swiftaw

I'm sure issues like this and similar happen on a fairly frequent basis on airlines all over the world. The thing that determines whether this is just a minor issue or front page news is what happens after the issue is brought to everyone's attention. This is where UA seems to fail spectacularly more than most.

Is it lack of training (i.e GAs and FAs don't know what to do)? Is it poor policy (i.e. GAs and FAs do not have the freedom/flexibility to fix things on the fly)? Is it some bad employees (i.e. they don't really care)? Is it some combination of the above? I have no idea.

This is where UA needs to devote it's efforts. While obviously airlines would prefer if there were no issues ever, that's clearly unrealistic, so they should focus on what to do when these issues arrive. Handle them properly, the passenger will barely remember it (or might even remember it in a positive light), handle it poorly and you (UA) get to read about it on social media and in media stories.

Also, get new PR staff, really UA you would be doing yourself a favor. With all the incidents that have happened in recent months, has there been a single one where the PR statement hasn't made things worse?

2stepbay

A simple question from the FA would have saved everyone a lot of grief: "Do you have a boarding pass for your child?"

While I have a great deal of respect for FA's carrying out a difficult job, situations like this leave me wondering if the crew's focus on pushing back from the gate on time gets in the way of basic common sense and better cabin awareness.

spin88

It is all the passenger's fault and if that is not the ticket for you, then the passengers are plotting to rip off United. Shadows of Jeff's comment about ending the "excessive" compensation UA was handing out when things went wrong still permeate United's toxic culture.

N1120A

I always find it amazing to see apologism and/or victim blaming in situations like these. This is squarely the fault of the carrier and their staff.

Do you really believe that? She said she scanned both. The GA would have had to see the 2 BPs and made sure both scanned.

You would have. This is a tiny person who just saw a man beaten severely for daring to stay in his ticketed seat that he had been boarded for.

[OT response removed by moderator]

The passengers had booked a window and middle. The standby got the center seat.

Ah yes, it wouldn't be a FT post without improper and inaccurate deflection toward organized labor and away from extremist corporatism.

Dude, seriously?

He could have easily been a NRSA, or could have been a paid standby.

Yeah, unless I'm running late, I always like to go to the counter and get a BP to go with the phone one.

mauve

The $1000 was the refund. She's getting the price of the kid's ticket she wasn't allowed to use anyway plus a travel voucher.

It's got to be a pretty nice travel voucher to seem like a worthwhile payday.

NH_Clark

That is what she was looking for... I'm sure she was hoping for a bigger payday when she went public. Another money-grabber looking for her 15min of fame. Not afraid to use her kid as collateral.

wetrat0

This is the only relevant piece of information. It is a violation of FAA regs to have a lap child over the age of 2. UA has a manifest with a list of the passengers' names and ages. UA employs GAs, FAs, and supervisors, who have a duty to comply with the FAA regulations and with UA's own policies. This is a complete failure of the GA and FA.

The GA had lots of opportunities to get this right, for instance they could have come on the plane and looked for the empty seat, and upon seeing it filled, inquired whom the passenger was (I have seen this happen many times). Or, they could have come on the intercom and asked the missing passenger to press his call button if he was present (again, common practice). The GA could have simply looked at the manifest and seen that the passenger who hadn't boarded was a child, but the rest of his party had boarded-- that should have set off suspicions. The FA could have asked to see BPs when informed of the seat dup, or the FA could have called the GA to compare the manifest to the actual passengers in the seat. All of these opportunities would have avoided this safety problem, and all were (apparently) missed.

Sure, the mother should have spoken up, and it sounds like she did and was dismissed. But fundamentally it isn't the passengers' job to straighten these things out. The passenger is the one paying UA to operate the service in accordance with the rules. I know we are all seasoned travelers and would like to think that things would have been different if we had been there (and they probably would have), but this causes us to miss the point sometimes.

BearX220

FT is not a fair cross-section of public opinion.

Ber2dca

Oh no, a tiny person. My heart bleeds. There's a good chance the FA she's dealing with is also a 'tiny person'. What does that have to do with anything? Would a 'big person' have a better chance of not getting kicked off the plane? I've seen a lot of questionable service conduct by FAs of different airlines but never did I wonder "Can I take this FA in a fight?" (as if it makes a difference either way). If that's your approach, maybe you have a problem.

Also she didn't 'just see' this incident. She perhaps saw it on the news 3 months ago. And it was an incident that wasn't all that similar to this one. For most people not gripped easily by public hysteria flying hasn't changed since then.

Nobody disputes UA staff made a mistake. That's obvious. What we say is that it was made a huge deal by this woman's apparent lack of effort to resolve her situation before the flight. And whether it's 'fair' or not, in these situations - on any airline - *you* have to make sure your issue is resolved. In a situation where a small number of staff have to take care of several dozens of people (and the logistics of commercial airplane operations) it's quite likely they will not be able to pay sufficient attention to your issue unless you make them.

The number one customer mistake is to assume that staff are magically aware of all issues surrounding the customer's situation and that there's no need to effectively communicate all the relevant aspects to the staff. This often leads to a breakdown in communication and then if things go predictably wrong 'It's their fault! I want my money!'

LordHamster

The onus of enforcing FAA safety regulations does NOT fall on the passenger, nor is it reasonable to expect they know all the rules.

None of us know to what extent she tried to rectify the problem before departure, nor is it relevant.

knit-in

What she did, she felt right to do in the moment. I'd have acted differently. As things stand though, bottom line, UA messed up, both with the passenger and the law. They gotta pay.

MSPeconomist

......and in the meantime, you've given the airline an interest-free loan of a thousand dollars.

knit-in

Hopefully this lady will be made whole plus interest plus a LOT more!

MSPeconomist

So would you have the standby passenger sit in the lavatory for taxi, takeoff, and landing?

mikesyr18

It should be to the point where United immediately fires every employee who causes a negative headline for their company. It's only a matter of time before even their heaviest routes begin to result in empty airplanes.