Pregnant Passenger Left Stranded Because of A Little Morning Sickness?
Jennifer Billock November 28, 2018
A pregnant woman from England alleges she was kicked off a Virgin Atlantic flight in New York and left stranded to sit on a cold airport floor, after being poorly treated by airline staff and not receiving a proper medical evaluation; the airline claims it acted according to their standard procedure.
Billie-Jo Robinson, a 28-year-old pregnant woman from England, claimed she was recently thrown off a Virgin Atlantic flight in New York and left to sit for hours on a cold airport floor, with no money and no food.
“We were left waiting on the plane for ages because of missing passengers,” Robinson told The Liverpool Echo. “It was really hot and I had really bad heartburn after having a McDonald’s in the airport and felt a bit sick. I saw an airhostess with sick bags and asked her for one, and I was sick a little bit—but not enough to leave my seat. I asked the airhostess could she get rid of the bag and she asked was I okay, to which I said I was fine and she gave me a bottle of water. It had been about 40 minutes since I had been sick and I was just sat reading my magazine when a member of the cabin crew came up to me and said I needed to get off the aircraft. She said a doctor on the ground, who had never even met me or seen me, had made the decision I was not fit to fly.”
The airline claims it acted according to procedure, consulting an independent medical professional.
“When Ms. Robinson became unwell we evaluated the situation with our independent medical experts and unfortunately she was deemed too unwell to travel,” an airline spokesperson said. “In line with our procedures as the customer had been sickness free for over 12 hours, she was deemed fit to fly the next day. We are truly sorry for any distress caused and are in direct contact with Ms Robinson to resolve the situation.”
[Photo: Shutterstock]
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The whole problem is airlines using "procedure" as an all-purpose excuse for not allowing their staff to treat customer service cases individually. You don't want a pax you suspect of having norovirus to fly. At the same time, you don't want to gratuitously abuse a woman who is having a touch of morning sickness.
1) The barf bags are generally intended for air sickness. If she is barfing while still at the gate, she has other problems. I, for one, do not want to be seated next to her. 2) If she sat on the floor, that was her choice. 3) If she has no food, then she should buy some. 4) If she has no money, then she should not be traveling.
Left to sit on a cold airport floor? Didn't the airport have seats or is this just sensationalism?
A medical professional who doesn't even meet the woman has only one safe reply: don't let her fly or be responsible for any complications. That system is broken. Could as well let the cabin staff make the call. HTB.
Airline was right. And are we to believe the airport has no chairs? And, traveling with no money was her choice and has zero to do with the airline.