Old Oct 12, 2015, 11:07 pm
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AA/LUS 408 PHX-PDX 12 Oct 2015: Passenger Ejected, FA Booed by Passengers
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Speculation: US 408 FA removes pax at PHX, people boo 12 Oct 2015

 
Old Oct 15, 2015, 12:57 pm
  #76  
 
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Originally Posted by cmd320
There needs to be a line somewhere. Flight attendants belong to the customer service industry. In such a role, the employee is expected to get beaten up a bit (figuratively of course) from time to time by the customer, and is expected to handle the situation as professionally and politely as possible. Ask any bartender, waitress, cashier, etc. and they will tell you plenty of stories of having to handle rude, ignorant, and abusive customers with dignity and grace and without making a scene. The same holds true for flight attendants. Unless the customer was a clear danger to the safety of the flight, they should not have been deplaned.
I just wanted you to know that I appreciate this part of your post. I am in global sales, and one of the agents that I am dealing with is driving me crazy right now. But he is an agent with a strong lead, and your post was a gentle reminder that it is primarily my job to make sure the sale closes. Whether I like them or not, dealing with some people that are less than professional is a necessary evil so to speak.

Thanks.
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Old Oct 15, 2015, 1:40 pm
  #77  
 
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Originally Posted by FWAAA
The plot thickens . . .

Interesting quote from the Washington Post article:



I'd say you nailed it. Not only did AA rebook, but they apologized and put the blame on the "team members" who screwed up.
Post goes on, giving her $250 voucher or cash:

Quoting Washington Post:



Fough isnt satisfied with the concession. After Byrnes video appeared on the news, she said, a customer service representative contacted her and offered her a $250 voucher. When Fough told the employee she would never use it, she was offered the money in cash.

Thats how youre going to solve this problem? said Fough, who is seeking legal counsel. What about my rights?
Sure there are those that will say AA is only doing this to avoid publicity, and would through the FA under the bus to avoid blowback. But in having read many such statements, this one goes beyond the 'unfortunate events and we have re-accommodated them' you often see.

FA was out of control, and once the dust settled and the pilot, passengers and other FAs were questioned AA made the right call.

Anyone doubt the "homophobic slur" was made up? By someone, sassy stew, etc? Not a shred of evidence that supports that.
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Old Oct 15, 2015, 1:41 pm
  #78  
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Originally Posted by cmcc
Does anyone have some insight into this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/m...-off-a-flight/

I'm guessing she bought a Priceline type ticket and when a full fare passenger showed up an IDB was the result.
Even if that was the case it was handled VERY badly. And it would seem to be very late in the day to IDB someone - when she was on the plane.
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Old Oct 15, 2015, 2:47 pm
  #79  
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Originally Posted by UKtravelbear
Even if that was the case it was handled VERY badly. And it would seem to be very late in the day to IDB someone - when she was on the plane.
Yup, poorly handled.

All over Yahoo News for at least TWO days, and others I suspect as well. A black eye for AA.
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Old Oct 15, 2015, 2:59 pm
  #80  
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Originally Posted by Exec_Plat
Sure there are those that will say AA is only doing this to avoid publicity, .
It was way, way, too late for that at this point...

Originally Posted by EmailKid
Yup, poorly handled.

All over Yahoo News for at least TWO days, and others I suspect as well. A black eye for AA.
Do a Google News search for, "American Airlines." This story has been picked up by dozens of news sources around the country.
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Old Oct 15, 2015, 3:32 pm
  #81  
 
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Originally Posted by EmailKid
Yup, poorly handled.

All over Yahoo News for at least TWO days, and others I suspect as well. A black eye for AA.
It hasn't been on my Yahoo News, or Google either for that matter. They use metadata to target stories that they think you'll read, so you can't assume that everyone's seeing what you're seeing.

Edit: Mine does have an AA story. Apparently, a hive of 1000 bees took up residence in an AA plane at DFW!

Last edited by lobo411; Oct 15, 2015 at 3:41 pm
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Old Oct 15, 2015, 3:35 pm
  #82  
 
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Originally Posted by FWAAA
The plot thickens . . .
I read the article. The plot is as thin as it was before--we have her side of the story, which is that she was just a virginal innocent when a snarling FA in an SS Oberstgruppenfueher uniform placed a riding crop under her chin and chose her to be taken to Gestapo headquarters in a locked metal cage for "questioning." It was only by the grace of God that she avoided being killed by the Unnecessarily Slow Dipping Mechanism.

In short, she was kicked at random.
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Old Oct 15, 2015, 3:42 pm
  #83  
 
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Originally Posted by DiscHandler
Not entirely true. See the link below. The passenger admitted that she was busy talking on her phone while boarding and in the aisle. She may have ignored the flight attendant (the 4 times could be an exaggeration but who knows) when he asked her to move out of the aisle and take her seat.

Most passengers are on their phones listening to music or playing games and probably would overlook this type of interaction till it escalates. So if we assume the following (1) she was on the phone, (2) she didn't hear the attendant multiple times ask her to move, (3) she then responded in a snarky fashion when he became "louder", would that justify a removal? I don't know. I see so many passengers ignore agents/attendants that I feel sorry for them. If you add in a racist/homophobic slur, I see the equation shifting.

