united airlines has another passenger incident to contend with, according to a report on Houston TV station KHOU. This time no cell phone footage exists recording the incident that involved a Bride And Groom flying to Costa Rica to get married. They were booted off the flight and forced to take a later one to their wedding to take place several days later. Why this happened is a matter of dispute.
According to the groom, they boarded their flight to find a man sleeping across their assigned seats. Not wanting to wake the man, they took a couple of seats several rows forward thinking that it wouldn’t matter since the flight was half full.
However, the seats actually constituted an upgrade from Economy to Economy Plus. When a flight attendant asked them to take their assigned seats, they complied. Then, a “U.S. Marshal” appeared and asked them to get off which they did. The couple purports not to understand why.
United Airlines has released a statement claiming that the couple “repeatedly” tried to obtain the seating upgrade and would not follow crew instructions. Without video footage, no way exists to confirm either version.
The problem is that after the David Dao incident, United Airlines is hardly going to get the benefit of a doubt. The shocking video of Dr. Dao being dragged bodily off the plane and United’s initial actions afterward that seemed to blame him for the incident have seared the idea in the public consciousness that the airline treats its passengers in a thuggish manner.
Having an air marshal march a couple heading for their wedding day off a half full flight does not look good. On the other hand, the bride and groom missed only a day and made it down to Costa Rica in time for the wedding. No word exists yet whether they intend to seek redress in the courts as is Dr. Dao.
Another United Airlines horror story concerns a disabled man who uses a Segway to get around and was booked on a flight to go on a honeymoon cruise with his new husband.
According to Fortune, he checked with the TSA and United Special Needs desk about taking the mobility device with him. He got permission from both and managed to get the Segway through security only to be told by the United gate staff that he would not be able to take it on the plane, despite assurances by United’s Special Needs rep., He was forced to abandon the Segway and to rent a less convenient and more hazardous scooter for the cruise.
To add insult to injury, the man got several voicemails while on the cruise threatening him with arrest for abandoning a “hazardous item” which is to say the Segway at the airport. Ultimately he was not arrested and got his mobility device back. But now it would appear that United may have violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. In any case, the airline has a lot of work to do on its Customer Service.
