California veteran asked to deplane Delta flight due to ‘threatening' shirt

A Bay Area veteran said she was shocked and humiliated after being kicked off a Delta flight at San Francisco International Airport because of a T-shirt she was wearing.

Catherine Banks was set to fly out of SFO on Wednesday before a flight attendant told her the shirt she wore was threatening. The shirt read, "Do not give in to the war within. End veteran suicide."

Banks, a Marine Corps vet, said the words on her shirt encompass the work she does for others.

"A male flight attendant was saying, 'Ma'am, ma'am.' I looked around, like, 'Who was he talking to?' And it was me. He said, 'You need to get off the plane,' and I was like, 'What did I do?'" Banks said.

It wasn't until she got off the plane and on the jet bridge when the flight attendant told her why she was asked to deplane.

"He said that shirt you're wearing is threatening," Banks said. "I said, 'Are you kidding me? I'm a Marine Corps vet. I'm going to see my Marine sister. I've been in the Marine Corps for 22 years and worked for the Air Force for 15 years. I'm going to visit her.' He said, 'I don't care about your service, and I don't care about her service. The only way you're going to get back on the plane is if you take it off right now.'"

Banks said she wasn't wearing a bra and had to turn around so the flight attendant couldn't see the front of her as she put on a sweatshirt.

She was allowed to board again but not to sit in the extra legroom seat for which she had paid extra. Instead, Banks said, she was told to sit in the back of the plane.

The flight was delayed, and she missed her connecting flight.

“Delta is seeking to make contact with the customer directly to hear more so we can begin to look into what occurred,” a Delta Air Lines spokesperson told SFGATE.

Delta did not immediately respond to NBC Bay Area's request for comment on Thursday.

Banks later told NBC Bay Area Friday night that Delta reached out to get in an effort to make it right.

On Delta's website, the air carrier said it reserved the right to remove passengers from a plane "when the passenger's conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers."

This isn't the first time Delta has removed someone off a flight for how they dressed.

In March, Lisa Archbold held a news conference with her attorney, Gloria Allred, and explained how on a Delta flight to SFO she was asked to deplane due to her choice of clothing. Archbold said she believes the airline had a problem with her not wearing a bra under her shirt and was told, "Women must cover-up."

Delta then contacted Archbold with an apology.

On Wednesday, Banks said humiliation was the only way to describe how she felt.

"I feel like they just took my soul away. I'm not a bad person, and that T-shirt, I should be allowed to support myself and veterans," Banks said.