In The 216

This.

ani90

What really do you want i wonder? People get drunk every day. So if I am walking down the street and a drunk guy shoves me I sue him and sue the city too? The guy was not acting deliberately. Yes he misbehaved but not intentional. The case has been reported to police so if a crime they will prosecute if there is sufficient evidence to do so. If there she perceived crime and they won't prosecute then speak to a lawyer. But to seek compensation from an airline because someone was drunk in the plane is a bit extreme. The lawyers here can discuss whether there are successful precedents of suing an airline for a drunk passenger's actions, the likelihood of success and what it entails. As has been said this guy was possibly drinking in the airport so cannot blame poor FA - besides I seen many people guzzling buckets of alcohol in flight and don't get drunk. I have also seen guys stone drunk as they board the plane. How is the FA to know our individual tolerances to alcohol and whether we were drinking prior? And of course if airline restricts to x drinks per person many will be up in arms.

Will Dearborn

Yeah, that's not really a good defense.

Toshbaf

United's offer seems fine, $1k in vouchers, especially since it was not an on-duty FA that was cursing you.

If you want to sue the guy, that is your decision.

What happened? How did the insults start?

notquiteaff

Rules about serving alcohol to intoxicated passengers do exist as far as I know. Furthermore there are rules about boarding an intoxicated passenger. Random google result:

http://fsims.faa.gov/WDocs/8900.1/V0...03_033_006.htm

Since we weren't on board, we can't really comment on whether the United employees acted appropriately in serving alcohol and in stopping any misbehavior or not. If they didn't, I could very well see a case to be made by someone who was harmed. But I doubt we will ever find out.

lincolnjkc

I think the $1k offer is generous, but the OP can file a complaint with the DOT and allege a violation of 14 CFR 121.575 [specifically (b)(1) and (d)]... that's unlikely to have any real effect, however.

This incident does remind me of the one and only time I've had a passenger removed from one of my flights...

Redeye: SFO-CLE. I'm in F (let's say 2A), guy boards, and basically flops across 2D/F. Eventually passengers who have BPs for 2D/F board and roust him from their seats... Turns out he was holding a BP for 2C, so he flops next to me and I make the usual polite conversation... And he reaches over the armrests to put his hands on my thigh. Repeatedly. And then he tries to stroke my arm. I move as far over as I can in the seat to get away from him. No luck. I also notice he's slurring his words. FA comes by and I try to use body language to convey that something's not right. Instead, Mr. 2C tries ordering a champagne PDB "for both of us" (after I requested OJ)...and settles for white wine when told champagne isn't available. At this point, I realize that there's no way I'm going to feel comfortable sleeping on this flight.

I tried putting my ear buds in to send the "I'm done talking to you" cue. He reaches over and tries to "help" me put them on my ear. Nope. Nope. Nope. I'm no longer comfortable sitting next to Mr. Gropey. At this point I realize I still have money on a BART card and enough HHonors points that I'll just stick around greater SFO for the night.

So I grabbed my bag, went up to the galley and told the FAs that he appeared to be drunk, high, or both -- he was repeatedly trying to touch me -- and one of the two of us was leaving the aircraft. The PDB FA is like "Oh, he isn't with you? Wait here, we'll find someone to switch seats with you." -- while I was staring incredulously -- second FA says "If he's drunk we can't let him fly. I'll get the captain." captain took one look at him splayed out on the seat and called the gate agent...

And that's when I learned about 14 CFR 121.575... in my case, specifically "(c) No certificate holder may allow any person to board any of its aircraft if that person appears to be intoxicated." https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/121.575

Obviously, though, that's a lot easier to deal with on the ground, and it sounds like the OP's flight was well underway before things deteriorated...

sbm12

Also worth remembering that the CFR defines the airline's obligations and enforcement actions the feds can take against them, but nothing to do with what the airline's obligations are to other passengers.

Even if the regulators decide that UA violated the law by letting the guy on board that's not a mandate to pay out to passengers.

JetAway

Lots of issues here-not something to hack out on an internet board. Get an attorney if you think it was a serious incident.

JumboJet

I would have taken the 1K and run

lincolnjkc

To be clear are you referring to taking a 1K member and running or a 1K voucher and running?

Not sure the OP would appreciate the former...

JBord

We have no details, but if your spouse was sexually assaulted, you'd just take a small payoff and move on, especially if it was reported to a UA employee during the flight and no action was taken, allowing the situation to continue?

I don't know the best course of action, but as others have said, get a lawyer, tell the full story, and get some advice before taking a payoff which is roughly only equal to two free tickets.

jfk747

United has several law firms who are tasked with making sure cases go away or dismissed .

weero

Depending on the airspace this happened in .... this is an excellent offer.

Artpen100

Similar thing happened to me on a TWA flight in the 90's. Back then, FAs did nothing. Post-9/11, the FA should have reported it to the captain (especially the part about bringing the plane down) and the plane should either be turned around or police should be waiting to arrest the guy upon landing (captain's call). I would also ask to be moved (though I recognize on many flights that there may not be available seating). If the FA was not doing that, I would call them by their name so they know I know it and politely tell them they need to report it to the captain and that if the police were not there to arrest the guy on landing, I was going to report the incident to the airline and DOT myself. I would also not be shy about complaining (politely) to the other FAs if it goes on.

What I care about is making sure that people like that are arrested so they learn not to do that on airlines. I would not care much about my compensation (though I would not turn that down as something like this can ruin your entire trip).

Coskigirl

NO NO NO! This should never ever be an acceptable defense to any crime. Take it further, what if a drunk person rapes someone. Or kills someone. They were drunk so it wasn't deliberate?

I agree with you that seeking compensation from the airline, unless there is proof that the FA is the one that over-served the person is placing blame in the wrong bucket but using intoxication as a defense is absolutely wrong.