Airline Denies Boarding To Passengers With HIV

Not sure how it came up in this case, but in some sense it doesn't matter. Only stigmatized personal information ever requires a justification. It's similar with sexual orientation: no one remarks if you hold hands with your opposite-sex spouse in public, but if your spouse is same-sex, it often gets called "making a statement." Here, no one would have batted an eye if they had said they had leukemia, because that disease has no stigma attached (even though the information may be equally relevant or irrelevant.) Regardless, I can see how it might have come up- perhaps they needed to bring some medical equipment on board, or were explaining a need for a wheelchair, or were transiting from a yellow fever risk country and needed to explain why they hadn't had a vaccine. (None of those are perfect explanations, but there are certainly travel-related reasons it could come up.)

They were probably asked if they were sick or had any infections, and not wanting to be completely dishonest or not knowing the scope of the question, they told them they had HIV. I do hope they win in the law suit though...

FWIW, other airlines have this policy too, including some very well known international carriers (not naming names but a little digging will easily reveal who). "Don't ask, don't tell" seems to be the moral of the story here.

If your medical condition is legitimately a risk to others, please disclose it but expect to bear the consequences of the disclosure. If it isn't a risk to others, keep your mouth shut and life goes on.

What decade are we in, the 80's?

When all you have is HIV, every problem looks like a plane ticket.

The other possibility is "Because it's China".

My brother's lived there for years and every time I go to visit there are WTF moments like this. The place and the people just defy logic sometimes. I've been to over 60 countries, and I think I've had more head-scratching moments in China than the rest combined.

Spring Airlines is the new Spirit Airlines of China

@Jack Buck

Trust me, no agent would bother to ask that question...Unless they're barely standing on their feet...

I find it weird that they claimed to be HIV positive, as I can't really think of any reason why they need to disclose it, and are guessing they were making a scene for the sake of their personal interest. I could totally be wrong though. But anyways there must be more to the story, and let's just leave it there for a few days and see what comes up..

I think the first lesson learn when traveling the world is... you can't change the world or how people think all at once, especially when the culture is brought up from different roots, races, religious. In different countries, something is better, something is worse (in this case), and you just have to go along and learn as a traveler. In this case, the person should not disclose his status if it is not necessary. But if it already happen, it is not a bad idea to do what they do, hopefully something will change in the right direction in China regarding this topic.

Did this story strike home for lucky ? I always wondered who that "second guest" is whenever he writes "we" in his trip reports.

This makes me so angry, mostly because it is done out of ignorance. I'm still puzzled as to why they would disclose that. Perhaps both parties are at fault, both the travelers as well as the airlines.