Passengers Kicked Off US Airways Flight in SF for Allegedly Making Comment About Plane Being Late

Source: KRON-TV

Two US Airways passengers are waiting to be transferred to another flight after getting kicked off a flight Tuesday because they allegedly were a threat to the plane.

Luke Hazelwood and his girlfriend Sarah Newton boarded a US Airways flight heading to Charlotte, North Carolina, approximately one hour late Tuesday because of weather conditions. ... Hazelwood turned to the person next to him and said they wouldn’t be late if it wasn’t for the airlines “so don’t get mad at us,” he said.

According to passengers, the flight attendant rushed out of the galley demanding to know who had said that. Once she determined it was Hazelwood, she told him he would have to leave for being disruptive and a threat to the plane.

... Another woman, identified as Sandra Kraus, spoke up stating the first passenger did nothing wrong and she was in turn kicked off the plane, Hazelwood said.



Read more: http://www.kron4.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=1103

If you don't own the plane, however, don't be a dick.

You think that it's okay to kick people off of a flight for a harmless statement?

:wtf:

What happened to "We're very sorry for your inconvenience. We will all be airborne very shortly. We are awaiting clearance for take off from the tower."

Regardless of it being "harmless" or not.

I've seen flight attendants get very testy over innocuous behavior (I chalked it up to the FA being overtired or otherwise having a bad day) but I've never seen one flip out and throw people off the plane.

I really miss the way it was when I flew on planes 25-30 years ago as a boy.

basic service is virtually non existent. Meals? Ha! when was the last time you had a real meal on a plane? They charge for everything on top of the price for your ticket. on time flights are a thing of the past. it seems as if it's weekly now that there is a reported incident of mechanical flight problem.

And you get mad at the attendants? They are the ones that have to take the shit daily from irate and angry flyers. They have zero control over the systemic problems in the airline industry, yet people take such glee over abuse they have to take day in and day out. Is it any wonder why they are angry?

Granted there are bad flight attendants, but for the majority of them, they are hard working people that have to deal with complaints from the public regarding an industry in decline.

My sister works in the airplane industry.

over the past few years have pretty much acted like theirs was the most difficult job in the world and as if the passengers owed them something. Really snotty.

after contents from the luggage bin fell on him while boarding.

I've grown to hate flying.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

>>You're hating the symptom instead of the disease, which is assholism.

People behave pretty similar in a system. Deming and a lot of people proved that. The system that is set up by "assholes" if you will is what creates this kind of crap.

The for profit, squeeze the crap out of everything, overwork everyone, reward bad behavior is likely the cause. There may be a few assholes (special cause), but flying is definitely a SYSTEM problem (common cause).

Every fly before 1975? Vs now? Come on.....

and I have flown on some puddle jumpers!

Planes are cramped, HOT (80+ degrees F.), dirty, and so noisy I had to use ear plugs on my last flight to Phoenix. Rates are cheap, but the service is so poor and flying is such a miserable experience that I refuse to use this airline unless there is an emergency and NO other option. I don't have unlimited finances, but this is one time where I will spend more to fly another airline. To be fair, I do know some folks who love US Air, but after several flights, even a slow learner like me comes to know what to expect.

coast. Love getting on them from Baltimore to New York. Love travelling in europe also.

Information on Sleepers:
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Content_C&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241267399802
Virtual tour on a Sleeping car, includes pictures of regular seats on those same cars.http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Content_C&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241267298665

On regular Seats:
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Content_C&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241267399716

On Pacific Coast "Surf-liners"
http://www.trainweb.com/routes/route_ps/

Some much better than cars, highways, and bad motels.

The California Zephyr between the Bay Area and Chicago is gorgeous through the Rockies and the Sierras.
The Coast Starlight between Los Angeles and Seattle is also very nice.

Unless absolutely necessary to visit relatives, which isn't often, I just won't do it. This story is crazy.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

When you act like cattle don't be surprised when you're treated like cattle.

just as they did in 2001.

Nobody ever seems to remember or talk about THAT bailout anymore.

Rinse and repeat. If "the government" wants to go bankrupt bailing out airlines let them. I'm not letting airline personnel treat me like cattle after being molested by the TSA. I'd sooner walk.

If you want the nice experience that flying was 30 years ago, the price will definitely jump up to match it. Flying back then was an event, people got dressed up to fly, and it was definitely very far from cheap like today. College kids now fly home a few times a year without a second thought. There is no way that would have been affordable back then. I myself would pay a bit more to get a bit more, but i guess the masses are wanting the cheapest, so i guess that is what we are stuck with... :(

For example the shuttle service (Boston-NY-Washington) was 30-50 bucks. There isn't any shuttle anymore and the rate recently was over 700.

