The Truth Behind Migrants Flying Out of Southern Border Airports: What You Need to Know
The Truth Behind Migrants Flying Out of Southern Border Airports: What You Need to Know
Is American Airlines bumping paying passengers so that they can fly migrants out of southern border airports? That’s the claim being made across some sectors of the media. It takes one element of truth – that the number of migrants on planes out of a handful of airports has become substantial – and mixed it with an odd anecdote about a man who may have checked in late for his American Airlines flight and lost his seat.
Southern Border Airports Are Seeing An Unprecedented Number Of Migrants
One in five passengers flying out of airports at the southern border appear to be migrants based on data on the number of departing passengers which substantially outnumber those who return.
We’re seeing roughly 50,000 migrants a month being flown out of Tucson, El Paso, and McAllen, Texas alone, so while buses are getting most of the national media there’s at least as much flight volume.
On the one hand, governors like Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida are sending busloads of migrants to northern states and getting applauded by their base for it. On the other hand, when migrants are sent to northern states by plane it’s triggering for the same people.
Reports Of Americans Being Bumped For Migrants On American Airlines?
There’s a story circulating within the MAGA Right that airline passengers are being bumped in favor of migrants, and that this is indicative of how in ‘Biden’s America’ “illegal immigrants > American citizens.”
Apparently the reason passengers with confirmed reservations are advised to check in online up to a day in advance is to ensure they retain priority over walk up migrants at the airport? I’ve been sent this story by more than one of you.
“Airline passengers are advised to check in with your Airlines mobile app as soon as possible — up to 24 hours in advance — and arrive at the airport with at least two hours before your plane takes off. That’s because asylum seekers illegally released by the Department of Homeland Security are waiting on standby for seats, and if you aren’t at the boarding gate when agents start to fill empty seats, you could be bumped,” a reporter warned.
She goes on to tell the story of one patron who “had trouble checking in on the American Airlines app” but still “arrived at the airport an hour before his flight” only to find out “had been bumped from the flight.”
“Migrants” Is Not Why Confirmed Passengers Lose Their Seats
This is 100% misleading.
- Airlines are selling walk up tickets to non-profits who are paying for flights.
- Passengers who no show flights have their seats given away to someone on standby for a flight.
- The story is about an American Airlines flight. If you do not check in 27 minutes before scheduled departure (42 minutes with checked bags) you lose your seat. If you are not at the gate 15 minutes to departure you can lose your seat.
- Those are standard airline rules and they have not changed because of migrants.
U.S. airlines have to follow – and are following – their contract of carriage. If you think they aren’t when you fly, and you aren’t getting satisfaction from the airline’s customer service department, file a DOT consumer complaint.
But it’s absolutely not the case that paid, confirmed passengers who meet standard check-in times and appear at the gate are being turned away so that U.S. airlines can transport migrants.