Tiana Fough says she was busy talking while boarding the flight bound for Portland and finding her seat. The flight attendant asked her to move out of the aisle but she didn't realize it until she says he started barking orders at her.

“He said, ‘I asked you four times to stay there and you did not do as I asked.’ I was like, I didn't hear you, I didn’t hear what you said," explained Fough.

http://www.abc15.com/news/region-pho...oo-flight-crew
She says now she didn't hear him when he asked her multiple times yet every story that came out the first day said " Quote from the woman kicked off in the video: “Are you serious? I didn’t even know he was talking to me.” (This quote from https://kobi5.com/news/regional-news...gers-boo-2738/).

So she heard him but didn't know he was talking to her but now she says she didn't hear him?
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Old Oct 15, 2015, 4:00 pm
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Originally Posted by lobo411
It hasn't been on my Yahoo News, or Google either for that matter. They use metadata to target stories that they think you'll read, so you can't assume that everyone's seeing what you're seeing.

!
That explains why I get all the ***** enhancement stories.....



But I do like the Germany uniform stuff.
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Old Oct 15, 2015, 4:34 pm
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The woman said she "didn't hear" the FA. OK. But it was said she was on her phone and the FA had tried to communicate with her 4 times, or such.

Her being on the phone aside, she kept pleading that she "didn't hear".

Got me to thinking: my mom is stone deaf, hard of hearing, and is a disaster if she doesn't put in her hearing aids. How much aggressiveness can a FA have on those who are hearing impaired? It's often hard to pick out a hearing impaired person on sight. What threshold should FA's use to boot pax off the plane who turn out to be hearing impaired and don't appear to respond to commands/admonishment right away?

Just curious.

My opinion, after seeing the video and the Washington Post stuff, is that the AA flight attendant blew it and overreacted. Scary that they can throw you off in a setting like this.
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Old Oct 15, 2015, 4:59 pm
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Originally Posted by FullFare
The woman said she "didn't hear" the FA. OK. But it was said she was on her phone and the FA had tried to communicate with her 4 times, or such.

Her being on the phone aside, she kept pleading that she "didn't hear".

Got me to thinking: my mom is stone deaf, hard of hearing, and is a disaster if she doesn't put in her hearing aids. How much aggressiveness can a FA have on those who are hearing impaired? It's often hard to pick out a hearing impaired person on sight. What threshold should FA's use to boot pax off the plane who turn out to be hearing impaired and don't appear to respond to commands/admonishment right away?

Just curious.

My opinion, after seeing the video and the Washington Post stuff, is that the AA flight attendant blew it and overreacted. Scary that they can throw you off in a setting like this.
I have witnessed a FA getting testy with a deaf person for not responding to instructions. Eventually, the FA violently pulled hard on the poor woman's arm and demanded her attention. Luckily, there was someone traveling with the woman, who came out of the lav just in time to tell the FA that she was deaf. As upset as the FA was, I was sure this woman was going to be tossed, but everything worked out OK in that case.

FA overreaction is common. Vindictiveness is sometimes the only motivation for some of their actions after a perceived slight. The pilots seem to always side with the FAs in any dispute, so don't ever lip-off to a FA, and always respond with alacrity to their instructions.
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Old Oct 15, 2015, 4:59 pm
  #87  
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Originally Posted by Finkface
She says now she didn't hear him when he asked her multiple times yet every story that came out the first day said " Quote from the woman kicked off in the video: Are you serious? I didnt even know he was talking to me. (This quote from https://kobi5.com/news/regional-news...gers-boo-2738/).

So she heard him but didn't know he was talking to her but now she says she didn't hear him?
If she didn't hear him, she couldn't have known that he was talking to her. Those statements are not inconsistent.
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Old Oct 15, 2015, 9:36 pm
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Originally Posted by FullFare
My opinion, after seeing the video and the Washington Post stuff, is that the AA flight attendant blew it and overreacted. Scary that they can throw you off in a setting like this.
Totally agree. This is simply a blatant abuse of power. Even if she did murmur a homophobic slur to the flight attendant -- which is highly unlikely as there is no evidence to corroborate the FA's story -- like another poster said, you are in the service industry and the professional thing to do is to suck it up.

What I see here are a number of things:
1. The FA was having a bad day and simply "snapped" so to say.
2. He conspired some BS story about the woman being uncooperative and using offensive language to the pilot.
3. The pilot's only mistake was placing too much trust in the FA's side of the story and giving the go-ahead to kick the woman off the flight.

Either way, terrible publicity for AA and surprised there is no public apology and more compensation (though at this point, it is too little too late).
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Old Oct 15, 2015, 9:41 pm
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I hear noise, but I can't necessarily interpret it as intelligible speech, especially if it is behind me, or coming from one of the awful loudspeakers in the gate area.

So the woman saying that she didn't hear him could well mean that she didn't understand what he was saying or that he was trying to speak to her.
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Old Oct 15, 2015, 10:08 pm
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I think we can safely declare the 'slur' was a fabrication by Sassy Stew.

Id offer the cut her a break and say 'maybe she was given bad info', but given the fact she hasnt offered any corroboration nor has she retracted any 'fact', she seems to be willfully spreading this falsehood.

Kinda like cops when they maybe make a mistake- their tactic? double down, never admit it was a mistake.

Oh, wait- she was a cop, right?
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