American Airlines controversy

[Snap Crackle Pop]

It seems United isn't the only one who is having a problem with their customer service.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/22/us/am...ontation-trnd1100PMStoryVideo&linkId=36790213

Now I know that strollers aren't allowed on airplanes, which makes sense because there are a lot of people in one space and strollers can take up a lot of room. The mom clearly seems stressed out over this situation, and I think she would have handled it better if the flight attendant hadn't (allegedly) yanked it out of her hands and almost hit her and her baby which I think is what caused her to have this huge of a reaction. Also the way that flight attendant was talking to customers was so inappropriate and I am glad to know that American Airlines has suspended him for the time being as they investigate this incident.

 

[Praying Colonel]

It seems United isn't the only one who is having a problem with their customer service.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/22/us/am...ontation-trnd1100PMStoryVideo&linkId=36790213

Now I know that strollers aren't allowed on airplanes, which makes sense because there are a lot of people in one space and strollers can take up a lot of room. The mom clearly seems stressed out over this situation, and I think she would have handled it better if the flight attendant hadn't (allegedly) yanked it out of her hands and almost hit her and her baby which I think is what caused her to have this huge of a reaction. Also the way that flight attendant was talking to customers was so inappropriate and I am glad to know that American Airlines has suspended him for the time being as they investigate this incident.

I'm trying to figure out in what world it's OK for a flight attendant to try and taunt a passenger into striking him.

I get to fly American in about 10 days. Yay....

On a side note, auto-start video is the Devil. Clicked on that article link and got an auto-start video ad. Not cool, CNN.

 

[RedAngie]

So all three legacy US airlines have had major customer service issues in April. At least Delta's meltdown didn't involve violence.

 

[Snap Crackle Pop]

So all three legacy US airlines have had major customer service issues in April. At least Delta's meltdown didn't involve violence.

I'm a JetBlue fan.

 

[L&Lfan]

I'm flying American next month and I'm getting nervous...

 

[RedAngie]

I'm flying American next month and I'm getting nervous...

DH and I are flying United on reward travel in October. I'm sure we're the lowest priority and most likely to get bumped involuntarily.

 

[maxiesmom]

We were discussing this in a group on facebook, and one of the members claims to have been on that plane. They said that the flight attendant approached the lady to tell her her stroller wouldn't fit in the overhead, it couldn't be on board, and the woman lost it. When the FA tried to lift the stroller around the lady she shoved him, causing him to accidentally hit her with it, and then chaos ensued.

I'm sure at that point the FA knew what was going to happen A la United. I would probably be angry at that point too, knowing my job was in jeopardy and people are ready to throw airlines all into a fire and burn them.

Honestly, I tend to believe it. The sobbing seems over the top. As if she is having some sort of break down, of course just my opinion.

 

[Hikergirl]

I think there is plenty of fault to go around here. The mom should not have brought the stroller on, or at the very least when told she couldn't she should have let it go.
The FA should not have acted the way he did either.

I'm not going to tar and feather AA airlines over this. That FA is one out of how many that work for AA? They susupended him. FA's are human, just like passengers are. We all make mistakes from time to time and we pay the consequence for it. Time to move on.

 

[mjkacmom]

I read an account of this situation from a woman who was there. This mother had one baby in a carrier, another in a car seat stroller system, and was dragging the double stroller behind her. She actally hit herself with it trying to hold onto it. She wanted to bring it on the plane, which clearly isn't allowed. The woman who wrote her perception of the incident said the man who threatened the flight attendant was definitely out of line and made things worse.

The flight attendant overreacted, and should have been calmer and more professional. But the woman was at fault.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I work in healthcare and there are times I want to lose it on people....but I don't. If I did in the same manner that FA did, I would most certainly lose my job. But ya know what.....everyone has an off day. He was out of line but sometimes you can only take so much in one day.

 

[Snap Crackle Pop]

I just think it's funny there are multiple different accounts of what happened, and all of them are such different stories so I wonder who is telling the truth and who is being dishonest.

 

[bcla]

Yeah - I heard about this.

Personally I think there's plenty of blame to go around for this. The mom should not have been bringing all that stuff on board the plane. The flight attendant shouldn't have blown up and should have been calmer in telling the passenger what was or wasn't acceptable. The passenger who got up and gave a veiled threat to use violence should have been tossed off the flight immediately.

However, it does sound as if the woman with the kid's may not have have total command of the English language. It sounds like the flight attendant tried multiple times to get her to check in the stroller, but some think that perhaps she didn't think she would get it back? It all seemed to be the perfect storm for a blow up.

 

[Turn the Page]

I don't know a whole lot about this incident but I bet the head of United's PR department was praising all that was holy this weekend that it wasn't them lol.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm flying American next month and I'm getting nervous...

Why? Are you planning on bringing a stroller?

 

[dlavender]

How do people get things onto the plane that don't belong or fit?

No one saw her bring a stroller that was too big?

I just ask as about a month ago I was sitting next to someone who had a bag that was obviously not going to fit overhead. He threw a stink when they tried to take it and let him put it underneath his feet, which it barely fit. I was thinking, why did no one stop him from bringing it on in the first place? Perhaps airlines could avoid these situations if they looked at baggage when they scan tickets in? Maybe that opens up another can of worms? I would rather the altercation happened in the terminal vs the tight space of a plane.

 

[Praying Colonel]

I read an account of this situation from a woman who was there. This mother had one baby in a carrier, another in a car seat stroller system, and was dragging the double stroller behind her. She actally hit herself with it trying to hold onto it. She wanted to bring it on the plane, which clearly isn't allowed. The woman who wrote her perception of the incident said the man who threatened the flight attendant was definitely out of line and made things worse.

The flight attendant overreacted, and should have been calmer and more professional. But the woman was at fault.

I have to wonder: if the stroller's clearly not allowed, how is American letting her get on the plane with it?

It's like the United incident: why leave the bumping issue unresolved before boarding?

If these issues were handled before embarkation, they would've been much smaller incidents.

 

[Hikergirl]

Maybe she was supposed to leave it with the others at the end of the jetway and instead tried to bring it on board.

That is assuming there were others. I have never been on a flight where there weren't a few strollers there.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I was wondering the same thing. Why was she allowed on the plane with the stroller? When I have taken a stroller on a plane I'm told 194893744 times that I will need to check it or gate check it.

 

[bcla]

I don't know a whole lot about this incident but I bet the head of United's PR department was praising all that was holy this weekend that it wasn't them lol.

Maybe it's me, but I've never really had a bad experience with any airline. The last time we flew United was SFO-SNA, and they had no problem. We brought a car seat to use on the plane and gate checked our umbrella stroller with no issue. On top of that, our kid didn't want to sit in the car seat on the plane, and a FA came and offered to check it in for us. Our kid also got an airline wings pin.

 

[mom2rtk]

Maybe she was supposed to leave it with the others at the end of the jetway and instead tried to bring it on board.

That is assuming there were others. I have never been on a flight where there weren't a few strollers there.

Yes, and I imagine she was told that. But hey, she gets first class upgrades until the end of her trip. So it's all good, right?