Update: I received a great letter from Northwest Airlines explaining the following incident to my personal satisfaction. Long story short: Rob Ander is an Air New Zealand employee. His award ticket, won at an Air New Zealand party, does not allow his domestic partner to fly with him only because Air New Zealand refuses to allow Northwest employees to bring their own partners along when they use similar tickets on Air New Zealand.
Air New Zealand is the culprit here. Please don’t complain to Northwest.
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Today, Northwest Airlines is in the news for declining to allow Rob Ander’s same-sex partner to qualify as an award-ticket travel companion. (The rules, apparently, limit “companions” to legal spouses and dependent children.)
That really surprised me, since Northwest employees have, again and again, gone out of their way in their efforts to respect my relationship with Clyde — once even listing him as my spouse on my WorldClub membership records.
The news prompted me to go straight to Northwest’s web site and drop ’em a line encouraging them to do the right thing. My note is reproduced below; here’s hoping you’ll be encouraged to contact customer service (I sent my note both to the “compliments” and the “media” mailboxes) and let your voice be heard as well.
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Hello,
My partner and I are platinum-level frequent flyers on Northwest Airlines. While the United States government refuses to recognize the validity of our fourteen-year relationship together, each of us considers the other to be his spouse.
One reason we are proud to fly Northwest has to do with your liberal policies toward same-sex partners. For example:
– In the past, Northwest has listed my same-sex partner as my spouse on my WorldClub membership file.
– Many times, Northwest employees have treated me, my partner, and his parents as one family, making concessions and going out of their way to keep us all comfortable and together while traveling.
I was disappointed, then, to hear of Northwest’s refusal to allow Rob Ander’s same-sex partner to qualify as an award ticket companion. Frankly? This sort of discrimination doesn’t sound at all like what I would expect from Northwest Airlines.
While I do not know Mr. Ander or his partner, I will be watching this story unfold over the next several days. I hope Northwest Airlines will see this incident for the PR and marketing opportunity it represents! How wonderful it would be to hear that Northwest:
– permitted Mr. Ander’s partner to fly as a companion,
– apologized for the incident, and
– updated its award ticket language to be more inclusive of same-sex partners.
I look forward to hearing that Northwest will continue to lead the industry in fair treatment for all its customers.
Thanks so much for taking the time to listen,
Mark McElroy
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