For a few years in the sixties/early seventies their was a bargain rate for young adults that got us flying everywhere for peanuts. Up until the mid 90's most coach service was never full - that middle seat was generally open - the seats were wider, there was more leg room, there were actual meals, and the prices were about the same as now, if not lower.

Boy, do I get tired of those. There are some really great ones out there, but some of them just have to take out whatever their frustration of the moment is on passengers, who once upon a time were considered "customers."

Being in the travel biz, I sometimes think I've heard it all, only to hear something else. This is the first time I've seen or heard about a passenger actually being ejected for complaining, but I have certainly witnessed with my own eyes FAs threatening to pull people from a flight for complaining about something. And no, I don't expect them to just absorb non-stop abuse, especially over stuff nobody can control like the weather, but part of any sort of customer service (ha!) job is the ability to tactfully ignore things like private complaints.

My personal favorite story is from about 12 years ago, when I had someone who flew to St. Louis about twice a week on TWA. She always paid the full-load first class fare because her business needs necessitated that she purchase her tickets at the last minute. One night on a flight to St. Louis, she was the only one in first class. When it came time for dinner to be served (remember that? food on airplanes?), the first class FA (and remember that these are supposed to be the cream of the crop, service-wise) asked if she wanted the chicken or the fish, and when my client said she wanted the chicken, the FA literally threw the food tray at my client, of course with food flying everywhere and turning my client's wine glass over to ruin her silk blouse, and she sat back down in the jump seat in a huff with her magazine and refused to even acknowledge my client again for the rest of the flight.


No freaking wonder people get so upset that they take a shit on a drink trolly.

It's part of my job description to be a professional complainer. :D

Unfortunately, filing complaints with these a-holes is about as effective as pissing into a hurricane, but I think they did eventually send her a $200 travel voucher, which probably didn't even cover the cost of the ruined blouse.

To be fair, this was towards the twilight of TWA, and everyone at the airline knew that it was circling the bowl, so I suspect that there was a pretty significant number of broken give-a-damns around St. Louis during that time. That still doesn't excuse the behavior, though.

I've had some nasty flight attendants, but nothing even nearly that bad.

I think you're right about the "TWA twilight" thing impacting on the workers, but, surely, there was no excuse to take it

out on a passenger like that.

UA/AA/US/CO people are too authoritarian and treat passengers as kindergarteners on a class outing.

for so long, but for some reason I never quite make it past the phone interview stage, where some HR recruiting drone asks me the usual scenario questions (what would you do if a baby is crying and a passenger complains, etc.), despite the fact that my career has been heavily concentrated on customer service under very difficult circumstances and I am multilingual. Instead, it seems that the preferred candidates are very fake-y polite-y sugar-y cheerleader types (how do I know? we all post on the same FA message boards).

No wonder that so many flight attendants are terrible..

but they aren't here defending the flight crew for kicking these people off for a few words.

extremely obvious. :eyes:

Pretty sure everyone defending the pilots ability to toss someone off the plane, that they think is a threat, is fine. The problem is that the pilot in question was a bigoted moron and the people in question posed no threat and the pilot should be fired.

I think the same thing here. The FA tossed a paying customer off the plane without cause and it potentially cost the company money by making them fly less full and generating bad press. So the FA should be fired. If the FA thought that the person was an actual threat to the safety of the plane I'd have no problem with them exercising the ability to toss the person off the plane. But they damned well better be right about it.

the PR fallout over this.

...I have had very few truly terrible FA experiences, strangely enough on the long-haul flights, LA-London they can be just as inattentive and rude as a puddle jumper.

For internal US flights I have always tried to use Southwest who are basically brilliant, but my most recent trip was on Jet Blue and they were fantastic...

The only reason I would take a plane is if somebody is dying.

Other than that, my motorcycle can take me from coast to coast and the trip will be much more enjoyable than sitting cramped up in those flying slave galleys.

Unless you have video or audio of the employee infraction, you will always LOSE.

J

to put the "fuck you" in customer service.

Since 9/11/2001, all passengers have been considered potential troublemakers. There is no incentive for a flight attendant to be courteous to a mere passenger. In case of any dispute, the flight attendants can, and often do, abuse their practically unlimited authority. They can pretend that the passenger made a threat, knowing that management will not listen to the passenger's side of the story.

From the time you set foot in an airport until you leave the airport at your destination, you are basically treated not as a customer, but as a potential security threat. The whole experience has become unpleasant and demoralizing. In that way, it's just an extension of being in the workforce.

And yet if the guy was merely overweight the thread would take a most dramatic shift in tone and tenor... :shrug: