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OJgate: Asking For Orange Juice May Violate Federal Law / AA Investigating FA Helen

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OJgate: Asking For Orange Juice May Violate Federal Law / AA Investigating FA Helen

 
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Old Dec 13, 2009, 1:26 pm
  #46  
 
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Originally Posted by LoneStarMike
It's unlikely we'll ever know since this would be a private matter between AA and the employee.
Well, this matter may not be that private no more.

This employee has been such a PR stunt for AA at this point. AA might as well turn this "OJ incident" into a good PR by making an official statement and informing the public what AA will do (or has done) to correct the wrong.
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Old Dec 13, 2009, 1:31 pm
  #47  
 
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Originally Posted by stupidhead
Resorting to the "we're here for your safety" line . I expected better from FT. I'm sorry, but that line is a load of crap. .
Where's YOUR Wikipedia page?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uli_Derickson

OH, CRAP. YOU dont have one.
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Old Dec 13, 2009, 2:21 pm
  #48  
 
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Originally Posted by NYC96
Originally Posted by stupidhead

Since there was no physical harm alleged by anyone here, I'm guessing he wasn't holding her by the neck and threatening to strangle her. And as far as I can tell, I'm the paying customer; I'm always right.


Originally Posted by stupidhead
I don't care if the customer was holding her by the neck threatening to strangle her, she needs to deal with it in a calm and reasonable manner. .
QUOTE]

You're contradicting yourself. First, you condone abuse. And then you state this article didnt come to that. NICE TRY at covering your remarks.

And, NO. the customer is NOT always right. YOU'RE TICKET DIDNT INCLUDE THE RIGHT TO STEAL from the liquor kit. Or the passenger who had their hands in my tote bag. Or the "customer" who tries to sneak into an empty F seats, which in my book is stealing. Stealing F/A bags. Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh, the customer never lies to GET OVER on an airline policy.
It doesn't make what Helen did right or anything less than unforgivable. Nice try trying to defend Helen's actions. As I've said before, I said the customer needs to be dealt with in a calm and REASONABLE manner. When someone's trying to strangle me, punching them so they'd stop sounds pretty damn reasonable to me. Going off to the cockpit to get a note from the captain doesn't. The facts of THIS case merited neither.

You'd make an excellent propagandist for TSA. Did you fully read what I said or are you just spouting the airline party line? It doesn't matter if the customer was right or wrong. In the court of public opinion, airlines are ALWAYS wrong. Why? For the same reason lawyers are villified: people hate them.

The fact that the customer paid the airline makes the airline answerable to the customer. Period. No exceptions.

That first class seat can no longer generate revenue once the doors have closed and the plane has taken off. It is worthless in my book. It's present value is zero. The airline can no longer make any money off of it.

Last edited by stupidhead; Dec 13, 2009 at 2:29 pm
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Old Dec 13, 2009, 2:48 pm
  #49  
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Originally Posted by stupidhead
If I worked for AA and was in charge of FAs any FA with the "we're there for your safety" attitude would be fired. Most are 105 and will have to be helped out of the plane anyway
Originally Posted by stupidhead
The fact that the customer paid the airline makes the airline answerable to the customer. Period. No exceptions.
So if you ran the airline you wouldn't waste the time getting statements from employees as to what happened, no matter what the circumstances? Just fire anyone that gets a complaint? Think you'd have any employees left at the end of the year? Do you have a lot of experience supervising in a business that interfaces with the public? Has this been successful in your workplace?

I've investigated hundreds of complaints over the years and many times the customer was wrong.
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Old Dec 13, 2009, 3:08 pm
  #50  
 
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Originally Posted by NYC96
Where's YOUR Wikipedia page?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uli_Derickson

OH, CRAP. YOU dont have one.
Oh. Because Wikipedia is soooooo reliable

And so what? Part of their job is to care for the comfort of the customer. Whether you like it or not. Like the hippocratic oath says, "first do no harm". If you make your customers feel uncomfortable in the first place, you've failed at your job.

