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American Airlines has issued a groveling apology to musician David Ryan Harris after a flight attendant accused him of trafficking his bi-racial children.
Harris, who has performed with John Mayer, took to Instagram on September 23 and said an airline worker and four cops were waiting for him and his two sons at LAX after his flight from Atlanta.
‘Apparently a flight attendant had called ahead with some sort of concern that perhaps my mixed children weren’t my children because they were unresponsive during an interaction with her,’ Harris said.
American Airlines said on Wednesday: ‘To summarize our investigation… we and our flight attendant realized that our policies regarding suspected human trafficking were not followed, and through coaching and counseling.
‘Our flight attendant realized that their interaction and observation did NOT meet the criteria that human trafficking was taking place.
American Airlines issued an apologetic statement to Harris after one of their flight attendants accused him of trafficking his own children
Harris, who has performed with John Mayer and The Dave Matthews took to Instagram on September 23 and said an airline worker and four cops were waiting for him and his two sons at LAX after his flight from Atlanta
Harris pictured with his younger son Hendrix on his Instagram page
‘Our flight attendant in question wanted to make sure that you were aware that they sincerely offer a heartfelt apology to you and your family for their actions, and the results that their actions generated.’
In response to their apology, the singer ended his post with ‘this has been a teachable moment for all involved’ and appreciated the apology.
He continued: ‘From the beginning, I didn’t (and still don’t) think that a slow or tentative response from a 7-year-old on an early morning flight should be enough criteria to have the authorities called.’
The dad also added that Truman, his seven-year-old son who the flight attendant was concerned about, is ‘pretty shy.’
Her suspicions apparently arouse when the child did not engage or answer her question about his name. Harris said the entire interaction lasted about 30 seconds.
After a brief interrogation, Harris said that the officers were satisfied with his answers and allowed the family to continue their trip.
‘I wanted to go through the roof,’ Harris said, adding that he did not want to show anger in front of his kids.
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With all of his updates, many have swarmed in with sympathy and support for the dad and his children, but some haven’t been as responsive.
In his most recent post to Instagram, he uploaded a picture that read ‘SOCIAL MEDIA IS AN UNSUPERVIDED SCHOOLYARD FOR ADULTS’ as he went on to highlight a negative comment.
‘Just move on and live your life and enough with posting every little scratch and scrape that life throws at you,’ the comment read.
Others in the comments suggested that the attendant’s heart was in the right place and that she believed the child was in danger or was being trafficked.
The Department of Homeland Security points to a person being non-communicative as a sign of human trafficking.
American Airlines ’empowers’ staff to act if they feel as though human trafficking is taking place.
After a brief interrogation, Harris said that the officers were satisfied with his answers and allowed the family to continue their trip. ‘I wanted to go through the roof,’ Harris said, adding that he did not want to show anger in front of his kids
In response to their apology, the singer ended his post with ‘this has been a teachable moment for all involved’ and appreciated the apology
Harris has gone on to announce that he has started his own petition to implement mandatory ID checks for children traveling with their parents
Harris responded with this post on Instagram after someone commented ‘Just move on and live your life and enough with posting every little scratch and scrape that life throws at you’
The agent who contacted Harris went through the steps that the airline takes in order to prevent trafficking. The agent also said that the entire incident was under investigation.
On top of the apology, Harris was offered 10,000 air miles, an offer he described as ‘kinda insulting.’
Harris has gone on to announce that he has started his own petition to implement mandatory ID checks for children traveling with their parents.
‘I think it would be a long way toward discouraging traffickers from using commercial air travel as a cover,’ said Harris.
