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Sure it happens every day. But how many of the 1.7 MILLION passengers who fly daily are going to see a dying loved one? 10% is boyond a reach but even at that figure 90% are not. So yeah, by any definition this was an unusual situation
Something that happens everyday is not a rare situation.
I guess I had my experience with trying to get to a dying family member back when courtesy to passengers (even those with attitude) was the norm among airline employees. This would have been in 1993, I think it was.
My sister had called me to tell me my dad (who was in the end stages of emphysema) was again in the hospital, on a ventilator, and not expected to survive. She said they were planning to take him off the ventilator, and let nature take its course, which were his wishes. I got reservations for the next day (no sympathy fares there either-do they even exist???) but really had no expectations that I would get there before he passed away, since they were pulling the ventilator that same day. My flight from Miami left about two hours late, though, making it doubtful I would make the connecting flight in Newark. I thought I had a chance when I got there, though, and I raced from the arrival gate across the terminals (naturally the departure gate of my next flight was nowhere close to the arrivak flight. Well, I got to the gate at something like 3:50PM, (the departure time was 4PM), but they were just closing the jetway doors as I got there, the plane was still there) and they told me I was too late. Well, I was pi $$ed off as I couldn't see why they couldn't just open the doors again as they had just shut them, and it was still before 4PM, the scheduled departing time for that flight.
The gate attendents essentially told me "too bad, so sad you missed the flight, but there is a later flight out of here at 10PM. I told them that was not acceptable as my missing that flight was due to their issues, ie, delayed takeoff in Miami, and their decision to take off earlier than scheduled, and I explained I was trying to get to my dad while he was still alive.
In response to that news, then, the gate attendents called around and found me a flight on a competing airline that left about 6PM or around there, then they called a luggage cart I could hitch a ride on to take me over to the gate for that flight (back across several terminals, naturally). They promised they would even retrieve my checked baggage from my arrival flight and see that it got on my flight.
Well, I got to my destination,but the luggage wasn't there. I'm guessing the gate attendents had been unable to retrieve it, so I filed a missing luggage report and they promised to get it to me the next day, which they did. But right then, I rented the car and took off to the hospital, about an hour away from the airport.
And Dad was still alive when I got there, seems they had delayed pulling the ventilator when they heard I was coming, and they pulled it soon after. He recognized me, was happy to see me, and even laughed at my story of missing the flight, especially as I said I'd arrived there without even a toothbrush. I remember those as my dad's last lucid hours, he lived for several days after that, but was pretty much incoherent and didn't recognize anyone the rest of his time.
I don't they're really called "sympathy fares" but I couldn't think if the true name. I got a discount. It isn]t the cheapest by far but it isn't full price either. Normally you had to get a death certificate showing the person has passed to get the fare but I explained to the airlines my dad was just hanging on and they gave it to me. They told me to just have proof for my return trip because my ticket was specially marked. I did get it but the agent just waved me on and told me not to worry. She never bothered looking at it. This was in the mid 1980's.
Sure it happens every day. But how many of the 1.7 MILLION passengers who fly daily are going to see a dying loved one? 10% is boyond a reach but even at that figure 90% are not. So yeah, by any definition this was an unusual situation.
I admitted in my opening post that I am not interested in reading 11 pages of posts, knowing they would be full of replies like yours. I'll ask again: Have any passengers who witnessed the situation come forward and backed the flight attendent's bahavior? Anyone? Until I see that I'm going with the accounts from the witnesses over those who apparently believe everyone should remain perfectly calm and rational upon hearing their father has hours to live.
The "alleged witnesses" who knows if the woman in the video was even there. People do crazy things to get attention or to prove a point.
And which do you believe? The woman who made the video who at one point said the sisters were seated across the aisle from each other and but also said one had to move to the back of the plane or the sister herself who said she moved to the back of the plane to see her sister?
Don't you get it? It's very, very dangerous to get up as a plane is taking off. For whatever reason. The FA was trying to protect this foolish woman from getting hurt along with all the other passengers.
I admitted in my opening post that I am not interested in reading 11 pages of posts, knowing they would be full of replies like yours.
