MGH Doctor Said Boston Delta Flight Crew Racially Profiled Her

BOSTON, MA —A Massachusetts General Hospital doctor said she is disappointed with Delta after the airline apologized for questioning her credentials at least twice while she was trying to help a fellow passenger.

Fatima Cody Stanford, who is black, took to social media to accuse flight attendants of racially profiled her during a trip to Boston this week. Stanford said the passenger next to her told her she was having a panic attack. The doctor started to help the passenger, talking to her to try to distract and calm her, according to an article in the Boston Globe.

That's when a flight attendant approached her and asked if she was a doctor. Another crew member came back to verify the ID, too. In 2016 Delta dropped a policy of asking people to prove they are licensed doctors before helping patients in need aboard flights.

“I showed them my license twice, and they still didn’t believe it was mine,” she told the Globe, adding that she believed the questioning was racially motivated.

Delta emailed her to apologize and told her an investigation was underway, but Stanford said she was not impressed.

Her tweet to Delta Wednesday has been shared, liked and commented on hundreds of times as of Thursday morning:

Stanford later tweeted after a conversation with representatives from the airline she was skeptical of changes.

In a statement, Delta said crew members misread the ID:

We thank Dr. Stanford for her medical assistance and are sorry for any misunderstanding that may have occurred during her exchange with the in-flight crew. According to the flight crew’s account, they initially misread the credentials offered by the doctor and went to reconfirm her specific medical discipline. We are following up with the crew to insure proper policy is followed.

The Tuesday incident sounds similar to what happened in 2016 when an African-American doctor who said she was pushed aside by a Delta Air Lines flight attendant when a man needed medical help mid-flight. She also said she was quizzed about her medical credentials, while a white man was accepted as a doctor without similar questions. That event prompted a social media backlash and sparked the hashtag #WhatADoctorLooksLike.

Read the full Globe Story: MGH Doctor Said Delta Racially Discriminated Against Her

Related:

• Racist Graffiti Found Inside Boston Elementary School
• Doctor: Discrimination By Delta Kept Her from Treating Sick

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Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff