Panteón Rococó Discriminated By Mexican Airline Over Tattoos; Interjet Apologizes To Rock Band After Incident

Mexican band Panteón Rococó claim they were victims of discrimination over their tattoos. The group took it to their Facebook page to explain an incident they had with some of the land personnel of Interjet airlines. Luis R. Ibarra, lead singer of the band, penned a long letter opening up about his version of the story. The band was in the Ciudad Juárez airport when a man wearing an Interjet uniform came up to him and told him that he couldn’t board the plane unless he covered up his arms. Ibarra ignored the request and proceeded his check in process, passed security and went over to the gate.

Right before boarding, the same employee who had come to him before, went over the person in charge of the boarding process and said something to him. Ibarra goes on to say that this man at the gate stopped him and Francisco González, another band member who plays the trombone, and told them they couldn’t board unless they covered their torso. Coincidentally, these two men were the only ones with visible arm tattoos. “Another bandmate told him that for us, and for the Real Academia de la Lengua, ‘torso’ doesn’t include the arms,” Ibarra wrote.

“The other 15 people traveling with us, agreed that they wouldn’t board either because this was an act of segregation, and the man needed to be very careful with this. I told him that this was discriminatory and that a lot of people would know about this, that their clause seemed stupid and absurd. He told me not to speak to him like that and proceeded to call the police,” Ibarra continued. Eventually the band’s Production Manager told the person in charge that they didn’t want any trouble and just wanted to go home, and to please call his immediate boss to figure things out.

The alleged boss came in with a bigger attitude, according to the letter, and instead of helping the situation, he made it worse. Ibarra claims police officers were more understanding with the situation and they let the band board, while the so-called boss was screaming at them to arrest Ibarra. The singer continued to say that they respect the airline and are not looking for a witch hunt, but he would appreciate if Interjet could “pay special attention to the training and awareness of staff because these factors can lead to misinterpretations if people with little criteria or not trained at all are on duty.”

Ibarra continued to say that if they chose Interjet, it was because they understand it’s a quality airline and went on to praise the air personnel for their handling of the situation, and making sure the flight was very pleasant for the whole band. As for the airline, they released a statement reading: “Interjet is very sorry for the inconveniences suffered by the members of the band Panteón Rococó when they boarded the flight 2284 on May 26, from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. Interjet is a company that follows the law and as a result, does not discriminate against anybody due to any condition. There’s an internal investigation underway, and we will take the actions needed. We appreciate your attention to the matter.”