philip0

About a month ago, coming off an overnight flight JFK-EZE (depart 10PM, arrive 11AM local) on a 777 in row 4 of F, I was the first person queued up to leave the aircraft when the doors opened. One shorter male flight attendant was standing in the galley and one quite large female flight attendant (the purser, who had rather disinterestedly covered my F aisle) was greeting their Argentine/airport counterpart. There is some procedure on international flights where a local rep and a flight rep both quickly eyeball some paperwork (flight plan?) before letting passengers disembark, even with aircraft door being opened and the flight bridge in place.

As that paperwork-trade occurred the male FA gave me a head nod and said "Go ahead", as in "cool to disembark", but no sooner had I taken a step than the purser threw an arm in my way -- hard -- and moved me backward with a full-body push. It was super weird, totally uncalled for, and quite a jarring end to a flight I mostly slept through. FWIW, I'm a 6'4", 200+ lb man and the purser was probably a 6', 200+ lb woman, so we're talking about a same-weight-class violation of personal space. Thirty seconds after being body-slammed backwards a foot or two we were off the plane.

Well, I missed the opportunity to fill out AA's post-flight survey because I was on vacation during its entire window of validity. I resigned to put this out of my head but occasionally I remember it and wish I had some way to let AA know how unacceptably rude and, more to the point, unnecessary her behavior was. Though she definitely threw off a "wish I were doing ANYTHING but this" vibe the whole time, we had no unpleasant interactions and I didn't take it personally at all. Mostly I just thought how nuts it seemed for anyone's first instinct to be "let me just body slam a dude that size rather than use three words in our common native tongue". The male flight attendant went bug-eyed: I'm sure it was quite the sight.

I took particular note of her name tag intending to look for the survey. But I missed the boat on that.

Is there any recourse? Should I just forget about it and move on? I'm inclined toward the latter but part of me still wishes I could let AA know this person's name and that they aren't properly trained for a routine and inevitable situation. I'm also curious whether this paperwork they trade is of such grave legal consequence that it explains her violent reaction.

mvoight

I think the FA probably meant to block you, not push you.
If you feel strongly about it, why would you care if it was too late for a survey.
Sending a complaint to AA is simple to do. If you had a problem with service, mention that to. This is a personal decision that I would not leave to a vote of other people. We weren't there. We didn't see what happened or how service was. The one most affected and knowledgeable about this is the person who needs to decide what to do.

TrojanHorse

look for the ref and ask for a 2 minute penalty for Boarding

davie355

Simplify and send to AA.

corncob

This sounds like the lady body-checked him off the jetbridge onto the tarmac, American Gladiator style.

Maybe "blocked my way with her arm and then physically pushed me backwards several feet". If you sound like an irrational customer, you'll likely be treated like one.

JonNYC

That's the version to use ^

Dave Noble

I doubt very much that he was pushed back several feet especially if the passageway had a large number of people queuing to get off

corncob

Alright, change it to "one or two feet" or "a couple feet". I'm not claiming to believe or disbelieve the OP's story, merely tailoring the proposed complaint to AA to align with his story above.

That said, yes, I do agree with you on that concept. Although a true "body check" or "body slam" would do that, if that truly happened. Whether that is what occurred is a different story.

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

What kind of body check would it be? Arm straightened out and OP hits the back of the arm, or purser's palm to OP's chest with leverage to push OP back a couple of feet. Just extending the arm, it would be hard to push someone of equal weight class back some feet, I would think.

Exec_Plat

If you do proceed, identify the male FA that witnessed it and was surprised. If all you have is where he worked the flight, add that.

corncob

Well, I don't think it was probably a body slam, at least by this definition:
"A move (illegal in some codes) in which the opponent�s body is lifted and then thrown hard on to the floor."

I highly doubt it was a body check either, as I believe that implies there was body-to-body contact, not just arm-to-body. True body checking drives your shoulder, arm, and hip into the person.

It sounds like it was more arm or palm to chest.

TrayflowInUK

One time an FA cross-checked me into the boards. He got a 5-min major.

Of course, this was at the rink, not on a flight.

BA4EVER

Too bad you left. I would have had the police summoned and had her arrested for assault. Power tripping FAs could use a taste of their own medicine.

LaserSailor

Post of the week..I hope they cross checked the luggage, too.

^

You deal with this a month ago or not at all.

arlflyer

FA heard "Disarm doors and crosscheck"; what did you expect her to do???