American Airlines incident (employee challenges passenger to a fight)

[Muta]

At one time, the Elbow Room in Vancouver was a restaurant where the staff insulted and you gave you crappy service as part of it's 'theme'. It was popular. If an airline tried that, I think it would be story-worthy quite a fun experience. Perhaps United or American should go that route for a while, and just fully embrace the hate.

[Minnie]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

By the accounts I've read, the AA employee got into some sort of physical altercation with a woman who was toting two babies. One witness said she was actually hit in the head with her stroller as the man wrestled it away from her.

I can see that getting the ol' dander up just a touch. If that is what happened, I can personally see the point in intervening.

As for "barking orders", it seems to have been forgotten in certain industries, but that guy is a paying customer. Asking for an employee's name isn't exactly revolutionary.

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Good on that guy standing up for that woman. I wish he would have knocked the fat little power hungry midget into next week.

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

Huh? He just watched a lady holding a child get hit by a flight attendant just missing the baby, I find it more shocking this gentleman was the only passenger to rip this idiot a new one. I don't think I could hold back seeing that.

ETA: Even if this woman was completely and wholly in the wrong for trying to bring a stroller on board, and mistakes were made prior to her boarding and she somehow managed to get to the plane with it before the employee tried to remove it, it's really NOT that hard NOT to be aggressive and rude and rammy with a passenger holding an infant (or two, as the case may be). It's not rocket appliances. It's just good business practice. The fact that the guy went ape upon being challenged, is pretty telling, IMO. Clearly he had a bug up his arsehole even before the other passenger stood up and told him off, a telling off he deserved.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

It appears the lady tried to take a stroller on the plane and didn't deal well with with the staff not letting her bring it..

How do you know this?

[OMG!WTF!]

I've been saying this for quite some time now....we need to bring back dueling. This is literally the perfect scenario. A white glove slap in defense of a lady's honor, a perfectly straight aisle to pace out. Turn at seat 6 and 26. Fire at will and may the best passenger win. Take off delay...15 mins max.

[spetch]

For all those without little ones or haven't travelled with them, You can always get a stroller to the plane. All you do is empty it out right at the bottom of the ramp just before you board the plane and leave it folded for gate check.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by normtwofinger

Why didn't she gate check the stroller?

Maybe she is a physician and time wasters like that don't apply.

Seriously though, if someone wants to get their own way on an airline now, all they really need to do is threaten to make a scene.

[Dion]

Hopefully the employee loses his job. What an asshat!

[lambeburger]

Originally Posted by Muta

At one time, the Elbow Room in Vancouver was a restaurant where the staff insulted and you gave you crappy service as part of it's 'theme'. It was popular. If an airline tried that, I think it would be story-worthy quite a fun experience. Perhaps United or American should go that route for a while, and just fully embrace the hate.

You mean, that isn't what they're doing already?

[temple5]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

I don't know anything about travelling with a stroller, but she obviously got pretty far past the gate if she was trying to board with it. Piecing together what's possible from that video, the tubby little bald guy took it away from her in a fashion aggressive enough to get up the hackles of everyone who saw it happen.

That little twerp power-tripping on his grunt job doesn't come across too well. Almost (exactly) like he wanted to get smacked in his fat face so he could sue someone.

Strollers at most gates usually arent checked until the moment you get on the airplane at the door leading to the stairs to the tarmac. You roll your stroller down with children, normally one adult takes the children to the seats while the other compresses the stroller for the ground crew to take down the stroller. A single adult with 1 child would normally forgoe any pricey stroller for either an easy collapseable or would carry them. To travel alone with 2 kids who cant walk would be a nightmare and wouldnt be possible for anyone to do on their own.

I cant see a modern stroller for twins even fitting in an aisle on an airplane so I highly doubt someone told her she could take it on the plane. Single person travelling with 2 infants, what a fkn nightmare for everyone - I hope she at least had the good thought to pay for 2 seats as normally infants are lap bound but all airlines I have used have 1 lap infant per adult. How did this passenger expect to transport 2 children from the stroller to the seats? Did she have some built in expectation that someone was going to glad hand her through the experience?

I wonder if this was a mis-communication where the mother thought she would stoller the infants to the seats them someone would take the stoller back for her (if that was the thought, then that is rich)? It would be a serious inconvenience for everyone to have to wait for someone to roll their stroller down, get seated and then expect the flight crew to take it back to the gate and fold it for you?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by temple5

Strollers at most gates usually arent checked until the moment you get on the airplane at the door leading to the stairs to the tarmac.

I cant see a modern stroller for twins even fitting on an airplane. Single person travelling with 2 infants, what a fkn nightmare for everyone.

When we traveled with a stroller it was used right up to the door, then folded and left on the ramp. It was put below and off loaded first. When the door opened, and we exited it was sitting on the ramp for us. I believe this is the normal procedure.

[Byrns]

From Reddit...

I was on this flight directly across the isle from the woman filming the video. This is what I observed:

• woman gets on the plane pushing a car seat type stroller with one child in it, carrying a second child on her hip and dragging behind a very large folded stroller that was too big for the overhead bin or to go under a seat.

• the flight attendant shown in the video approached from the back of the plane and informed her in a calm manner that there was nowhere to store the stroller. The woman immediately escalated the situation and within about 30 seconds was screaming at him at the top of her lungs.

