LordHamster

Yep, at this point it is he-said-she-said. But I have to agree with you, I've personally witnessed enough FA powertrips to where I'd want to see a third party witness before I take sides.

MY-OTHER-BROTHER-"TED"

Happened to me about 8 years ago @ LAX, just prior to the door being closed. F/A didn't like the fact that I didn't spend enough time reading the emergency placard while seated in 21C. Pulled it out of the seat back pouch and frisbee'd into my face, stating, "I SAID READ IT", then ran to the cockpit and said that I was a bad boy. G/A came on and asked me to get off. A conversation with the captain on my way out the door got me back on, but I was banished to 2C on TED.

This F/A dude fabricated a story, but fortunately the Captain listened and believed me, that I did in fact read the safety info in it's entirety.

We've all been subjected to pi$$ed of employees, but this incident took the cake!

"We at United want to thank you for your many years of loyalty, now get your a$$ off our plane!!!"

AndyAA

Ah, the joys of pure speculation with the absence of video and further details.

Asking for a free upgrade to E+ after taking it upon themselves to sit there likely really triggered that FA. Anything else the couple said might have been ignored (like someone else is in our seats) as the FA's sole purpose at that time was to get some perceived seat poachers that were begging for an upgrade out of E+.

If the couple went anywhere else other than their assigned seats at that point, they'd be getting the boot.

halls120

You are presuming they actually get conflict resolution training, of course.

danielonn

When I flew in Economy Plus on United I remember them making an announcement that those who would like to sit there would be charged to do so based upon availability and for passengers to remain in their assigned seats.

Seat poaching is stealing. Unless you got prior permission from the Flight Attendant or Pursuer to do then you should stay in your seat and if you so chose to move ask a Flight attendant can I move seats? Usually they will let you do this just before the doors close or after takeoff if they know there will be empty seats in your booked cabin.


In this situation United was right to kick the couple off because they did not pay to be in those seats and could have upgraded to Economy Plus online , at checkin or at the gate. They sometimes have special offers on the kiosk or online.

The couple could have been charged criminally for theft of service that you did not pay for especially since the flight attendant specifically told them to pay up or stay in your originally assigned seats. The intent was there because they still wanted to sit in Econ plus free of charge.

The couple should have just asked and if they were told it would cost them then they should have paid up or next time reserved those extra legroom seats.

No sympathies for the Bride and Groom here sorry.

Same goes for Delta Comfort+.

Explorer789

This honestly brings an interesting question as to why planes don't have CCTVs in the cabin. I mean, buses and subway trains have them and no one complains. Why not airplanes as well?

If a pax gets kicked off for any reason, I want a copy of that tape and the incident to be reviewed. It should easily settle any he-said-she-said situations.

Ber2dca

I've also seen enough pax thinking they can claim E+ seats (or equivalents on other airlines) without paying.

I welcome enforcement of that stuff.

But this is just gonna be an endless chain of "United did this or that" stories in local news (easy effortless work for lazy reporters).

Collierkr

I guess you run every stop sign you see because you don't feel like stopping. C'mon.

Baze

And it could be seen from the beginning. Not from when someone decides to start recording with their phone.

danielonn

Exactly on buses and other public forms of transportation there is audio and video recording. I questioned myself why airplanes did not have CCTVs with audio and video recording before 9/11.

These CCTVs can be remotely monitored as well as monitored by the captain. All the pursuer or Flight attendant would say to the captain is "Go to camera 1" this means there is an incident onboard. The captain could tune into the audio portion and make necessary measures to stop the offender.

Would the CCTVs have prevented or helped with the identification of the involved victims and instigators on 9/11 that is a hard question to ask.

danielonn

I love how people say they will never fly an airline because of an incident they caused. Oh and their friends won't fly on United wow we don't need them on United let alone here on FT.

Boiler84

And possible that the removed couple is not telling the whole story.

Ber2dca

FA unions would eat any such proposal for breakfast. Workplace video supervision is a sore issue for many unions and aviation unions tend to be on the bellicose side.

SeaHawg

I'm not a fan of seat poaching or not paying for the class of service one is receiving, however, the solution in this case sounds simple.

Obviously, this would only apply to seat poachers and not someone who had theirs poached by a sprawled-out napper.

The FA should be able to tell the offednding pax
something like this:

"It would be our pleasure accomodate you in E+! Before boarding your next leg, the gate agent will call you over to obtain the $XX upcharge- we hope that you enjoy the extra legroom up front"

or

"It would be our pleasure to accomodate you in E+, after you pass through Passport Control in LIR/SJO, you may pick up your checked luggage at the United Baggage Services office, and they will require a $Xx be paid to cover the upcharge- We hope that you enjoy the E+ experience."

Or something similar...

fastair

While on the surface, I would agree with this theory, a cursory look would show DL as well as many of the express carriers don't have inflight unions, and yet, no cameras.