep the bomb?" Some have been booted for taking onboard hand cream, matches and bottles of water, and for sniffing something in a bag.

And there doesn't seem to be an age limit for the violators. Last year, a United Airlines flight out of Chicago was delayed because a small boy said something inappropriate.
"It seems like there's a real increase in these types of incidents. They're more sensitive to minor infractions," says Anne Banas, the executive editor of SmarterTravel.com. "There's a no-tolerance policy. It really seems like you have to be on your best behavior on the plane." So, what else constitutes bad behavior? According to Banas, try to avoid the following when flying: making jokes about blowing up planes; getting drunk; bumping other passengers with big bags; taking up all the space in the overhead compartments. Banas advises that you should show respect other passengers by not cursing and shouting.

The irony is that many travelers are already following those rules. While flight crews may seem less tolerant of questionable behavior, passengers are actually getting nicer to the attendants, by at least one important measure. The number of unruly passengers who have been penalized by the Federal Aviation Administration for trying to "assault, threaten, intimidate or interfere with a crewmember" has dropped dramatically in the last two years and is on track to hit a record low. In 2004, the FAA recorded 304 enforcement actions. Through September of this year, there were only 79 such actions.

Of course, in these very sensitive times, almost everyone who flies experiences some tension, and sometimes it does boil over. In September, Seth Stein, a London interior designer returning from his vacation in Turks and Caicos, was put in a chokehold and physically pinned to his seat by another passenger on an American Airlines flight. Stein's crime: He used an iPod, went to the lavatory and his tan made him appear "Arab."

in the scope of the Attendant's job, she has the control of the passengers, when that is interferred with, she has the right to "executive" power (so to speak.) Here is an article which details that. It is her right to deem what constitutes a flight risk.

(You can also go to Freedom Air and read their flight risk policies and what is deemed unacceptable behavior while in the confines of their planes.)

I'm here to save your a$$, not kiss it."