• the flight attendant evidently decided she was not fit to be on the flight (in my opinion the correct decision) and started to move her and her children towards the front of the plane.

• when they got to the from of the plane the woman decided she was not going any further. The flight attendant picked up the stroller and lifted it over his head to try and move past the woman. As he was doing this she pushed him and the stroller fell a bit and struck her in the face. She began crying loudly and dramatically. Shortly after this is where the video begins.

• The first class passenger then inserts himself into the drama with his faux chivalry but clearly has no idea what has transpired in the back of the plane since he was in a window seat in the first class section of the plane and could not have viewed the incident from his seat.

• after another 10 minutes or so the woman exits the plane only to be returned about 5 minutes later and taken to her seat. We wait another 30-40 minutes while various flight and ground crew come and go speaking to the woman. After about 40 minutes she deplanes again this time telling all of the passengers, who are now becoming vocal in support of the flight crew, that all she wanted was an apology from the flight attendant. Evidently that's what the 40 minute delay was all about. Then we waited another 10 minutes for the ground crew to find and remove her luggage from the belly of the plane.

• the flight finally leaves and arrives in Dallas an hour or so late. American representatives are waiting at the gate to speak with the first class passenger who made the threats. What I heard was a very apologetic tone coming from two American employees, as if the airline had done something to upset the first class passenger.

• when I entered the bag claim area the first class passenger was right in front of me and as soon as he made it through the revolving door there was a camera crew waiting for him on the other side to interview him.

That's about as factual of an account as I can provide and I realize there may be other parts of this story that I do not know about or did not witness. From what I saw:

• if anyone from American should have been punished it should be the ground crew who somehow letting this woman on board with a full size stroller. The flight attendant was put in a horrible situation by a passenger that most passengers in my immediate area thought seemed unstable. She escalated the situation, not him.

• in my opinion, the first class passenger should have been removed. Had the flight been in progress he might very well have been arrested upon landing for threatening a crew member. Additionally, he could not have seen any of the back of the plane antics of the woman based on where he was seated.

• I agree the flight attendant may have reacted too harshly in responding to the threatening customer in first class, but his actions with the woman in question were professional throughout the ordeal. I am disappointed American has chosen to punish him.

If this eyewitness source is to be believed (and I don't know about you, I'm trusting the witness more than the lady who is overreacting), the lady clearly got on with a stroller way too big for an overhead or under a seat. The flight attendant calmly informed her that it was too big to fit in the bins. She immediately escalated said situation and stated screaming at this flight attendant. (Overreaction, a little?) The flight attendant decided to kick her off (which I agree with, along with the eyewitness), and started to move them to the front of the plane, where the lady stopped. The flight attendant took the stroller and moved it over his head to get it off of the plane, and this is where the lady pushed him, causing the stroller to hit her lightly in the head. She then proceeded to bawl and cry like a 3 year old.

This is where the video/gif starts. The first class passenger decides to fight on her side, with literally no idea of what went down, and this is where the gif explains itself. The lady then proceeds to get back on, and then causes a 1 hour delay, with the entire plane cheering for the flight crew. At landing, there were several American reps to talk to the passenger as if they pissed him off. The rest of that eyewitness account is mostly opinion. And to add insult to injury, the flight attendant was suspended.

All over a lady playing obvious victim in order to get a lot of lawsuit money after what happened on United Airlines. I'm not saying the UA disaster was right, it was certainly wrong, but this isn't a disaster, this isn't brutality, this is someone playing victim.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoo..._airlines_and/

[peter12]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Maybe she is a physician and time wasters like that don't apply.

Seriously though, if someone wants to get their own way on an airline now, all they really need to do is threaten to make a scene.

What is this nonsense?

[ToewsFan]

Originally Posted by Byrns

From Reddit...



https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoo..._airlines_and/

I trust the cell phone video. People lie. Video does not.

[undercoverbrother]

MOD edit. No.

[DiracSpike]

This is why I hate people filming confrontations and putting it on the internet. Zero context of what happened, if that account is to be believed the American employee was just doing his job and now has a bunch of internet tough guys claiming they'd kick his ass and people calling for him to lose his job.

[sketchyt]

You know what this is? Three people incapable of seeing beyond their own needs and reacting worse than a baby.

I hope the flight attendant gets fired. I hope the white knight gets called on his bluff one day and gets knocked out. I hope the mom enjoys her terrible children when they grow up as entitled as she is.

[SportsJunky]

When it comes to passengers on airplanes I give moms with children a ton of leeway. They are often seconds away from having a breakdown. That mom was probably a bundle of nerves already.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by ToewsFan

I trust the cell phone video. People lie. Video does not.

The video does not lie; however, it does not show the entire story either.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

This is why I hate people filming confrontations and putting it on the internet. Zero context of what happened, if that account is to be believed the American employee was just doing his job and now has a bunch of internet tough guys claiming they'd kick his ass and people calling for him to lose his job.

Incidents of people caught on film behaving badly don't make me despair for humanity. Social media mob justice does.

[ToewsFan]

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

This is why I hate people filming confrontations and putting it on the internet. Zero context of what happened, if that account is to be believed the American employee was just doing his job and now has a bunch of internet tough guys claiming they'd kick his ass and people calling for him to lose his job.

He picked a fight with a paying customer. If you work in the customer service industry, you NEVER pick fights with your customers. I personally hope to loses his job. How many times has he done this, and gotten away with it, one wonders...