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Clearly the OP here has an ax to grind with Southwest. United has been all over the news in the past year for having passengers beat up and dragged off planes, killing pets, etc. I'm sure AA has had it's issues too. But reading AADAD, it's clear, his/her ire is with SWA for whatever reason. Move along.
So Southwest sucks and United is ok? United had a guy dragged off who ended up with a broken face....just the last week or so there were 3 incidents with pets - 1 died, 1 was sent to Japan instead of Kansas, 1 flight was diverted because another dog was on the wrong plane. Can't say I've seen Southwest or any other airline in the news for these pet problems the last week......
Just two weeks ago we were berating an airline for not giving a family the boot and the child screeched for two hours straight during an entire flight.
Dang, these guys (airlines) lose no matter what. I'm certain there are many grateful passengers for not trying to recreate that other bad scene.
Their equipment, their rules. Travel with an unruly child is not an entitlement. Those without manors, adult or child, shouldn't be flying.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,694 posts, read 58,012,579 times
Reputation: 46171
Quote:
Originally Posted by AADAD
The kid was calm when they told them that the plane was returning to the gate.
sorry Charlie... "returning to the gate" is a tad too late ...
strikes against...
1) The fuss was enough to cause alarm (and rightfully should)
2) The initial contact did not resolve dispute / safety concerns / customer service / paying experience to the OTHER 170 passengers...
3) The secondary escalation to the steward did not resolve the issue
SWA called off the flight, made FC arrangements to return to gate, and gave up their window of runway space... THEN the kid stopped yelling?
Sorry, they should have been sent to the door at step #1 (regardless of carrier)
I fly over 200 legs / yr, & SO grateful to have SWA serve most of those (Wish they did Asia and Europe)
FA has a difficult job. (and DOING the JOB is FIRST... not pampering some wimpy parent / dog owner / drunk, irrational passenger)
FA does not need another 'passenger' to coach them on crisis management! (a well meaning and capable fellow passenger would have diffused this BEFORE a busy FA had to intervene. The 'well-meaning' PASSENGER is not covered under the same protections / laws / rules / performance criteria as FA)
Airlines have very tight complex schedules, and HUGE responsibility to manage. This was terrible disruption to the other passengers / staff / airport / and those on the 4-6 additional flights / gates / scheduled for that aircraft... on that day (probably 1000+ people affected)
Operating a high risk / liavbillity / responsibility business is NOT done by 'consensus management' from "non-skin-in-the-game" observers...'customers defending the pair and their toddler as they leave the aircraft.
Just two weeks ago we were berating an airline for not giving a family the boot and the child screeched for two hours straight during an entire flight.
Dang, these guys (airlines) lose no matter what. I'm certain there are many grateful passengers for not trying to recreate that other bad scene.
Their equipment, their rules. Travel with an unruly child is not an entitlement. Those without manors, adult or child, shouldn't be flying.
Airlines truly can't win! Everyone has a cell phone and makes a video halfway through the problem......no one seems to care what led up to the situation.
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
6,957 posts, read 22,304,764 times
Reputation: 6471
I've had two experiences with American and their passengers and/or the FAs.
pushed back out of PHX, on our merry way. 2 passengers seated at the bulkhead decide that this would be an ideal time to use the lavatory. FA's are on the cabin PA asking them to sit down and buckle up. No immediate response so the flight deck stops the plane and tells them that they are going to have to give way to 5 other aircraft.
On final, just before we cross the runway threshold, one of them gets up again at about 50' AGL. The FAs are practically screaming into the PA system SIT DOWN! Good thing the flight deck brushed the landing.
Other time out of ORD a weather delay for a local thunderstorm. 25 minutes sitting on the taxiway. Engines are shut off and only the APU is running. I stand up because I got a cramp in my foot, and was chastised by the FA for standing on an "Active taxiway"! well I appreciate the taxiway has 25 planes on it, but it didn't appear that anyone was going anywhere soon.
The child wasn't seated until the plane started back. It's this simple: if the child isn't or refuses to sit in a seat as the plane is taxiing then she's at risk if something happens and guess who gets the blame for that? It's a safety issue.
No one rides in my car unless they have seat belts on. That includes my mother who hates putting a seat belt on. I not only had to warn her that I wasn't going anywhere unless she buckled up, I had to also get out of the car and walk back into the house because she didn't believe me. I also refused to drive her anywhere that day, even if she buckled up, because I was so tired of having this conversation with her. I wasn't risking a ticket and possible injury to her just because she didn't feel like she had to follow the rules.
Taxiing out and returning to the terminal isn't like turning a car around. It inconveniences the other passengers who might have connections to make and other flights that may be waiting to land or take off. No plane returns to the terminal just for the fun of it and there's a reason no second chances are given. The father had his chance to calm the child down and just didn't make it. At what point do you want to draw the line? The plane obviously can't sit on the runway waiting for a child to calm down. So they set a time limit and when that limit was reached, the plane turned back. Just because the child magically calmed down the second the plane started to taxi back doesn't cut ice. The airliner is not out there to play games with your kids.
I know today parents give kids chance after chance after chance after chance after chance. But in the real world where serious things happen, you get one chance and then your consequences arrive. Dad had his chance to calm his kid down and blew it. End of discussion.
Ok, I'm a bit OT here, but whenever I tried to settle my kids down in public, invariably someone would intervene and say oh, that's ok. Like, WTH business was it of theirs? I literally had little control over my own kids, because I was constantly overrode by busybodies, including waitresses, store clerks, nurses and other healthcare personnel, and Flight Attendants! It was like they egged them on for some sort of entertainment, or power kick, or something! Then, when the kids really got our of hand, I was supposed to handle it!
Despite OP's ax grinding, Southwest employees did the correct thing.
If people can't get their kids to follow safety rules on a plane, they can't be on the plane.
That's the long and short of it.
Please stop, facts don't matter to the OP. Just wants to complain
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(regardless of carrier)
