"The pilot is in the audience": American Airlines' pilot kicks passenger off of airplane
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There's always another side to the story, but it seems the airlines can't get enough of throwing their weight around these days.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/pilot-boots-new-york-activist-americ...
Pilot boots New York activist Tamika Mallory from American Airlines flight over seat dispute
New York activist Tamika Mallory says she was booted from an American Airlines flight in Miami after a pilot inserted himself into a dispute over her seat assignment.
Mallory, a co-chair of the Women’s March on Washington, was traveling home to New York when the pilot followed her to scold her over an argument she had with a gate agent.
He then had her summoned from her seat and kicked off the flight, she told the Daily News.
“It definitely was white male aggression. I was singled out, I was disrespected, and he was trying to intimidate me. I was discriminated against,” she said.
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"Our team does not tolerate discrimination of any kind," American Airlines spokesman Joshua Freed said. "We take these allegations seriously, and we are in the process of reaching out to our colleagues in Miami, as well as Ms. Mallory, to obtain additional information on what transpired during the boarding process."
Mallory, who is active in movements for gun control and civil rights, was in Miami for the Revolt Music Conference and had planned to attend the wedding of Rev. Al Sharpton’s daughter Sunday afternoon, which she missed.
Activist Tamika Mallory said a pilot insisted she was removed from a flight in Miami after a dispute over her seat.
She said she arrived at Miami International Airport and used an airport kiosk to change from a middle to an aisle seat.
At the gate, she was issued a new ticket that put her back in the middle seat. She asked an agent why and said the employee’s response was “nasty” and “disrespectful.”
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Mallory thought the customer service dustup was over until a pilot who had overheard the end of the exchange stopped her.
The pilot told her the airline worker had “nothing to do” with her seat getting changed and that she was the one who behaved disrespectfully.
“Then he said to me, ‘Can you get on this flight? Are you going to be a problem on this flight?’ I said ‘No, I’m not. Actually, I’m fine. But I will write my complaint down,” Mallory said. “He looked at me and said, ‘You’re going to get yourself a one-way ticket off this plane.’”
New York activist Tamika Mallory says she was booted from an American Airlines flight in Miami.
Mallory was allowed onto the flight and settled into her middle seat, but an announcement requested that she come to the front of the plane.
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When she got there, she said the pilot pointed at her and said, “Her, off.”
“I began to express my outrage,” Mallory said. “Then I asked why I was being removed. I asked why was this happening to me. I told him I felt completely disrespected. I began to weep.”
No one offered an explanation, but the cops soon arrived and Mallory left the plane. A person she was traveling with, who had remained in his seat until she was summoned to the front of the plane, was also removed.
“Doesn't matter how much we do and how hard we fight, white men are allowed to treat black women like s--t,” Mallory wrote on Twitter after the incident. “Other ppl stand by and watch it happen because it doesn't affect them. If I have to fight alone, @AmericanAir will NEVER GET AWAY W/ THIS.”
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After she tweeted angrily at the airline, Mallory said a rep arrived to rebook her on a flight Sunday evening — but still never explained why she got the boot.
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>> There's always another
>> There's always another side to the story, but it seems the airlines can't get enough of throwing their weight around these days.
Yep, 10,000+ domestic flights every day with hardly any of this happening.
And, you're right, there are two sides to every story. My guess is she was acting like an entitled customer and disrespectful to the staff and flight crew. Just a guess.
If she was traveling with someone else, then why didn't her friend offer her their seat, assuming they are sitting next to each other?
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Pull out the iPhone and hit
Pull out the iPhone and hit record!
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Anyone who ends up with a
Anyone who ends up with a middle seat didn't plan very well.
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If everyone planned well, one
If everyone planned well, one third of them would still end up with a middle seat.
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Ned with some yogi berra
Ned with some yogi berra style words of wisdom.
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This ain't about me.
This ain't about me.
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This thread reeks of white
This thread reeks of white male aggression.
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That's just my new strain.
That's just my new strain.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 19.5 Degrees
If everyone planned well, one
If everyone planned well, one third of them would still end up with a middle seat.<<<
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There needs to be some
There needs to be some qualifiers for the middle-seat stigma:
1) Middle seat is "hell on earth" if traveling alone, flanked by strangers on either side.
