With all the money that people shell out a year on flying, what does an airline owe it’s customers?
An American Airlines flight attendant was suspended Friday afternoon, on April 21st after an alleged altercation.
What really happened?
It all happened on the scheduled Flight 591 from San Francisco to Dallas. In a video posted to Facebook that day by passenger Surain Adyanthaya, a male flight attendant is seen being very aggressive to a female passenger.
Adyanthaya stated that the flight attendant violently took the woman’s stroller from her. She was trying to find space for the stroller on the plane near her seat. In the midst of the attendant taking the stroller from her, the woman was hit on her side by the stroller itself. The altercation occurred while the mother of two twins was holding her baby in her arms.
The Argentinian mother of two did not understand why she was being treated so poorly without a proper explanation.
In the viral video posted on Facebook, the woman is seen crying at the front of the airplane. The woman cries out, “Just give me back my stroller please.” Passengers at this point were still boarding the flight which had not taken off yet. A female attendant then tried to console the woman and assured her that it would be okay.
The video continues when the same male attendant gets back on the plane. A man sitting in front gets out of his seat. The man exclaimed, “Hey bud, you do that to me and I’ll knock you flat.” The male attendant put his finger up and said, “Hey you stay out it, you stay out of it!”
The two men then moved to the aisle arguing face to face. The attendant threw his hands up yelling, “Come on try it, come on try it, try it, hit me come on, hit me.”
The pilot of the plane and a female attendant then separated the two men. The male attendant said, “You don’t know what the story is.” To which the other man replied, “I don’t care what the story is you almost hit a baby.”
The video ends soon after that. The entire time the sounds of the woman crying with her children are audible in the background.
A statement was released later that night by American Airlines. It reads as follows:
“We have seen the video and have already started an investigation to obtain the facts. What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers. We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident. We are making sure all of her family’s needs are being met while she is in our care. After electing to take another flight, we are taking special care of her and her family and upgrading them to first class for the remainder of their international trip.”
“The actions of our team member captured here do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care. In short, we are disappointed by these actions. The American team member has been removed from duty while we immediately investigate this incident.”
A similar incident.
With the incident that occurred on April 8th, aboard a United aircraft, these altercations are happening all too frequently.
Aboard Flight 3411 Dr. David Dao was violently dragged off of the flight after refusing to give up his seat. The episode was captured on video by another passenger. Dr. Dao suffered several injuries including his two front teeth being knocked out. Four seats selected at random were needed for crew members scheduled to be in Louisville, KY the next day. Dr. Dao’s seat was one of the four.
What does an airline owe its customers?
Do all altercations that happen on a plane result in the person who was victimized being made the black sheep?
What ever happened to the customer is always right or innocent until proven guilty?
With the fares for domestic and international flights at an all time high, your in air experience should be excellent.
Last February Southwest airlines raised domestic fares by $4-14 per round trip ticket. Some airlines charge for overhead storage of a bag, when a few years ago it was free. In flight meals are no longer included in your ticket. Movies are not shown aboard flights unless paid for and the hospitality factor has gone down significantly.
With all the money that people shell out a year on flying, what does an airline owe it’s customers?
How about safety? A guaranteed seat after you book? Being treated decently?
If a crew member disrespects or assaults a passenger it reflects badly on the entire airline. The person who acted out is now the poster child for bad behavior.
The rate at which these incidents are happening makes others not want to fly at all or switch airlines. How an airline handles the situation says everything.
Good customer service is the second most important thing that a person looks for when buying airline tickets, right after price. People are willing to pay more if they know that this airline values their customers and accommodates them better.
As someone who is used to flying twice a year, there are things other than price that I look for before I book a flight. I look at a company’s reputation and other people’s experiences with that airline.
In the digital age we live in hardly anything is secret and almost everything is captured somehow. Before you book your next flight ask, what does an airline owe you?
