American Airlines is facing a new wave of controversy following reports that a flight attendant called police after a white passenger complained about the black woman sitting next to her.

Co-host of the podcast Black Joy Mixtape Amber Phillips, 28, took to Twitter to document her experience "flying while fat and black.”

During a flight aboard a small plane out of North Carolina heading to Washington D.C., Phillips found herself in a heated argument with a white woman who felt Philips took up too much space, Vice News reports.

Apparently, the white woman sitting next to didn't want her arm touching Phillips'.

“She kept being very aggressive and finally goes, ‘Can you move over?’” Phillips said. Phillips said she did her best, but given the size of the plane, there was no space for her to slide over into. Hoping to end the dispute, Phillips said as soon as the plane took off, she folded her hands in her lap.

When the 45-minute flight ended, Phillips took a photo and video of her seating arrangement to document the incident.

 

Things took a turn for the worst once they landed. Phillips got off the plane and boarded a shuttle bus to the airport. A flight attendant asked her to get off and Phillips said she was later confronted by police.

Airports Authority Police spoke to the woman moments prior to speaking with Phillips. She was told police would be investigating this as an assault. According to Vice News, Phillips was never asked for a statement regarding the incident.

Phillips said all of this happened for one reason: “Because of the intersections of my identity, a black woman who takes up space.” 

In a statement to Blavity, American Airlines sent along a statement from police who said they responded to a call from an American Airlines flight attendant after a passenger traveling on American Eagle flight 5580 made a request for police assistance.

"The request followed a reported in-flight incident involving two passengers, which continued on an American Airlines shuttle bus at Reagan National Airport," the statement reads. "Upon arrival on scene, Airports Authority police asked both passengers to exit the shuttle to protect their privacy and to allow for an investigation. Both passengers complied with police requests, and it was determined that there was no immediate threat to passenger safety. There were no arrests, no charges were filed and both passengers continued on their way without further incident."

Although there were no arrests and no charges were filed, according to police, but Phillips said she will not being flying with American Airlines any longer.

"On Thursday, American Eagle flight 5580, operated by PSA Airlines, from Raleigh-Durham (RDU) to Washington, D.C. (DCA), two passengers seated next to each other engaged in a verbal altercation while on board," American Airlines said in a statement to Blavity. "Upon landing in DCA shortly after 8 p.m. ET, one of the passengers requested the flight attendant contact law enforcement. The Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority (MWAA) Police Department was called to assist. We have reached out directly to the customers for more information."

Following a series of racially charged incidents on American Airlines, the NAACP recommended that black people stop flying with the company late last year. This prompted the company's CEO to acknowledge the airline had a problem, and promise the company would change going forward.

Amber PhillipsAmerican Airlines racismFat-shamingFlying-While-Black