2) Middle seat is slightly less-sucky if accompanied by a friend/family on either side, with a stranger on the other. You can lean towards your buddy.
3) Middle seat is just a middle seat if wedged between family/friends on either side. Switching mid-flight, if not multiple times, is always an option.
If you are traveling with a companion, and you both end up with middle seats, either you were too cheap to upgrade for a non-middle seat, or forgot to check-in when everyone else did (Southwest).
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Jhttp://www.foxnews.com
Jhttp://www.foxnews.com/travel/2017/10/18/mom-claims-american-airlines-re...
Just days after Women’s March co-founder Tamika Mallory accused an American Airlines pilot of discrimination, another young African American woman is coming forward with her own tale of an “aggressive” pilot.
Harvard Law student Briana Williams, 24, tells the New York Daily News she’s still furious about being booted from an American Airlines flight on Aug. 21, after she had requested her daughter’s stroller back during a delay. And, like Mallory, Williams says it was her pilot who ultimately made the call.
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According to Williams, she and her 4-month old daughter were flying to New York City on Flight 1678 out of Atlanta, but due to weather, the aircraft returned to the gate and passengers were told to deplane. On the way out, however, Williams says she asked the staff if they would retrieve a stroller she checked at the gate, but they denied her request. But Williams wasn’t about to take no for an answer.
“I told a crew member that I was not going to be leaving the aircraft without my stroller,” Williams said.
At that point, Williams says her pilot became involved. “He was very disgruntled and angry,” she told the Daily News.
The pilot eventually called police to escort Williams from the plane, and she spent the rest of the night at the airport with her 4-month-old. Her fellow passengers were allowed to board a later flight, but American booked Williams on a different flight leaving in the morning.
Now, Williams says she’s considering a lawsuit against the carrier, alleging that the “unregulated discretion” of American Airlines pilots is leading to a “discriminatory policy.”
“The pilot put me in a potentially dangerous situation with law enforcement as a young, black woman, saying that I was a ‘threat,’” Williams told the Daily News, "This type of rhetoric paralyzes the African-American community, and I want to ensure that policies are put in place that regulate the pilot’s discretionary abilities.”
Williams also added that she’s only now coming forward with this story after reading about Tamika Mallory’s incident aboard an American Airlines flight on Sunday.
American, meanwhile, does not deny they booked Williams on a separate flight, but would not elaborate, merely saying it was in “the best interest of everyone involved.” They did, however, offer compensation in the form of 25,000 AAdvantage miles, which Williams says she declined.
“American spoke directly with Ms. Williams, and as a gesture of goodwill, provided her 25,000 AAdvantage® miles, which can be redeemed for a future roundtrip flight on American Airlines,” the airline confirmed in a statement to Fox News.
“American does not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” the airline’s statement continued. “From the team members we hire to the customers we serve, inclusion and diversity is a way of life at American. Every day, our team members work to make American a place where people of all generations, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, religious affiliations and backgrounds feel welcome and valued.
“All of our team members — which includes our gate agents, pilots and flight attendants – are proud to serve customers of all backgrounds and we are committed to providing a positive, safe travel experience for everyone who flies with us.”
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Williams’ grievance with American Airlines comes only days after Women’s March co-founder and NYC-based activist Tamika Mallory claimed she was the target of “white male aggression” after accusing an American Airlines pilot of disrespect, discrimination and intimidation.
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Just to keep things tidy on
Just to keep things tidy on the index page, I'll file this new story under an existing "American Airlines' thread":
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2017/10/17/american-airlines-agent-says-cu...
A Canadian-born curler is claiming an American Airline employee wouldn’t let her check her sports equipment bag because curling “isn’t a sport.”
Erin McInrue Savage, a curler with the San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club, said she was trying to board her American Airline flight at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport, but couldn’t because of her curling materials.
McInrue Savage said she went to check her equipment bag for the standard excess sports equipment bag fee of $25 when the agent stopped her.
“[The agent] said curling isn’t a sport,” McInrue Savage, 34, said Saturday the Washington Post reported, a day after documenting her exchange in a Facebook post that went viral. “I told her it’s in the Olympics.”
