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-   -   Passenger removed from flight after a joke (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/southwest-airlines-rapid-rewards/1969604-passenger-removed-flight-after-joke.html)

Globalist May 13, 2019 8:29 pm

Passenger removed from flight after a joke
 
Didn't see this reported here yet and the Daily Mail is not always the most credible source but well, interesting reading.

https://www.msn.com/en-sg/travel/new...cid=spartanntp

Short version: Passenger is allegedly removed from a Southwest flight that had a maintenance light come on before take off. They have been stuck on the ground for a long time, Cabin Crew served water, passenger supposedly joked it should have been vodka, CC took offence and plane returned to the gate to offload the passenger.

Reading things like this I am happy I don't like Vodka or hardly fly in the US :)

Globalist

DCP2016 May 13, 2019 8:31 pm

WN's FA's are getting nastier and nastier. The "Southwest Spirit" is dead. There are definitely a few good WN FA's out there (I flew with them back in March) but many are robotic, angry, and find customers are the enemies. The legacy carriers in comparison and other LCC's like Spirit & Allegiant have nicer FA's.

NextTrip May 13, 2019 10:02 pm

Why did Sacramento County Sheriffs remove a guy from a plane at SFO? Makes me think twice about the validity of this story.

LegalTender May 13, 2019 10:14 pm


Originally Posted by NextTrip (Post 31098749)
Why did Sacramento County Sheriffs remove a guy from a plane at SFO? Makes me think twice about the validity of this story.

Happened in Sacramento.

https://wtvr.com/2019/05/13/passenger-kicked-off-of-southwest-airlines-flight-after-making-vodka-joke/

https://fox40.com/2019/05/10/southwest-airlines-flight-from-smf-gets-delayed-after-passenger-makes-vodka-joke/

Tanic May 13, 2019 10:44 pm


Originally Posted by NextTrip (Post 31098749)
Why did Sacramento County Sheriffs remove a guy from a plane at SFO? Makes me think twice about the validity of this story.


"Uzelac said the incident occurred on a flight from San Francisco International Airport (SMH)"
Or perhaps Sapmanga.

Tanic May 13, 2019 10:46 pm


Originally Posted by DCP2016 (Post 31098526)
WN's FA's are getting nastier and nastier. The "Southwest Spirit" is dead. There are definitely a few good WN FA's out there (I flew with them back in March) but many are robotic, angry, and find customers are the enemies. The legacy carriers in comparison and other LCC's like Spirit & Allegiant have nicer FA's.

After the merger it was fairly easy to tell which FAs originated with WN and who came from FL.

NextTrip May 13, 2019 10:55 pm


Originally Posted by Tanic (Post 31098829)
Or perhaps Sapmanga.

Hahaha! New routing for SWA!

NextTrip May 13, 2019 10:58 pm


Originally Posted by LegalTender (Post 31098769)

The link in the original post names the location as San Francisco four times! Gotta love good journalism!

NoStressHere May 14, 2019 7:19 am

I tend to defend the crew sometimes, but this is just wrong. Totally wrong.

FA should have just sucked it up and moved on. People say things... that's all.

Southwest owes this guy big time. I hate people that file lawsuits, but based on what the story from WTVR above, not only was the FA wrong, but the pilot should not have bowed to her either.

Then again, we do not have the full story. But - the version given by a third party sure looks bad for WN.

OUTraveling May 14, 2019 10:23 am

The behavior of the FA is idiotic. While I do not have the full story, a joke about vodka instead of water seems to be a petty reason to go back to the gate.

"We apologize for the delay. Would you like some water, sir?"

"Any chance you could make this a vodka?"

=Perfectly acceptable joke.

Heck, I tell the HR manager when she is working late on a Friday that it is creveza time.

If the joke had a component that dealt with the FA personally, I could see why they went back though:

"We apologize for the delay. Would you like some water, sir?"

"How you a little piece of you and some vodka."

= Inappropriate

mikesyr18 May 14, 2019 10:28 am

Seems like after passenger outrage, the FA should've been the one removed in handcuffs to a roar of cheers for wasting the police officer's time on a disorderly conduct charge. This would've been the perfect FA to make an example out of. The FA clearly started something out of nothing and caused a public disturbance. Who wants to fly on a plane with someone like this FA?

Someday, our lawmakers will step in and strip FA's of all of their rights - FA's constantly prove why they shouldn't have one ounce of authority over any situation because many act like their frontal cortex hasn't been fully developed yet. If you act in the same way the customer does, you deserve to be removed from a flight yourself.

Hopefully she already got the boot.

mikesyr18 May 14, 2019 10:45 am


Originally Posted by NoStressHere (Post 31099790)
...not only was the FA wrong, but the pilot should not have bowed to her either.

Any pilot that defends a FA in this situation is an idiot. The "captain" of the plane is putting a portion of the company's assets at risk.

MSPeconomist May 14, 2019 10:48 am

I also hold the pilot responsible. It was the pilot who made the decision to deplane the passenger and presumably also the pilot communicated with ground staff to tell them to have the passenger removed by police rather than having a GA come on board to kick the guy off. It's the pilot's fault for believing whatever the FA told him and failing to communicate either with the passenger being removed or with other witnesses before making the decision to remove the customer and allow the FA to continue to work that flight. The ground staff who willingly called the police to intervene in this situation should also be disciplined for overreacting and not questioning what had happened. If there was a station manager involved, that person should have pulled the FA from the flight, even if doing so required returning to the gate yet again.

This easily could have turned into a Dr Dao incident with the cops severely injuring the customer.

NoStressHere May 14, 2019 11:45 am


Originally Posted by MSPeconomist (Post 31100547)
...This easily could have turned into a Dr Dao incident with the cops severely injuring the customer.

So true.

I hope the passenger has the contacts of a few witnesses.

And I tend to agree... the FA should have been removed from the flight.

If it when down as reported, and then some passengers opted to get off due to the "crazy" FA - what would happen then?

mikesyr18 May 14, 2019 12:42 pm


Originally Posted by MSPeconomist (Post 31100547)
...rather than having a GA come on board to kick the guy off.

... If there was a station manager involved, that person should have pulled the FA from the flight, even if doing so required returning to the gate yet again.

My question is, when will the impenetrable defenses for these FA's stop? It shouldn't have event gotten to the point where a GA should be involved.

If other passengers are sticking up for the passenger that's "in trouble" then why were they still removed from the fight and not the FA? The FA was clearly in the wrong.

Maybe airlines and the government should start realizing their FA's aren't always right instead of saying, "Oh... We're sorry." afterwards.

Time for a lawsuit based on free speech rights and and an unlawful arrest. The guy was basically arrested for saying "how about vodka instead of water." It's not like he said there was an explosive on board or something the would cause a national security issue.


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