Disembarked apparently for skin color / appearance. Racism or not?
Jul 9, 2017, 8:38 pm
#31
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Jul 9, 2017, 8:42 pm
#32
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Jul 9, 2017, 8:48 pm
#33
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Oh come on. A business class seat on a transcon flight covered with dog hair is unacceptable.
Jul 9, 2017, 8:49 pm
#34
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Maybe the captain assumed you were the passenger who requested the cleaning and that made him agitated for whatever reasons and wanted you off.
Jul 9, 2017, 8:57 pm
#35
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Jul 9, 2017, 9:04 pm
#36
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This to me is the most plausible scenario. Which actually reflects even more negatively on the captain IMO. Racist captain, not really relevant to his flying skill. Impatient and impulsive captain, much more disturbing thought.
Jul 9, 2017, 9:08 pm
#37
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AA67 today. Boarded the flight, about to sit down at 6D, when the gentleman at 6F said wait there is dog-hair all over the place. So we are standing in the aisle, chitchatting, waiting for the cleanup. All passengers around us are sitting, none left their seat. After 10 minutes or so, cleaning crew comes, and we are still in the aisle. So far I had no interaction with any of the FAs (who were passing by) and the captain, who was clearly impatient with the delay and pacing not too in front from us. Suddenly this lady (later identified herself as the floor manager) comes in, wants to have a word with me on the jet bridge. I oblige, and she says you will have to deplane since the captain is not comfortable with you on board. I asked why, she kept saying she "was not there, so cant comment". Finally said something fleetingly about me sweating, and I when I went back to fetch my bag, the guy at 6F was as shocked as anyone, and it was obvious he or anyone nearby did not complain about that.
Just to add:
I understand that body odour can be an usual suspect. But this was not the case (I did freshen up in the lounge before boarding), and then the obvious person to complain would have been 6F. He or none nearby had any word with any FA in those period. My feeling is the captain was annoyed because we were delayed, and and he did not like a brown guy standing in the aisle for an extended period of time so close to the flying deck.
Just to add:
I understand that body odour can be an usual suspect. But this was not the case (I did freshen up in the lounge before boarding), and then the obvious person to complain would have been 6F. He or none nearby had any word with any FA in those period. My feeling is the captain was annoyed because we were delayed, and and he did not like a brown guy standing in the aisle for an extended period of time so close to the flying deck.
Jul 9, 2017, 9:29 pm
#38
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At a minimum, if you were kicked off a plane with absolutely no explanation other than that the captain didn't want you on, you might end up trying to come up with an explanation and "PC nonsense" would probably not factor particularly into it.
Jul 9, 2017, 9:30 pm
#39
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Unfortunate story, OP. I am firmly in the camp of someone at AA needs to get an understanding of the cause for your removal. Whether or not they'd share that with you probably depends on what it is (or made to believe), but an apology would certainly be a reasonable place for AA to start after determining what happened. I also appreciate your mindset on this...
In any event, my thoughts:
a) dog hair on seats should have been removed before any boarding and I have zero problem with 6F asking for it to be cleaned
b) captain ought to relax and just wait for approval to leave. frankly, it's embarrassing that a captain might ask for a pax to be removed over a delay like this
c) I would be upset if this happened to me. Besides the public removal, the delay could make me late for or altogether miss a meeting I need to attend.
a) dog hair on seats should have been removed before any boarding and I have zero problem with 6F asking for it to be cleaned
b) captain ought to relax and just wait for approval to leave. frankly, it's embarrassing that a captain might ask for a pax to be removed over a delay like this
c) I would be upset if this happened to me. Besides the public removal, the delay could make me late for or altogether miss a meeting I need to attend.
Jul 10, 2017, 12:10 am
#40
Join Date: Oct 2016
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If you're fine sitting in a bunch of animal hair on a transcon ride, that's your business. Don't assume anyone else should put up with that.
Jul 10, 2017, 12:48 am
#41
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6F may be a "nice guy," but his refusal to just sit down in his assigned seat is a major part of the reason you're in NYC and not nearing SFO right now. It wasn't vomit or urine or sticky snow cone syrup - it was hair. If 6F had put on his big boy pants and sat down, you'd be on the plane.
I had a flight once where some "intelligent" FA told an old woman with a dog who "needed help" getting to her seat to sit in my seat until someone could help her to the back.
Of course, my seat was in row 1 or 2, and so I was utterly confused to board (late-ish) to a full premium cabin.
Then I got in trouble for blocking the aisle (because there was nowhere for me to sit), slowing boarding
Then when the woman finally got up, the dog went right on the seat for a few minutes.
I was extremely close to asking for it to be re-groomed, and I would have felt 100% right in making that request.
I want a clean seat. If an animal is going to sit there before me, I want the seat cleaned.
I don't buy premium cabin tickets for a public transit seating experience.
And that's without even getting into the whole "are you filming me?" that every employee would inevitably ask.
Agreed.
Jul 10, 2017, 2:18 am
#42
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Put another way...if a seat covered in hair is worth that much cash / miles / lifetime AA FF spend, then how much is a seat not covered in hair worth?
Jul 10, 2017, 4:36 am
#43
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Jul 10, 2017, 5:38 am
#44
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I'm going to assume racism until the airline proves otherwise. Why? Because airlines in the US have a horrible track record with this sort of thing. A man is kicked off a flight just because he was speaking Arabic, an African American woman isn't allowed to give medical assistance because they don't believe she's a doctor, a Muslim woman is refused a can of soda because the F/A says it can be used "as a weapon," and let's not forget the ludicrous debacle of seven African American men being kicked off a NK flight.
But, wait! There's more! https://mic.com/articles/173846/it-s...eople-of-color
So you'll forgive me if my knee-jerk reaction is to assume the worst when it comes to the airline involved. It very well could not have been racism, but, based on past history, the airlines haven't given us much reason to give them the benefit of the doubt.
But, wait! There's more! https://mic.com/articles/173846/it-s...eople-of-color
So you'll forgive me if my knee-jerk reaction is to assume the worst when it comes to the airline involved. It very well could not have been racism, but, based on past history, the airlines haven't given us much reason to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Jul 10, 2017, 6:28 am
#45
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I'm going to assume racism until the airline proves otherwise. Why? Because airlines in the US have a horrible track record with this sort of thing. A man is kicked off a flight just because he was speaking Arabic, an African American woman isn't allowed to give medical assistance because they don't believe she's a doctor, a Muslim woman is refused a can of soda because the F/A says it can be used "as a weapon," and let's not forget the ludicrous debacle of seven African American men being kicked off a NK flight.
But, wait! There's more! https://mic.com/articles/173846/it-s...eople-of-color
So you'll forgive me if my knee-jerk reaction is to assume the worst when it comes to the airline involved. It very well could not have been racism, but, based on past history, the airlines haven't given us much reason to give them the benefit of the doubt.
But, wait! There's more! https://mic.com/articles/173846/it-s...eople-of-color
So you'll forgive me if my knee-jerk reaction is to assume the worst when it comes to the airline involved. It very well could not have been racism, but, based on past history, the airlines haven't given us much reason to give them the benefit of the doubt.