American Airlines pax hit with stroller
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American Airlines pax hit with stroller
AA must have been feeling left out...
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-22/american-airline-suspends-employee-over-fight-with-passenger/8464216
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-22/american-airline-suspends-employee-over-fight-with-passenger/8464216
Psychophysiological entity
My wife and I, regular London to Dallas commuters over many years, stopped using American Airlines because of crew aggression.
That is not a mistake or exaggeration. Aggression is the correct word.
That is not a mistake or exaggeration. Aggression is the correct word.
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Wow, I'm disappointed with the 4 bars leadership, he stood there, frozen, whilst things got REALLY out of hand, no matter what happened immediately before...
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Unbelievable - now a mother with twins in a stroller, a PO'd flight attendant saying 'hit me', and American saying he didn't show enough empathy or patience? At some point airlines saying 'these are not our values' are not going to cut it anymore.
Watching the video, was the Capt a bit unassertive? Not sure I would have wanted the FA or the big guy on my flight after that dust up.
Watching the video, was the Capt a bit unassertive? Not sure I would have wanted the FA or the big guy on my flight after that dust up.
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American Airlines - Passenger - Crew punch up
Another airline folly, this time on American Airlines...
As much as it felt good to watch the big guy walk the officious little twerp back up the aisle, I don't know what else the captain could have done at that point. The FA left
the plane after the captain spoke to him and no fisticuffs ensued.
Not a good day for the airline, but I think the flight crew did what they could to pick up the pieces.
the plane after the captain spoke to him and no fisticuffs ensued.
Not a good day for the airline, but I think the flight crew did what they could to pick up the pieces.
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Another view of the event from one of the articles linked above. Sounds like a non-compliant passenger versus an empowered union flight attendant:
American Airlines employee challenges passenger to FIGHT | Daily Mail Online
According to the one of the pax who posted a viral Facebook video:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater
Tom Watson, a first-class passenger, said that he saw the incident, and says that the female passenger responded strongly to the flight attendant's demand to take the stroller.
'She refused to let him take it and she was almost to the point of shouting,' he said.
But he said the flight attendant was 'aggressive' as he tried to pull the stroller away from her, and that his demands for security escalated the situation.
He said the stroller struck the woman in the head, and almost hit the kids.
'The woman knows not to bring the stroller on a plane, she refused to let it go - she was shouting, so she is also at fault in my opinion,' he said.
'She refused to let him take it and she was almost to the point of shouting,' he said.
But he said the flight attendant was 'aggressive' as he tried to pull the stroller away from her, and that his demands for security escalated the situation.
He said the stroller struck the woman in the head, and almost hit the kids.
'The woman knows not to bring the stroller on a plane, she refused to let it go - she was shouting, so she is also at fault in my opinion,' he said.
They just in-voluntarily escorted the mother and her kids off the flight and let the flight attendant back on, who tried to fight a passenger.
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The mother was connecting through Hobby for an international flight. She more than likely wanted to keep her stroller for use in Houston to transport her kid between gates. Gate checking the stroller would have been a problem in that regard. This is where the lack of empathy comes in to play. You have a mother traveling solo with a baby for at least 13 hrs...At some point the FA needed to ask himself is this was the time to be a total douche. BTW, the PIC should have booted the FA, he was in no frame of mind to be flying. They should have also deplaned the giant...even justified, you don't get to threaten someone physically. Now, had he gone forward to file a complaint, that would have been excellent.
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to be totally fair, we did not see what started the dispute here.
All we saw was a woman crying (which isn't unusual tbh), and then it was escalated by the male passenger in the seat behind her, who most likely did not see the original cause either, as he was pretty agressive himself, and I would imagine if he did see the original incident, and it was what was being portrayed, he would have taken it up when it happened.
The GA while he did respond to the aggressive male passenger in a similar manner, I don't feel he was totally at fault, he was somewhat defending himself actually.
