Allegiant Air responds to accusations of racial profiling after removing teenagers over mask incident

Allegiant Air has responded to accusations of racial profiling from a group of Black teenagers who say there were unfairly booted from a recent flight after cabin crew claimed they were not wearing mandatory face masks.

On Monday night, David Schuhmeier, Corey Brown and Brian Buchanan were among the members of a youth basketball team scheduled to fly with Allegiant from Mesa, Ariz. home to Sacramento, Calif., KOVR reports. According to the outlet, a flight attendant accused the teens of not wearing the must-have PPE and ignoring repeated requests to mask up. The passengers argue they were, in fact, wearing masks, and followed a flight attendant's request to lift the masks over their noses.

Brown told the outlet that the Allegiant employee claimed the trio "had the masks on underneath our nose, so it wasn’t fully on over our whole face."

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"And [cabin crew] said that we was disobeying when they first asked us, even though all our teammates said ‘yes ma’am,’ and pulled it above our nose," Buchanan echoed.

Amy Flanagan, a passenger seated next to the young men, backed up their claims and claimed to KOVR that Allegiant was in the wrong.

"I did not hear anything disruptive, disrespectful," she said of the exchange. "They weren’t doing anything that made me think that warranted them getting kicked off. I think it was just really disturbing honestly."

Soon after, the teens were escorted off the flight by police and forced to find somewhere to stay for the night. Before the group exited the aircraft, some passengers reportedly gave them money to help find a room. Their coach had not been on the aircraft during the incident and was able to pick them up, arranging accommodations for the evening, according to the outlet.

On Tuesday morning, the young men flew home to California on a different airline.

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Kiondra Phipps, one of the teen's mothers, slammed the situation as racial profiling.

"You’re telling me that because somebody’s mask slipped below their nose, that they have to be taken off the plane completely," Phipps said. "Sixteen and 17-year-olds? And you don’t tell their parents? You don’t care what happens to them? That doesn’t happen to people that aren’t brown."

Allegiant did not contact the teens' parents when they were booted from the flight, Phipps alleged.

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Allegiant Air told Fox News the passengers were deplaned because they refused to properly wear face masks, which is now a violation of federal law.

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Offering a different version of events, the spokesperson said that there were actually six people involved in the incident, including a 20-year-old who identified himself as a "coach" to one of the flight attendants. 

"The party referenced aboard flight 208 on Feb. 8 refused to comply with federal regulations requiring the wearing of face coverings throughout travel," the Allegiant spokesperson added. "Following repeated refusals to comply on board the aircraft, the party was deplaned from the flight," the representative added.

"The passengers in this party failed to sustain compliance with repeated crew member requests to wear face coverings properly (over their nose and mouth). Flight crew members were met with belligerent, dismissive comments."

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Emphasizing that Allegiant does not discriminate based on race, gender, ethnicity, national origin or sexual orientation, the airline rep called diversity and inclusion a "core value" for the company and its 4,000-plus employees nationwide.

"Refusal to wear a face covering is a violation of federal law and can result in denial of boarding, removal from the aircraft, as well as additional penalties including federal fines," the spokesperson stressed. "As part of their duties in ensuring safe travel for all passengers on board, flight crews are responsible for monitoring compliance. Incidents of non-compliance are reported to the Transportation Security Administration for additional review, as failure to follow flight crew instructions also violates federal regulations.

"A decision to deplane passengers is never made lightly, but is determined in accordance with regulations, and in the interest of ensuring the safety of all passengers and crew throughout the duration of the flight. Incidents are also reviewed internally by the company, and in some egregious cases have resulted in passengers being banned from travel on Allegiant in the future."

Allegiant further claims that law enforcement was asked to assist only because the group refused to deplane with the escort of airline staff.

Days after President Joe Biden was sworn into office, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued mandating masks on all public transportation, including airplanes, trains, and buses, in the fight against COVID-19.

Fox News’ Paul Best contributed to this report.