Child Trafficking Accusations: American Airlines RESPONDS To David Ryan Harris

After flying from Atlanta to Los Angeles in September, singer-songwriter David Ryan Harris shared his traumatic story on social media of being accused of trafficking his own children by the airline.

Harris and two of his sons, Truman and Hendrix, were met by American Airlines employees and police after disembarking the plane after a flight attendant called ahead with the concern that his biracial children aren't his children simply because they were "unresponsive during an interaction with her."

Harris explained in a series of videos on Instagram just what happened and how the airlines handled the situation. He started his story by explaining that he and his children are "fine" and "will live to fly another day, perhaps on another airline."

"The best-case scenario, the airline may have a bit of overreach because people steal children," he said. "An agent called me yesterday, he said that he wanted me to know, he was reaching out because this came across their Twitter feed. Not because this got flagged through the tradition AA complaint portal, but because it came through Twitter."

He explained that they talked about the non-responsiveness of his children. The agent he spoke to explained there were some trigger questions and that the children looked at him after being questioned, and that set off a red flag.

"I let him know that I was 100 percent certain that she could have looked up my name, my seat number, the fact that the two people with me had the same last name, could've looked up my frequent flyer number," he said. "There was internet on the plane, she could have looked up my Instagram profile then seen that those children were with me. There were many steps she could have taken before she lobbed the hand grenade of having the authorities called."

After hearing about the policies of the airline, Harris pointed out that he never got an apology for all the trouble. He was then offered an apology and 10,000 frequent flyer miles. Harris noted that when you open a credit card with the airlines, you get 50,000 frequent flyer miles and said that was "kind of insulting."

Harris shared a few other videos with more of the story as well as questioning the airlines protocols.

"And if they’re so concerned about child trafficking, shouldn’t the airlines have some protocol in place to stop me from flying with a child I stole long before I’m ON THE PLANE???" he wrote in the caption of a video shared on Instagram. "You’re telling me that they can stop me from carrying a capri sun through TSA, but they can’t put safeguards in place for actual human beings? Make it make sense."

Another post shares more of his feelings about the situation explaining that "there were very simple steps that could and should have been taken prior to the FA calling ahead."

"Had we been in a grocery store or on the street things might have been different, but on a flight, the attendants have a manifest, he wrote. "The FA could/should have consulted the manifest to find my name (along with my children's). She could have done a pretty quick google search and more than likely found my IG page where she would have seen pictures of me with those same kids."

Comments on Harris' posts were mixed between support and siding with the airline's procedure because of an increase in trafficking.

"I think flight attendants should be proactive in the fight against trafficking because they interact more than gate security/TSA however there should be more checkboxes than a groggy, shy child who looks at their parent/adult companion to answer questions," one person wrote.

Another added, "Husband works for Southwest. Flight attendants are told to report if they feel trafficking might be happening. In your case, she made a big leap. AA handled so poorly. I’m sorry that happened to you."

Harris shared the statement that the airlines issued about the unfortunate situation.

"To summarize our investigation….we and our flight attendant realized that our policies regarding suspected human trafficking were not followed, and through coaching and counseling … our flight attendant realizes that their interaction and observations did NOT meet the criteria that human trafficking was taking place," the statement begins.

"Our flight attendant in question wanted to make sure that you were aware that they sincerely offer a heartfelt apology to you and your family for their actions, and the results that their actions generated."

Harris included in his post that all he was seeking was an apology and explanation of their policy.

"From the beginning, I didn’t (and still don’t) think that a slow or tentative response from a 7 year old on an early morning flight should be enough criteria to have the authorities called. I’ve never begrudged the red flag, I’ve always begrudged the apparent lack of diligence on the part of the flight attendant," he explained.

"I still, very much think that non response from the airline smacks of corporate arrogance at worse and a gross undervaluing of customers at best. That I had to resort to shaming the airlines to get a response at all speaks to a general lack of a meaningful customer service apparatus."

Harris called this situation "a teachable moment for all involved" and has decided to move forward from it by starting a petition "to implement mandatory ID checks for children traveling with parents."

"I think it would go a long way toward discouraging traffickers from using commercial air travel as a cover," he wrote. "I think it removes the onus from flight attendants to have to make determinations based on conjecture, no matter how well intentioned."

The petition can be found on his website and change.org.