If you read what happened and watch the video of the actual sister involved you would change your mind regarding the supposed eye witness.
"
“I didn’t know if my sister was getting the same text and (I) was I thinking, ‘I need to go back and tell her,”’ Baker recalled.
Baker said when she got up to tell her sister, a flight attendant stepped in.
“She said, ‘You need to sit down,’ and I said, ‘Well, can I just sit here? I just want to console my sister. We just got word that my dad’s dying,’” Baker said.
Hartman said she started having a panic attack and the situation only escalated from there, when Baker confronted the flight attendant for not being compassionate."
Then if you watch the video of the actual sister involved, the sister who was having the panic attack says she was crying hysterically. Her sister, who had switched seats, called to the stewardess to come over to where the two of them were seated across the aisle, so she could tell her something. The stewardess said no. Then the sister proceeded to say that then she would tell her from there and balled her out from where she was seated. It was at that point that the stewardess decided to request to turn the plane around. If you actually listen to the panic attack sister, in her version if her own sister had just sat in her new seat and shut up they would have been fine. Instead she decided to confront the flight attendant.
Well, I was pi $$ed off as I couldn't see why they couldn't just open the doors again as they had just shut them, and it was still before 4PM, the scheduled departing time for that flight.
At some point there is a cut off time. It is just not that easy to "just open the door".
The plane is ready to go, paper work handed in, manifest ready. Brakes released. Planes have their slot time to take off. Scheduled departure time means the plane takes off at that time, not the doors close at that time.
At some point there is a cut off time. It is just not that easy to "just open the door".
The plane is ready to go, paper work handed in, manifest ready. Brakes released. Planes have their slot time to take off. Scheduled departure time means the plane takes off at that time, not the doors close at that time.
Someone who tries to bail from a flight late in the game is also almost always going to have any checked baggage pulled for security reasons, (see Lockerbie) and it can take significant time to locate the correct bag inside the cargo hold, especially if it's yet another darn black wheelie. So you're talking how many minutes to locate the bag(s) plus getting a slot time reassigned, possibly having to get delayed on the inbound because of 'traffic' and their new scheduled arrival time, and you end up with a 1-2 hour delay that both inconveniences other passengers who possibly have emergencies of their own they're trying to manage as well as an airline getting dinged on their DOT statistics.
Again this was a unique situation. Help me understand how trying to comfort a grieving sister in any way endangered the other passengers. She only became beligerant when the line "we just got word our father is dying" fell on deaf ears. Read that again, "we just got word our father is dying" fell on deaf ears. I understand the flight attendents are responsible for every passenger but this is really hard to understand. Being confrontational to a passenger at that time was simply not the way to respond to a very unique situation.
Sometimes people who are grieving don't like to be told no, no matter how compassionate or caring that no is said. This is something I have to deal with in my job, grief stricken people ask me to make an exception and break a federal law on a regular basis. I try to be as compassionate as possible when I have to say no and most people are understanding, but there are always those few who simply will not accept that they cannot have or do what they want. They think that because death is involved it overrides everything else and some don't hear anything at all other than the 'no, that's not possible' no matter how it's phrased. They can and do become belligerent and unreasonable.
The woman's phone was on and she admits to changing seats, both of which would be cause for concern that she may have felt she was above following the rules, thinking that circumstances would allow for that when they don't.
Customer service does not include being fine with people getting up from their seats and wandering to another part of the plane when the plane is on the tarmac getting ready for take-off, no matter what the passenger is going through.
Last edited by toosie; 01-08-2017 at 05:18 AM..
Reason: Deleted quoted post and now orphaned part of your post
as a Customer, I would hate it when people would act up and think they're special just because. We all paid for the same flight, we must all follow the same rules.
Just because you received bad news doesn't mean you get to break the rules and annoy the other passengers. What you do is act like an adult, and wait until you are allowed to get off your seat to do your business.
When the plane is about to take off, you sit down, turn off your gadgets before and during landing and not cause a scene.
If you cause a scene, you get kicked off. This just doesn't only apply to Middle Eastern looking people. lol
Last edited by toosie; 01-08-2017 at 05:19 AM..
Reason: Deleted quoted material which has since been deleted as well
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