And since it's not essential to the safety of the customer, why don't we get rid of business and first class seats? Let's just strap everyone to the wall and get rid of seats altogether. Or have everyone sit on the floor. Oh yeah, drinks? Bye bye. Food? bye bye. Entertainment? Bye bye. What, you WANT to fly on Greyhound with wings? Grow a spine and have some standards.
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Old Dec 13, 2009, 3:49 pm
  #51  
 
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Originally Posted by lin821
Well, this matter may not be that private no more.

This employee has been such a PR stunt for AA at this point. AA might as well turn this "OJ incident" into a good PR by making an official statement and informing the public what AA will do (or has done) to correct the wrong.
I so do not believe this thread. If this had been a real incident witnessed by an entire F cabin on AA there would have been multiple FTer eyewitnesses and this thread would be in American AAdvantage instead of here.
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Old Dec 13, 2009, 4:14 pm
  #52  
 
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Originally Posted by stupidhead
It doesn't make what Helen did right or anything less than unforgivable. Nice try trying to defend Helen's actions. .
Please QUOTE any of my responses that DEFEND "her". I simply defended the occupation against some of YOUR outdated, simplistic, ignorant and chauvinistic remarks. Seriously, look at the number of responses a "flight attendant" thread gets on this board, any board via the internet. Everyone comes out of the woodwork to belittle the profession. They're old, they're overweight, they're rude, they're under-educated, they're waitresses, they're lazy, they're this, they're that. SUCH DISDAIN for an occupation. Seriously, wasnt that point discussed ad nauseum in the 90's online? In other words, it's sooo played out.

And, wikipedia showed tribute to a HERO. What isnt reliable about Uli Derickson A FLIGHT ATTENDANT.
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Old Dec 13, 2009, 7:44 pm
  #53  
 
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On Gadling, In the "From the Galley" segments there are a couple of stories about the incident. Seems that the FA that writes the blog, defended "Helen". And in the comments, there was a response from the passenger involved. Interesting reading.
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Old Dec 13, 2009, 8:57 pm
  #54  
 
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Originally Posted by NYC96
Kelly Duncan. Survived the crash of Air Forida in 1982 in the Potomac River. When Helicopters finally arrived and dropped a survivor rope to the few that survived this crash, she passed the rope to other passengers.
Hypothemia was setting in for all who waited to be rescued that snowy day.
No, the rescue people in the helicopter dropped a rope to one of the passengers (Bert Hamilton) and he was rescued first. The next person rescued was Kelly Duncan. In the footage, (at about the 4:08 minute mark) you can see her being thrown the rope. Although there were other passengers right next to her, she tied the rope around herself and was the second person rescued. I think the woman immediately beside her was Nikki Felch, a secretary of one of the other rescued passengers, Joe stiley. Kelly Duncan mentioned nothing in her interview for this program about passing a rope to any of the other passengers. Indeed she said "I just remember looking up in the sky and seeing a rope and I tied it around by back and they pulled me out."

A passenger, who was tangled up in the wreckage (and died before he could be rescued) was the one who kept passing the rope to other survivors.

I agree with your other examples of flight attendants performing their customer service job with excellence, but wanted to set the record straight about this particular incident.
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Old Dec 13, 2009, 9:52 pm
  #55  
 
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Originally Posted by mbstone
I so do not believe this thread. If this had been a real incident witnessed by an entire F cabin on AA there would have been multiple FTer eyewitnesses and this thread would be in American AAdvantage instead of here.
Well, there was one in AA Forum. But it got moved (and possibly merged?) to Newsstand Forum. Read the Mod's note:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/12963540-post26.html

I wasn't on that flight. But after reading what I had, I for one believe it did happen. Just hope to see what said Helen had to say about the whole incident.
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Old Dec 13, 2009, 10:15 pm
  #56  
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Originally Posted by mapsmith
On Gadling, In the "From the Galley" segments there are a couple of stories about the incident. Seems that the FA that writes the blog, defended "Helen". And in the comments, there was a response from the passenger involved. Interesting reading.
Thanks for posting! Here are the direct links to the Gadling posts, with selected excerpts:

http://www.gadling.com/2009/12/10/or...lines-scandal/
Annie Scott: OJ scandal! Has American Airlines lost their minds?

