"Autistic" child/family booted from JetBlue
Jul 12, 2013, 11:52 am
#1
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 93
"Autistic" child/family booted from JetBlue
mods if this has been posted elsewhere (I searched but didn't find) please remove or move to proper forum..
flight from Nantucket to Boston
Apparently a family is up in arms after JetBlue pilot and attendant removed the family after the child (in the mother's own words- had a "meltdown" in her seat). Child refused to buckle seat belt, mother blames JetBlue for not seating entire family together, only the mother got to sit adjacent to the out of control child.
From the article:
"The family made it home after spending 2 days and nearly $2,000 that they didn't plan to spend before their trip. Emily says she's appalled by how the situation was handled. The family did receive a travel voucher for future trips through Jet Blue after Emily's sister called Jet Blue, but they say they want a full refund and not a travel voucher, because they do not want to fly with Jet Blue again. The representatives for Jet Blue did apologize for the matter. Emily has written a letter to the President and CEO of Jet Blue and is hoping to get the family's money back, as well as an apology on behalf of the crew her family had to deal with. She's also hoping this will be a wake-up call for the company."
"I would really love to see them doing some kind of teaching on understanding and compassion on how you deal with families with special needs children." She said. "They're probably going to say they already do that, but I think they need to do more."
summation: Family traveling together on short flight with autistic/special needs child was removed from flight because child "had meltdown" (whatever that is, tantrum maybe?) child refused to fasten seat belt. Family wants BIG BUCKS and special "training" for JetBlue to go through.
link http://www.whptv.com/news/local/stor...5KdpKM4Yw.cspx
flight from Nantucket to Boston
Apparently a family is up in arms after JetBlue pilot and attendant removed the family after the child (in the mother's own words- had a "meltdown" in her seat). Child refused to buckle seat belt, mother blames JetBlue for not seating entire family together, only the mother got to sit adjacent to the out of control child.
From the article:
"The family made it home after spending 2 days and nearly $2,000 that they didn't plan to spend before their trip. Emily says she's appalled by how the situation was handled. The family did receive a travel voucher for future trips through Jet Blue after Emily's sister called Jet Blue, but they say they want a full refund and not a travel voucher, because they do not want to fly with Jet Blue again. The representatives for Jet Blue did apologize for the matter. Emily has written a letter to the President and CEO of Jet Blue and is hoping to get the family's money back, as well as an apology on behalf of the crew her family had to deal with. She's also hoping this will be a wake-up call for the company."
"I would really love to see them doing some kind of teaching on understanding and compassion on how you deal with families with special needs children." She said. "They're probably going to say they already do that, but I think they need to do more."
summation: Family traveling together on short flight with autistic/special needs child was removed from flight because child "had meltdown" (whatever that is, tantrum maybe?) child refused to fasten seat belt. Family wants BIG BUCKS and special "training" for JetBlue to go through.
link http://www.whptv.com/news/local/stor...5KdpKM4Yw.cspx
Jul 12, 2013, 12:53 pm
#2
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Unfortunately, if the child won't buckle up, and mom/dad can't make it happen - the airline has no other choice. "Sorry FAA, we violated your rules to be compassionate over special needs" just isn't acceptable. I'm not sure how Mom is trying to pin this on the airline, other than out of pure emotion.
Perhaps there is some undocumented act by the crew for which she wants an apology. Was getting 3 together totally impossible? Were the rest of the pax asked if they would relocate? But if it's solely because the crew didn't allow the family to fly when the family could not complying with Federal regulations, I don't see it. What are they supposed to "wake up" from?
Unfortunate all around, but on the surface it appears that at least some accountability is in order.
(I'm sure the family will get their refund and an apology and some "commitment" from the airline - giving in to emotional blackmail is always the easier path out)
Perhaps there is some undocumented act by the crew for which she wants an apology. Was getting 3 together totally impossible? Were the rest of the pax asked if they would relocate? But if it's solely because the crew didn't allow the family to fly when the family could not complying with Federal regulations, I don't see it. What are they supposed to "wake up" from?
Unfortunate all around, but on the surface it appears that at least some accountability is in order.
(I'm sure the family will get their refund and an apology and some "commitment" from the airline - giving in to emotional blackmail is always the easier path out)
Jul 12, 2013, 1:02 pm
#3
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This annoys me to no end. Their child, with needs they know about, has a melt down and it's the airline's problem to accommodate those needs to the detriment of passengers and safety? I actually hope the airline tells them to sod right off and bars them flying with them. 
American selfishness reaches new depths.
American selfishness reaches new depths.
Jul 12, 2013, 1:52 pm
#4
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 468
I believe the JetBlue ACK-BOS service is all E190's with 2x2 seating. I'm not really sure what accommodation they expected at the gate. It's a peak season flight on an airline that let's you view seat availability and pick seats at the time of booking. Whether they asked any other passengers to swap seats is omitted from the article.
I feel badly for them but sometimes s--t happens with kids. It happens a lot more often with children with autism. I don't know why JetBlue is to blame here or what they think the ideal action on JetBlue's part would've been.
"The pilot ended up walking to the back of the plane where he told the family that Mia needed to put on her seatbelt. "
"The family was not able to get Mia under control, so the pilot and the flight attendant told the family that they would have to get off the plane. According to Emily, the pilot said that Mia was "a potential danger to other passengers."
Well it may be an embarrassing situation for you but I'm going to divert to the pilot's opinion about the safe operation of the plane, especially over water.
"We were left to fend for ourselves in Nantucket." Said Emily.
The family ended up taking a taxi to the ferry from Nantucket to the Massachusetts shore. They then took a taxi to the bus terminal before taking a bus to Boston. By that time, it was 11 P.M., so they got a hotel in Boston.
