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Ann Coulter responds in WPB to Delta's comments

Posted at 7:32 AM, Jul 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-17 19:19:22-04

Ann Coulter went from Twitter to the radio waves in West Palm Beach on Monday, still angry over losing her seat on a Delta flight from New York City to Palm Beach International.

On Saturday Coulter tweeted her dissatisfaction with the airline after the pre-booked seat with extra leg room she had paid for was given to another passenger and Coulter was moved to the window seat in the same row.

"I don't think airlines should be treating their customers this way," Coulter said in an interview on Monday. "You can say it's a small (issue), I'll say it's small. How hard would it have been to call me to the counter and ask me to switch?" 

Coulter tweeted at Delta on Saturday -- apparently after her flight from New York's La Guardia airport to Palm Beach International Airport, had landed -- calling it the "worst airline in America."

She subsequently detailed how she was asked to move from a seat with extra leg room that she had "carefully chosen in advance and booked," posting a picture of the woman her seat was given to and targeting the airline's employees.

Coulter called the passenger who got her seat "dachshund-legged" but defended her comments on Monday.

"Dogs are adorable," Coulter said. "There was a reason for that (comment). I didn't want them to claim it was sick person, an elderly person. She was shorter than I was by about a foot."

Delta said Coulter had originally booked a window seat in an exit row, but changed it to one in the aisle less than 24 hours before. The airline said it "inadvertently" moved Coulter during boarding, to another window seat in the same row "when working to accommodate several passengers with seating requests."

The airline said that while there was some confusion over seating assignments initially, all passengers complied with a flight attendant's request to move to the seats listed on their ticket. It was only when Coulter began tweeting on Saturday that Delta became aware of the issue, the airline added.

Delta Air Lines has hit back at what it called a "public attack" on its employees and customers by Ann Coulter, after the conservative pundit posted a series of angry tweets over an in-flight seat mix-up she experienced over the weekend.

"We are disappointed that the customer has chosen to publicly attack our employees and other customers by posting derogatory and slanderous comments and photos in social media," Delta said in a statement on Sunday, further describing Coulter's behavior as "unnecessary and unacceptable."

Coulter took issue with Delta's response.

"You're now going to abuse me further?" Coulter said. "It's bad enough they're abusing me when I'm trapped. I'm their prisoner and I can't do anything.  But when I'm in a cab, I'm on my own time, I left the plane, they're going to police my behavior?" 

Delta also said its customer care and social media teams tried reaching the political analyst several times to apologize but did not hear back from her until Sunday evening.

"Delta expects mutual civility throughout the entire travel experience," it said. "We will refund Ms. Coulter's $30 for the preferred seat on the exit row that she purchased."