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Were you on the flight? Otherwise your version doesn't hold much weight.
Allegiance charges people for the ability to choose their own seat. It seems the sisters opted to save money by having Allegiance randomly assign them seats. They knew that by doing so, they would most likely not be sitting together, but that is the chance they took by trying to save some money. I'm not judging them, I'd probably do the same. I don't need to sit by my companion on a flight, especially since my SO usually sleeps the entire time. But then, I'm not going to get up while the plane is taking off and throw a fit when I cannot sit by my companion.
The flight attendants are probably instructed to not allow people to switch seats once on board the plane. If you can just switch once on the plane, why pay a higher price? So I don't fault the flight attendant for doing her job. If she would have let one person switch seats, then others would have come up with their own sob stories (real or not) about why they too need to switch seats, and others would be upset that they had to pay to choose their seats while others are getting to do it for free on board while the plane is supposed to be taking off.
I was not on the flight, but do have an ounce of human decency towards those who are facing the death of a loved one. I also have common sense and know when to stand my ground to enforce a rule versus when to make an exception. This was a moment for the latter. I've been on many flights in which flight attendants asked people if they would move to accommodate a family trying to sit together. It takes a special kind of person not to oblige them.
Too bad that the rule-following sister had to pay for the other women who was above following the rules.
And to what purpose did it serve to have to tell the sister that the father was doing downhill faster than expected? It's not like they could have made the pilot fly faster to get there in less than an hour. I understand this was a significant drama in their lives, but there's something to be said for a little complacency and equanimity. They had done all they could at that point, booking the flight, getting on to the plane. Wouldn't it have done more for their mental health to just chill for the hour and not get up-to-that-very-minute news?
There was a time when we would go out and not be able to get phone calls or pick up voice mail until we got home. And we survived! So some of us got bad news hours later instead of right then...the outcome was still the same. We still had plenty of time to deal with loss and tragedy. I think almost everyone has lost their perspective about what we can control, what we need to need to know and how quickly we need to know it.
Looks like to me the flight attendant embellished her story a bit. However one of the sisters probably did snap back at her when she was told to get back in her seat even when she was just reaching across the aisle.
Unfortunately for the sisters I think even if you dont like it you have to follow their rules. And also if the other sister is having an escalating panic attack they have to be put off or it could become a medical issue in mid air.
Lots of wrong on both sides but it looks like to me the sister was able to get out of her original seat and back to a seat across from her sister before the real trouble started. You just have to suck it up until the light turns off.
I've been on many flights in which flight attendants asked people if they would move to accommodate a family trying to sit together. It takes a special kind of person not to oblige them.
But Allegiant requires you to pay extra if you want to choose your seat. It seems like these women chose to save money by allowing the airline to chose the seats for them.
PFFT. This is an example of people with poor eduction, poor self-control and poor critical thinking skills. I have no sympathy for them. They behaved illogically and selfishly, and they got tripped up because of it. To feel bad for them, you would have to agree that the entire flight pattern for the airport should potentially be disrupted for them to have a conversation that they could have had 10 minutes after they were in the air.
Total BS.
Pfft. Have it be your loved one and be there. I've read about your situation. How would you feel if that happened to you? Wouldn't you rather have someone tell you to sit down next to your sister, buckle up, and we'll get you there as soon as we can? Who behaves logically when their parent is dying? I did, but I was just suppressing, crushing all emotion to get things done. I could unravel later. Not everyone can do that.
Zen, your remarks aren't zen. Most people don't die of a panic attack. Stinking up the plane? Rude, crude, and base.
But Allegiant requires you to pay extra if you want to choose your seat. It seems like these women chose to save money by allowing the airline to chose the seats for them.
Their father was about to die and from the looks of things, there was an open seat. It's called human decency.
Pfft. Have it be your loved one and be there. I've read about your situation. How would you feel if that happened to you? Wouldn't you rather have someone tell you to sit down next to your sister, buckle up, and we'll get you there as soon as we can? Who behaves logically when their parent is dying? I did, but I was just suppressing, crushing all emotion to get things done. I could unravel later. Not everyone can do that.
Zen, your remarks aren't zen. Most people don't die of a panic attack. Stinking up the plane? Rude, crude, and base.
Fine, make it personal. Here's the thing: If it was me, I'd be focused on getting to my father and not freaking out about something I already knew. I mean, the father was in hospice - it's not like him being on death's door was new information. Once you're in hospice, that's pretty much all she wrote. My own grandmother passed away in the ICU as I was packing up things to go spend the weekend by her bedside. My auntie died in hospice literally a couple hours after she'd gotten there and everyone but her husband had gone home to get some sleep, intending to come back in the morning.
Both situations sucked, but my grandmother and aunt were dying, so I knew I couldn't expect the timeline to go my way. I've dealt with the deaths of a laundry list of elderly relatives in the last decade. When they are ailing, my focus is on the sick person and not on indulging my emotions willy nilly in a way that would inconvenience potentially hundreds of other people. The plane was taxiing. The airline rules are insanely strict about seating - you wanted the flight attendant to put her job on the line just because these women couldn't wait for 10 minutes to have a conversation? Seriously?
I was not on the flight, but do have an ounce of human decency towards those who are facing the death of a loved one. I also have common sense and know when to stand my ground to enforce a rule versus when to make an exception. This was a moment for the latter. I've been on many flights in which flight attendants asked people if they would move to accommodate a family trying to sit together. It takes a special kind of person not to oblige them.
This occurred when the plane was taxiing. Totally different situation. Once the plane is in motion, you are not to leave your seat. I've had flight attendants let me get up to use the bathroom during tarmac delays, but never while the plane was actually in motion.
Ok, I rewatched that part, and the lady in the video said that the flight attendant said, "If you start cussing at people and flipping them off...." which isn't saying they DID do those things. And that was directed at the woman, not to the flight deck as you previously said.
I'm having a hard time being overly sympathetic to the sister. Her cell phone should have already been turned off. They were taxiing so she absolutely should have been in her own seat, buckled in. They knew dad was dying, so this could not have been a surprise (I'm not saying they shouldn't be grieving, but just about everyone goes through the loss of an elderly parent. Actually a person is lucky to have parents make it to the elderly years.) And while I'm no advocate of blind obedience to authority, when a flight attendant tells someone to return to their seat, that is not a battle to pick.
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