theddo

I also believe it to be a safety issue in that the mother threatened the staff, that isn't a medical issue. In the post 9/11 world threatening someone with violence isn't a bright idea.

Of course there are medical aspects of the child's wellbeing, which UA should and did deal with. But none of the medical aspects caused the flight to divert.

JBord

I think it's both actually. The safety issue was caused by a medical condition. A non-autistic child wouldn't be expected to start scratching passengers if not given a steaming hot meal. In this case, scratching was a predictable behavior due to autism, according to the mother.

The pilot made the right decision for the sake of the family. The parents should be grateful. Can you imagine if a meltdown resulted in not only a later diversion but an arrest and lawsuit against the family? Would that be better or worse than the brief humiliation of being offloaded and rebooked?

If I were the parent in this situation, I'd be glad for the diversion and the chance to get my daughter the hot meal and extra provisions for the next flight. It has to be stressful for them, and the pilot gave them a safe way out.

weero

I feel for the innocent suffering masses on this flights who will miss meetings, connections, and not see their families thanks to the sense of entitlement and bad planning and quite possibly inadequate parenting plus the final threat that triggered all this.

Baze

I don't know, have you seen the way some kids behave out there nowadays? I've seen some non-autistic children have complete meltdown temper tantrums and start hitting things (granted not people). Fortunately not on an airplane (yet), but in shopping malls, terminals, etc.

JBord

Agreed...but the important part of my statement was that it was predictable due to a medical condition.

physioprof

What's the evidence that the cockpit consulted with MedAire?

spin88

I can't promise to have read all of the comments on this, but I am surprised by the very often angry and uninformed comments in this thread up to about the 10th page. The real question is if there was an actual threat (was one made, and was the 15 year old in the window seat a threat?).

The strongest piece of evidence that there was no threat and the FAs overreacted was made by the United Ground staff (other than the FAs who made the call to divert, the pilot did not assess the situation) who talked to passengers when the plane landed. Then then booked this dangerous passenger on Delta! Where she had no problems.

Ring, Ring, Ring... if United really (upon reflection, and with views other than a probably overrating FA, being considered) believed she was a threat, there is no way they would book this "dangerous" passengers on a Delta flight! The proof is in the pudding. I'm not blaming the pilots (they have to follow the call of their FAs since they are locked in the cockpit) but the FAs clearly overreacted.

points to the first poster to realize the inconsistency, if not what it means:

News reports have multiple accounts of people around the passengers, confirming no disruption. Thanks to the Following FTer with a first hand view. I find it inconceivable (ok this is the internet) that a whole bunch of people on this thread are speculating it was somehow different:

Ring, Ring Ring bonus point for this poster pointing out the obvious, there will be blow back to the airline that "kicks sick kids off the plane, and then sends them home on a Delta flight"

Thanks for being the first to put 2+2 together. UA needs to train its FAs to address and defuse situations, not make them worse. All UA is buying itself is bad PR like this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/14/tr...hild.html?_r=0

P.s. the woman offered to PAY for a hot meal, she was not trying to scam United. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just wrong, wrong, wrong.

dutyfree

I have a feeling that many posters here would have a different take had they been on the plane. There is much evidence that the other passengers were shocked and horrified by UA's treatment of the young woman and her family.

From the FB page:

"I posted on your article but I wanted you to know I was on that plane and my seat mates and I were horrified and very angry with the horrid way they treated you. I talked with Jerod, the 2 female fight attendants and the pilot. I filed a formal complaint with the Salt Lake City police and posted on FB and called TV news stations. I am appalled with the behavior of the airlines and I am really glad you are doing something about it. I have photos and my seat mate an exec. with Shell Oil has video. I didn't hear of a single person that was upset with your daughter just in case you wondered. Please let me know if I can help in any way."

And, from the ABC News Story:

Another traveler, Jodi Smith, who was sitting three rows behind Juliette, said she heard the entire conversation with the first-class flight attendant.

"He was being totally ridiculous," Smith said.

"Then the medics came on, then the police ... They went right straight to Dr. Beegle. You could hear them saying their daughter was perceived as a threat," Smith told ABC News. "I stood up and said, 'Absolutely positively not.'

"This was just ridiculous... she was calm, she had done nothing," she said. "I've been on flights where kids have screamed for 4 hours and they've never diverted a flight.

"This was the epitome of discrimination," Smith said. "I have never in all my years of flying seen anything like this."

Tchiowa

The strongest piece of evidence that there was a threat was the mother's statement that she made the threat.

UA1K_no_more

(Bolding mine)

The FAs don't make the on-board decisions regarding diversions, pilots do. @:-)
Whatever point you were trying to make has been invalidated by your lack of knowledge.

weero

The captain has neither the training nor the means or time to assess and evaluate threat subtleties. 100% of all bomb threats made against flight services are not real and still the plane will be pulled out of schedule and searched inch for inch for explosives, putting on the smarty pants after 4 hours of combing the plane and say "well obviously there was no threat and hence it was a waste of time" is both correct and annoying.

Unless you have third party accounts that the FAs are lying, the threat was real. It was made by the mother and it was not be microexamined up in the air.
Only one person in this situation has overreacted and asserted that the girls was a threat and you redacted her out of your narrative. No one here who supports UA's decision claims that the girl posed a danger.

DL's decision to take her happened much later and quite likely none of the DL staff have been threatened.
That is as comforting as it is irrelevant.
The fewer passenger of the breed of this mother fly UA, the better. For the airline and for all normal passengers and the vast majority of all people do know this. This overall is great PR for an airline which otherwise has trouble getting things sorted.
They did. They landed and defused the threat before anyone was hurt.
Don Quixote much? Name one post that made this claim. All the crimes she did not commit have no place here.
They have a right to their opinion but unless they were close and attentive enough to assert without doubt that the mother has not made that threat they are certainly not qualified to doubt the captain's and the FAs' handling of the threat.

Neil35

Please read the whole thread before commenting further. I did, and you should have no problem doing the same.

theddo

Except the father, who apparently was scratched.

reamworks

It's disgusting that this "Jody Smith" wasn't arrested for interfering with an investigation. I hope United notes her name and bans her from their airline forever.

And how dare this evil woman call a man "ridiculous" for not providing a product that doesn't exist--a "first class" meal for sale--to a passenger. Jody Smith is "ridiculous", evil, and immoral.

"First Class" meals are not for sale for people who elect to fly in Coach. They have no way of provisioning, charging, and accounting for them. You are "wrong, wrong, wrong", foolish, and immature.

She absolutely scammed United by

• Making this issue about "First Class" vs "Coach" instead of the fact that she said failure to comply with her demands would result in a violent episode
• Claiming she was denied a product (a "first class meal") when that product doesn't actually exist. (What if she said they "discriminated" against her because they wouldn't give her a foot massage--even though she offered to pay?)
• Lying to news media about the situation to promote herself and her "poverty" organization by exploiting her daughter.

Miles Ahead

I would encourage you to do so. Many rebuttals to your arguments have already been made, and in any event if you want us to consider your opinions, simple fairness requires you consider ours.

I agree. The mother threatened that her daughter might scratch someone. Implicit in this thread is the contention that her parents cannot control her.

I don't think the flight crew is or should be second-guessing these threats. Any threats. "C'mon - how much damage could explosives hidden in a shoe cause?" They did the safe and sensible thing: put the plane on the ground and dealt with it there.