Summary
Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, a former Vogue editor, chose to move from a first-class seat to a business-class seat on a flight to Milan after she felt she received poor service and experienced racial bias. She shared her experience on social media, which led to a widespread online discussion about race and service in air travel. The airline has yet to comment on the incident.
Key Facts
- Gabriella Karefa-Johnson is a former Vogue editor and stylist to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
- She downgraded herself from first class to business class on a flight to Milan.
- Karefa-Johnson cited poor service and racial microaggressions as reasons for her downgrade.
- She posted about her experience on Threads, a social media platform.
- Her post sparked widespread online discussion about race and service in premium travel.
- Karefa-Johnson intends to follow up with the airline about the incident.
- Both the pilot and the purser apologized to her after the flight.
- The airline has not yet made a public comment on the incident.
