Comments on: Angry Passengers, Agitated Crew Face Off

Fight Over A Late Flight Ends In A 24-Hour Delay For New York-Bound Passengers

[txgrouch2006]

We really HAVE become a society of wild animals.

An airline that can''t arrange to have a crew for a plane, and it takes OVER AN HOUR to find one.

Disgruntled passengers (understandably) who take it out on the crew that finally arrives (as if it''s their fault their management fouled up).

Belligerent crew members who engaged in a hostile verbal exchange with abusive passengers.

End result - a plane full of travellers whose departure was delayed by 24 HOURS, purely due to the lack of conflict resolution skills.

[martel_v]

The passengers should be happy they weren''t allowed to fly. The crew were probably drunk.

This is what you can expect when you fly AA. They aren''t the worst American airline, but they''re close to the top of that list.

[hurtmorons]

simplyhome82 - you said "Being a pilot is a very difficult and demanding job. Pilots no longer get the respect they so much deserve". i dont even know where to begin to make fun of that! Difficult and demanding!? an airline pilot!? Respect!? REALLY!?

[toldyouso12]

don''''t understand what the passengers were angry about. Late by one hour? Isn''''t that to be expected? Sometimes crews are delayed by customs or weather. Had these people never flown before? Were there unusually bad waiting room conditions? The last time I flew on a flight delayed by an hour, those of us waiting at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport APPLAUDED the crew when they arrived. They smiled at us, we all boarded, and off we went.

Posted by Meg001 at 01:01 PM : Jul 08, 2008


There appears to be more to this story. We all have had flights delayed. Perhaps the crew was not delayed and was there all along and may even have been in their waiting area, waiting to board or were on the plane and walking back and forth--no matter what, all it would have taken was a rep from the airline to say "Ladies and Gentlemen, there will be a one hour delay for this flight" to allay the problem. but they did not do that and for daring to express verbal ire, they were all "slapped with a --just for that, you get no flight" bs. Guess what--odds are this airline just lost a plane load of customers and maybe some of us too. I know, after reading this article, along with their little pay as you pack experiment, that AA will be at the bottom of the list for whenever I want or need to fly.

[toldyouso12]

P.S. That would have cost LESS than putting them all up at a hotel! The airlines need to hire some trained talented PR people to handle these types of situations. As the old saying goes "you get more bees with honey than with vinegar". Stupid Stupid people....

Posted by CitizenUSA at 11:24 AM : Jul 08, 2008


Then again, if anyone was going to NY to catch a connection to go to say, Europe, where hotel expenses are NOT refunded if you are not there, but your room can and often is given away if you don''t show up--a lunch might not have done much good. Usually, people are not upset just because they are an hour late--it is the ramifications of that hour lateness that has many people upset--then the power play by the airline means at least that planeload will probably not be flying THAT airline again--and many of us reading won''t either. Then those disgruntled employees who wanted a show down with their customers can reflect on their layoffs when the airline cuts some more of them from their rolls.

[toldyouso12]

Long before 911, many flight crews were disgruntled, belligerent and hostile to fliers often they tried to exercise their God , I am all powerful complex. I remember a flight were a woman with a disabled adult daughter (obviously the young woman was severely retarded) asked for a drink of water because we had been delayed and stuck on the tarmac for over an hour. She asked repeatedly for water, while her daughter cried and moaned. The crew would not bring her any water and tried to ignore her. So we all started asking for water. The first one who got some passed it to the grateful mom. A flight attendant rushed up to her, grabbed the bottle and said--"next time you have to bring your half wit, bring your own God*** water!!" WE all heard it, later, the woman denied it and so did her compatriots.

Another time, a FA ran out of spaghetti and someone complained that theirs was congealed, the attendant reached over, grabbed a handful of the spaghetti with his fingers and screamed, "there are you satisfied?" They are out of control--most should be fired. They are not fit to fly or serve on the planes--maybe it is burn out--now, with 911, they have even more power--they are closing down because most of us would rather stay home than pay to be mistreated.

[simplyhome82]

My husband is a captain for a major airline. When stories like this are reported, it is clear the the majority of the traveling public is uneducated and ignorant about what is involved when flying. The FAA has lots of rules, including mandatory rest periods between flights. There are mechanical,weather and air traffic control delays. Crews get reassigned to work a flight other than their original. Almost 100% of the time the crew has no control over whether the plane leaves on time. SHAME ON THOSE PASSENGERS to be so self-centered that they didn''t consider the safety of everyone involved. The crew was absolutely right not to fly with irrate passengers, especially when terrorist threats are very real. Being a pilot is a very difficult and demanding job. Pilots no longer get the respect they so much deserve.

[fee1free4u]

I''m not sure which disturbs me more, the fact that airline customer service is completely abysmal, or that this forum seems to have been overrun with current(and former) airline employees, all intent on being rude and defensive and telling the customers the problems are all THEIR(customers) fault. Nobody with half a rat''s brain is being fooled by this charade here. We all know the airlines have hundreds of thousands employees, most of whom seem to dislike the customers as much they are hated themselves. But, it''s the role of the customers to complain until we get better service. We are paying YOUR salaries, Mr Airline Employee, and you had best get your act together or you''re all going to be standing in some very miserable unemployement lines.

[bobnjersey]

[....Shame on you all for criticizing that crew in any way. If you are unhappy get to the source, don''''t blame the man sitting at the helm of the plane.]
[Posted by Linda6216 at 02:06 PM : Jul 08, 2008]

where are the ones that should be blamed? are they in the gate area ... are they on the plane ... are they within 1000 miles of the issue? would you know who they were if tripped over them?

do you suppose that''s by chance? do you suppose that every large corporation has done everything possible to stay connected to their customers as they move further away from the front line.

you can bet it will be handled differently next time ... and it would ''not'' have if the customers didn''t stand up and let the frustration be felt.

[renrenjuan]

Great story, the bit about the barbed wire angst was priceless.