On December 6th, a man in first class asked a flight attendant for a glass of orange juice and got a temper tantrum. David Koss, a fellow passenger, witnessed the debacle and wrote a lengthy and well-reasoned letter to The Consumerist, who published it alongside an old magazine ad with an AA stewardess curled in a chair next to the words: "Think of her as your mother."
http://www.gadling.com/2009/12/11/ga...irst-class-or/
Heather Poole: Galley Gossip: A flight attendant responds to the first class orange juice debacle

Whoever Helen was, it's obvious she needs a day off. Maybe even a medical type intervention. She's obviously off her game. Instead of complaining, whispering, and giving her the feeling that a mutiny is about to take place, being the frequent flier that you are, you should have known that this was not normal behavior - from not just a flight attendant, but from anyone in the service industry. You and your group would have done Helen a favor by reporting her irrational behavior to someone in a position of authority at American Airlines instead of continuing on with your flight.
http://www.gadling.com/2009/12/12/ga...enger-respond/
Heather Poole: Galley Gossip: The first class / orange juice passenger responds to what happened in flight

"I am the airline passenger whose request for orange juice has caused so much internet traffic.
...
"7) Not only has AA already called me to profusely apologize, but they have called other passengers on that flight as well to apologize. I know of at least two others on that flight that have filed complaints with AA regarding incidents that were either partially or totally unrelated to my own."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, the AA thread was moved here and subsequently merged into the existing Newsstand thread, in consultation with Pizzaman. Subsequent threads in the AA forum have been closed and members directed to this active thread.

dstan
AA Forum Co-Moderator
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Old Dec 14, 2009, 7:24 am
  #57  
 
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I heard a snippet for this story on DFW area radio station WBAP this morning- also on their web site.
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Old Dec 14, 2009, 7:32 am
  #58  
 
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Originally Posted by LoneStarMike
No, the rescue people in the helicopter dropped a rope to one of the passengers (Bert Hamilton) and he was rescued first. The next person rescued was Kelly Duncan.

I agree with your other examples of flight attendants performing their customer service job with excellence, but wanted to set the record straight about this particular incident.
I misquoted her procedures that day. Actually she assisted with, well read on......still performing her duties:
thanks for clearing that up, Mike. I remember that day very well. I got laid off from my job at JFK and went to pick up my last paycheck that day (in a big snowstorm in NYC).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Duncan

Duncan, 22 years old, was seated in a rear jump seat and was wearing a seat belt as required by procedures during the takeoff. Only she and 5 passengers did not sustain fatal injuries during the initial and secondary impacts. Afterward, only the broken-off tail section of B-737 aircraft remained afloat. Finding herself alive in the cold water, Duncan assisted the other survivors as they clung to a small part of the tail section in the ice-choked river. She inflated the only flotation device they could find and passed it to one of the more injured passengers. A single rescue helicopter of the U.S. Park Police arrived about 20 minutes later and, with assistance from bystanders, rescued all but one (Arland D. Williams, Jr.) of the six persons in the water.

HEROIC ACTIONS!!: She inflated the only flotation device they could find and passed it to one of the more injured passengers.

Last edited by NYC96; Dec 14, 2009 at 5:09 pm
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Old Dec 14, 2009, 11:14 am
  #59  
 
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Originally Posted by bayoubabsy
I heard a snippet for this story on DFW area radio station WBAP this morning- also on their web site.
Here's the video about this story from WFAA Channel 8, the local ABC affiliate in Dallas/Ft. Worth

Frequent flier fears for future after midair incident

They interview the passenger who ordered the OJ as well as the man seated behind him from one of AA's terminals at DFW.
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Old Dec 14, 2009, 11:45 am
  #60  
 
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Handing out a warning card when not warranted ought to be (IMHO) cause for dismissal. AA should conudct their own internal investigation then, assuming all that we've read is true, fire the FA with cause.

I am surprised though that the FA actually got this card in the first place. My impression was that the captain had to sign said card. If so, did the captain do his due diligence? Obviously not (again, assuming all that we've read is true). IMHO, the captain bears some responsibility here too.
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