All we saw was a woman crying (which isn't unusual tbh), and then it was escalated by the male passenger in the seat behind her, who most likely did not see the original cause either, as he was pretty agressive himself, and I would imagine if he did see the original incident, and it was what was being portrayed, he would have taken it up when it happened.
The GA while he did respond to the aggressive male passenger in a similar manner, I don't feel he was totally at fault, he was somewhat defending himself actually.
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yes, indeed, this really is sounding like it was the case.
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"Non-compliant passenger" is the attitude of a jail guard, not of a hospitality professional.
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Why do people side with passengers all the time? That twerp who lept from his seat after threatening the attendant should have been removed. He was agressive as well. I thought the attendant simply stood up to his childish threat. And I thought the captain did ok. When things got heated, he intervened. It sounded like the other cabin crew were dealing with it. And he was there speaking now and again and I'm sure the other people were working with him.
I can't wait for my trip to Europe next month. I'm going to sit in business class, even though I paid for the cheap seats, and if asked to move - cry. Or just simply refuse to move. Because it seems when orders from crew are not followed - just refuse.
Ridiculous.
If the chap hit her with stroller... That's clearly wrong. And he should be sent away. But what caused it all? Not obeying rules?
I can't wait for my trip to Europe next month. I'm going to sit in business class, even though I paid for the cheap seats, and if asked to move - cry. Or just simply refuse to move. Because it seems when orders from crew are not followed - just refuse.
Ridiculous.
If the chap hit her with stroller... That's clearly wrong. And he should be sent away. But what caused it all? Not obeying rules?
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How else do you propose a passenger who is not complying with the requests of a flight attendant be referred to as?
The fact is strollers don't often go in the cabin. I know it's been standard practice on any airline I've worked with to tag them at the check in desk or the gate and the passengers get them on arrival at the final destination, or in a lot of cases while in transit. Most major hubs have strollers that can be borrowed during transit too. My current airline's hub certainly does, so there is no need to get your own one back during any ground time on a long journey. Most strollers are too big to physically fit inside the overhead bin or even in an onboard cupboard. Yes, there are plenty of smaller strollers which collapse down to be the size of a carry on, but I can count the number of times I've seen those on one hand.
The fact is that many passengers are seemingly unable to accept that they are not always in the right and want to throw a tantrum when told No, you can't do that. They aren't the only person on the plane, the rules are the same for everyone. While I would never condone the actions of this staff member, it is not totally one sided. The refusal of the lady to give up her stroller, something which is afterall a perfectly legitimate, reasonable and indeed necessary request, is just downright ignorant and not how an adult should behave. So yes, in this case, as with many, a non compliant passenger was the initial cause of this whole incident.
The fact is strollers don't often go in the cabin. I know it's been standard practice on any airline I've worked with to tag them at the check in desk or the gate and the passengers get them on arrival at the final destination, or in a lot of cases while in transit. Most major hubs have strollers that can be borrowed during transit too. My current airline's hub certainly does, so there is no need to get your own one back during any ground time on a long journey. Most strollers are too big to physically fit inside the overhead bin or even in an onboard cupboard. Yes, there are plenty of smaller strollers which collapse down to be the size of a carry on, but I can count the number of times I've seen those on one hand.
The fact is that many passengers are seemingly unable to accept that they are not always in the right and want to throw a tantrum when told No, you can't do that. They aren't the only person on the plane, the rules are the same for everyone. While I would never condone the actions of this staff member, it is not totally one sided. The refusal of the lady to give up her stroller, something which is afterall a perfectly legitimate, reasonable and indeed necessary request, is just downright ignorant and not how an adult should behave. So yes, in this case, as with many, a non compliant passenger was the initial cause of this whole incident.
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Also, I thought the captain did ok, he hold the guy's shoulders and talked to furious passenger. About AA, personally I have only very good words to say. Once, AA accommodated us (2 adults , 1 child) at business, I guess the economic seats were over booked.
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The stroller should have gone in the hold, tagged and removed at the point of entry to the aircraft, the mother should have requested 'Meet and Assist' from the airline, (usually a free service), so that a designated member of staff could have been assigned to meet her.