So they spent about 5 hours traveling back to Boston... so they were "fending for themselves" for at most a few hours?
The next morning, the family rented a car to get them back to Baltimore where they left their car. "People would think, well, why don't you fly from Boston to Baltimore? There's no way I was getting back on another plane." Said Emily.
Personal choice.
"I would really love to see them doing some kind of teaching on understanding and compassion on how you deal with families with special needs children." She said. "They're probably going to say they already do that, but I think they need to do more."
Could she have provided an example of what they could do better in these situations?
I feel badly for them but sometimes s--t happens with kids. It happens a lot more often with children with autism. I don't know why JetBlue is to blame here or what they think the ideal action on JetBlue's part would've been.
"The pilot ended up walking to the back of the plane where he told the family that Mia needed to put on her seatbelt. "
"The family was not able to get Mia under control, so the pilot and the flight attendant told the family that they would have to get off the plane. According to Emily, the pilot said that Mia was "a potential danger to other passengers."
Well it may be an embarrassing situation for you but I'm going to divert to the pilot's opinion about the safe operation of the plane, especially over water.
"We were left to fend for ourselves in Nantucket." Said Emily.
The family ended up taking a taxi to the ferry from Nantucket to the Massachusetts shore. They then took a taxi to the bus terminal before taking a bus to Boston. By that time, it was 11 P.M., so they got a hotel in Boston.
So they spent about 5 hours traveling back to Boston... so they were "fending for themselves" for at most a few hours?
The next morning, the family rented a car to get them back to Baltimore where they left their car. "People would think, well, why don't you fly from Boston to Baltimore? There's no way I was getting back on another plane." Said Emily.
Personal choice.
"I would really love to see them doing some kind of teaching on understanding and compassion on how you deal with families with special needs children." She said. "They're probably going to say they already do that, but I think they need to do more."
Could she have provided an example of what they could do better in these situations?
Jul 12, 2013, 2:57 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 93
I don't get it. What's the airline supposed to do? Break laws for them? I noticed stories like this a lot in the news- "special needs" family/child/individual causing some sort of issue, then demanding some sort of compensation. Just read article about a child who's what they used to call a "vegetable" in a chair, family brought child to "museum" (actually, it was a private home that was open for tours!) staff denied child's chair in as it may damage carpet (the truth is probably there were antique rugs in there) "museum" offered their OWN chair for use- of course we are provided a story that ends up with the poor museum curators required to offer some sort of winded apology, ad nauseum..
Frankly I wonder if these articles aren't intended for us public to become fed up with the special needs folks in the end. What's it called, propaganda. Either way, that's what's happenin'.
I still am not able to figure out what JetBlue was supposed to do with these people with the kid that wouldn't buckle up? And I HOPE JetBlue tells them to go pound sand. After all, they can remove anyone they want. I guarantee you customers are NOT going to stop flying JetBlue because of that incident.
Frankly I wonder if these articles aren't intended for us public to become fed up with the special needs folks in the end. What's it called, propaganda. Either way, that's what's happenin'.
I still am not able to figure out what JetBlue was supposed to do with these people with the kid that wouldn't buckle up? And I HOPE JetBlue tells them to go pound sand. After all, they can remove anyone they want. I guarantee you customers are NOT going to stop flying JetBlue because of that incident.
Jul 12, 2013, 3:17 pm
#7
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The article infuriates me. First of all, this isn't a "children on planes" issue. If an autistic adult had a melt down and refused to buckle his or her seat belt, the result would have been exactly the same. The ACA requires airlines to accommodate people with disabilities PROVIDED it can be done safely. Obviously, it could not. I feel bad for these parents and bad for the girl, but Jet Blue did exactly what it should have done.
Jul 12, 2013, 6:02 pm
#8
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Jul 12, 2013, 9:44 pm
#9
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cblaisd
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Jul 13, 2013, 10:53 am
#10
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This annoys me to no end. Their child, with needs they know about, has a melt down and it's the airline's problem to accommodate those needs to the detriment of passengers and safety? I actually hope the airline tells them to sod right off and bars them flying with them.
American selfishness reaches new depths.
American selfishness reaches new depths.
Jul 13, 2013, 12:02 pm
#11
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It truly is a shame that a family will blast jetBlue's name into the media for a situation that was outside of the airlines control. Actually, it's rather infuriating. They're aware of their child's unfortunate situation, and I'm going to go out on a limb and guess this isn't the first time the child's had a meltdown in public. However, this isn't a restaurant, movie theater, or mall....this is an aircraft, which should the meltdown escalate while in the air, the parents can't just step outside to calm them down.
It sounds like whom needs to be educated are the parents on how to better deal with an autistic child, and how to handle these meltdowns in a better way.
It sounds like whom needs to be educated are the parents on how to better deal with an autistic child, and how to handle these meltdowns in a better way.
Jul 13, 2013, 10:30 pm
#12
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Jul 14, 2013, 7:14 am
#13
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Agree
The article infuriates me. First of all, this isn't a "children on planes" issue. If an autistic adult had a melt down and refused to buckle his or her seat belt, the result would have been exactly the same. The ACA requires airlines to accommodate people with disabilities PROVIDED it can be done safely. Obviously, it could not. I feel bad for these parents and bad for the girl, but Jet Blue did exactly what it should have done.
Jul 14, 2013, 9:59 am
#14
Join Date: Jul 2013
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I really want to know what the "proper" way to handle this situation is in the minds of those who think Jet Blue is in the wrong here.
Jul 14, 2013, 2:49 pm
#15
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As the parent of a child with autism, I'm ... squarely behind JetBlue on this one. It's my job to raise my kid and prepare him for the world. Part of that preparation is how to behave in various settings.