“[The agent] said it wasn’t an ‘elite’ sport like golf,” McInrue Savage said before unpacking her bag to show the clerk how the curling broom worked.
The airline agent allegedly tried to force McInrue Savage to pay an oversize sports equipment fee of $150. McInrue Savage, who traveled to Arizona from Oakland, CA, on a different airline, said she has paid the $25 fee for her bag in the past – as have her curling teammates. But the agent told McInrue Savage that her bag exceeded the standard sports equipment luggage size of 62 inches long.
Though curling brooms themselves are only around 48 inches long, McInrue Savage was carrying some other equipment which pushed the bag out.
During the eight-minute exchange with the agent, McInrue Savage says she removed the longer equipment and was able to get her bag under the 62 inches by duct taping the ends of her sports bag, but still had to convince the agent, who eventually relented to the $25 sports baggage fee.
According to McInrue Savage, the agent told her at the end of their interaction, “I hope you never fly American Airlines again.”
American airlines is strongly denying the details McInrue Savage recounts in her viral Facebook post – which was taken down for violating Facebook’s anti-bullying policy because it identified the agent’s name badge.
“We all agree that curling is a sport, and our colleague in Phoenix never stated that curling was ‘not a sport,’ ” American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein said in a statement on Tuesday, Washington Post reported. “Our colleague is a former gymnast and coach, and has great respect for all athletes.”
“Based on the information provided in the Facebook post by the passenger, and the statement from our team member: we applied the correct policy regarding sports items,” Feinstein continued. “The passenger presented herself with a bag that was over the standard bag size of 62 linear inches but containing sports equipment, her curling broom. Our agent explained to the passenger the policy on oversize bags and that she would be willing to assist the passenger by applying the sports equipment rate of $150 vs. the normal oversize charge of $200.”
American said that the agent actually “worked directly with Ms. McInrue Savage at the ticket counter to rearrange the items in the bag, in order to shorten the bag.”
Feinstein said the agent also denies telling McInsue Savage never to fly American again.
McInrue Savage has since stuck to her story, claiming that her Facebook message, which has been reposted with the name badge blurred out, is how the experience happened.
“Maybe [the American Airlines agent] was just having a bad day,” she said. “I understand [customer service] can be frustrating, but this didn’t feel like any sort of way you want to be treated.”
McInrue Savage also would like American to make a “specific policy” regarding curling equipment.
The airline has guidelines for javelins, hang gliders and other sports, but has no official policy for curling equipment.
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http://www.nydailynews.com
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/american-airlines-contacts-tamika-ma...
“Through the conversations we've had with Ms. Mallory, we believe it is time to engage in a face-to-face dialogue,” said airline spokeswoman Shannon Gilson.
“We have also heard the voices of customers responding to Ms. Mallory's social media posts, sharing experiences with us (that are) inconsistent with our commitment to treating all customers with equality and respect.”
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If I ever have to fly w/ 19.5
If I ever have to fly w/ 19.5, I want him or her to be heavily sedated so that s/he does not cause some huge scene and get the flight delayed.
This one's just looking to cause trouble. S/he is that passenger who brings along their 'Service Orangutan' and demands a Gluten-free, Mango-rich special meal for it.
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^Face is the champion of the
^Face is the champion of the inconvenienced
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Haven't taken the 'Sky
Haven't taken the 'Sky Greyhound' in a couple years, since I've had the Hüsky. He would enjoy a Plane-ride though. Any metal contraption that goes somewhere; He's totally enthused about it. Jumps right in.
But I'd have to buy H.I.M. a ticket and/or get a doctor to write a letter stating that He is my "Airport-Anxiety-Dog".
That would be legit, as He would be cool with the feared middle seat.
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If I ever have to fly w/ 19.5
If I ever have to fly w/ 19.5, I want him or her to be heavily sedated so that s/he does not cause some huge scene and get the flight delayed.
This one's just looking to cause trouble. S/he is that passenger who brings along their 'Service Orangutan' and demands a Gluten-free, Mango-rich special meal for it.<<<
Just don't get in my space and all is good.
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^Face is the champion of the
^Face is the champion of the inconvenienced<<<
I like to think of it more as being "a champion of rights that are often overlooked" (do to complacency, etc.).