Girl’s Day’s Hyori Calls Out International Airline For Harrassment

On August 31, Girl’s Day member and actress Hyeri took to Instagram to share the harassment she faced at the hands of an airline.

Hyeri posted a long caption outlining the details of the incident. Despite the singer having booked her first-class tickets well in advance, the airline abruptly downgraded her to economy. She didn’t even receive proper assistance and was told that she could take the next flight if she was not satisfied with the seats.

I made my reservation one and a half months ago and even selected a seat in advance, but they downgraded me to Economy Class, saying there were no First Class seats available. The airline told me to take the next flight if I didn’t like the seat and did not even give me a refund. Haha.

— Hyeri

Talking about the absurdity of the situation, Hyeri pointed out that she had booked two tickets, and somehow both were downgraded, which is mostly unheard of. She also expressed her regret at not being able to communicate well in English, which limited her chances to speak up against such unfair treatment.

I booked two seats, how could both be downgraded? I wanted to say many things but couldn’t express them properly. At that moment, I thought I should have studied English harder. What an absurd experience. You should be careful, everyone.

— Hyeri

Given the fact that the staff were speaking to her in English, enraged fans were able to deduce that the incident happened somewhere outside of Korea. Hyeri later posted another story confirming that it wasn’t a domestic airline.

The picture of the ticket she shared in her story showed the airline’s name partially, and soon people realized that it was Delta Airlines. Delta is based in the U.S. and flies all across the world.

The company received severe criticism after Hyeri’s posts and had to clarify its stance to the public. Their representatives told the media, “We have delivered the incident to the relevant department. They are investigating the incident.”

A reporter even questioned the representatives if the incident was a result of racial discrimination. Delta avoided giving any response, saying, “There’s nothing we can answer at the moment.” The company also remained silent in the face of questions about damage compensations.