The recent spate negative publicity against united airlines seems to have emboldened Passengers who experienced ill-treatment to file complaints. The complaints against U.S. carrier jumped by 70 percent since the incident when passenger David Dao was dragged out in April and went viral on mainstream and social media.
In April alone, 1,909 complaints were filed against the airlines, The Los Angeles Times reported. For the same month in 2016, the complaints reached 1,123, according to a Department of Transportation report released on Wednesday.
Texas 2-year-old lawsuit
Horror stories about United Airlines and other air carriers gained publicity in March when the air carrier banned Pass Riders female passengers from wearing leggings. Since then, more stories of bad treatment by airline employees surfaced.
One such incident involving a Ronald Tigner, led to a lawsuit which KPRC, a news station in Houston, Texas, aired on Tuesday. The 71-year-old passenger complained that he was allegedly pushed to the ground at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in 2015, Mashable reported.
The incident was triggered by Tigner’s request for a new boarding pass that led to a discussion with a United Airlines staff. After the employee pushed him, Tigner hit his head on the floor and became unconscious, William Hoke, his lawyer, told KRPC.
Surveillance camera footage
Tigner, who filed a $1 million lawsuit for negligence, was unconscious for several minutes. Hoke said no airline employee came to help the old passenger. Footage of a surveillance camera in the airport showed that another traveler, a nurse who had a flight, stopped to help Tigner. The nurse asked someone to call 911 which another employee of United Airlines did.
The one who called 911 said the air carrier did not know why Tigner fell.
The airline, in a statement, apologized for the unacceptable behavior of the employee whom it said was terminated in August 2015 after the incident. United Airlines said that what happened to Tigner does not reflect the company’s values and its commitment to treating all customers with dignity and respect.
American Airlines leads number of complaints
When it comes to passenger complaints, United Airlines was third only in the number of complaints filed in April at 265. The largest number of complaints belong to American Airlines with 324 complaints, followed by Delta Airlines with 297. Spirit Airline, a low-cost carrier, however, logged the highest rate of complaints at 7.2 per 100,000 passengers. United Airlines had 3.04 complaints for every 100,000 air travelers.
The bulk of complaints were cancellations and flight delays which doubled in April to 753 from 372. Overbooking complaints more than doubled to 89 from 42.
