Until these sorts of customer service stores stop springing up, I will continue to cover them. A man was thrown off a Delta flight for having the audacity to use the lavatory…during an extended ground delay.
I’ll boil it down–
- Delta flight from Atlanta to Milwaukee on 04/18
- Passenger: Kima Hamilton, 39
- 30 minute tarmac delay
- While waiting for takeoff, Hamilton approached FA and said he had to use lavatory
- FA directed him back to seat because the flight would “lose their place in line”
- Delay grew longer, Hamilton could not hold it any longer, and darted to the rear lavatory
- He was back in his seat in under 60-seconds
- The aircraft was cleared to takeoff while he was in the lavatory
- As a result, the landing slot was lost
- Pilot message on PA: “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sorry for the inconvenience but we have to return to the gate and remove a passenger”
- A clam exchange occurs at gate between Delta ground staff and Hamilton (videos below)
- Hamilton appears to have no understanding why he is being removed
- A second Delta agent boards the plane
- Hamilton eventually agrees to leave
Here are two key passenger videos–
My Thoughts
I feel very bad for Hamilton. I suspect the ground delay was just routine afternoon traffic leaving Atlanta. I wish he had gone to the lavatory prior to boarding. But I won’t judge him for failing to do so. We have all had times when we are running late or making a connection in which there simply was not time. I know that we can only hold it for so long.
While I understand why Delta would want to remove Hamilton, it seemed unnecessary at that point. The plane was already delayed, he was calm, and he actually had a good reason to get up and use the lavatory. He was not a threat to the flight and therefore his removal smacks of retribution rather than as a means for fact gathering. The facts were clear: he had to use the loo and did.
A few weeks back I wrote about an 87-year-old on British Airways who ran into a similar problem. Instead of getting up and using the lavatory (she was allegedly blocked from doing so), she just soiled her clothing and sat for 10 hours.
> READ MORE: Inhumanity? 87-Year-Old Barred from Using Lavatory, Sits in Wet Clothes for 10 Hours
I think Hamilton made the right choice in getting up to go.
CONCLUSION
I understand that Hamilton’s actions inconvenienced every passenger on the plane and may have even had a great ripple effect. Furthermore, I realize “order” breaks down if everyone does his own thing. But 30 minutes sure seems like an eternity when you really have to go…
What do you think?
(top image ©Kay GLR / YouTube)
So, the plane was cleared to take off during the 60 seconds he was on the bathroom and because of that they could not take off? I mean, was the plane the first on the line to take off or they cleared the plane to move towards the position to take off? These are two different things since many time planes are literally grounded and do not move because they are not cleared but then you can listen the captain saying “we are cleared to take off” but from that time until it really takes off it could be many minutes since the plane has to move to the position.
Delta overreacted here. The passenger seems to have behaved in a perfectly reasonable manner. Delta seems to have behaved poorly…and in a manner suggesting that Delta was seeking retribution. I wouldn’t be shocked if the passenger being black man was a factor here. I somehow doubt that a nice pretty white woman in the same circumstances would not have resulted in the same scenario.
did they exchange seafood? ha!
typo:
“A ~~clam~~ exchange occurs at gate between Delta ground staff …”
Are these removals really that common? I’ve been on a lot of flights and have never seen this happen. It seems like there are so many stories about this lately. Are we just hyper sensitive to it?
This is kind of sickening. Delta was wrong. I understand what they did, it inconvenienced everyone else, but this man would have peed on himself or worse on his seat and that would inconvenience many, many more people due to delays in cleaning that seat up and having the plane behind schedule for however long it is behind schedule. So Delta kicked a man off its plane for using the lou? I’d have done the same thing as Hamilton, and I condemn Delta for taking such despicable action.
Delta used to have a jingle which went “Delta is ready when you are”. The latter jingle should have been amended to “Delta is ready to throw you off the plane, as soon as you’re ready”. The last time that I flew with Delta, in 1999, was a most unpleasant experience. We came to the Ft. Lauderdale Airport, (3 family members), and the ticket agent was worse than the flight attendants. She was one of the nastiest ticket agents that I ever dealt with, in over fifty years of flying commercial. She stapled all three tickets and boarding passes, in the wrong manner, as some were either upside down, or out of order. Hence, when we arrived at Atlanta, for our connecting flight to our final destination, we were delayed, since the ground personnel in Atlanta (who were much nicer than in Ft. Lauderdale), had to waste time unstapling all of the tickets, and repositioning them, correctly. They even remarked how our “friend” in Ft. Lauderdale messed the tickets up. The next time that we were in Ft. Lauderdale, we opted for Southwest, as their personnel were much nicer, and we were able to avoid the Atlanta stop.
Come on Delta, I hope your are reading this. There is often a medical problem that prevents a man from holding it. When are the airlines going to use some common descents. Having experience with medical issues dealing with urinary problems I can assure you there are times you just can’t wait. What would the passengers sitting next to Mr. Hamilton done if he didn’t take the 60 seconds to go to the lava? We will probably never find out the reasons Mr. Hamilton bolted to the lava. The Passengers Bill Of Rights addressed several issues related to tar mark delays that needed to be changed, it is time to take a look at these issues too.
You’re a bit harsh bringing up the “I wish he had gone to the lavatory prior to boarding.” How do you know he didn’t? You’re coloring the story with no information that may have impacted his situation. How long do you think it takes to go before he boards, wait in line, board, wait for push back, and then the ground delay? And then the additional ground delay?
I’ve been in this situation before, and the fine folks at Lufthansa let me use the lavatory as the plane was taxi-ing. It was odd how casual about it they were, as if denying someone the lav was unthinkable.
Maybe he did, but if he did use it during boarding or just before and had to go again a few minutes later…well…just imagine that issue compounded across many flights. Perhaps then a bag is appropriate?
Delta, still just taking the p*ss
The FAA is aware (and has been aware for many years), of the various abuses that the airlines subject customers to, every day of the week. Unfortunately, the FAA is often comprised of ex-airline industry personnel; hence, they tend to look the other way, even when the airlines make gross errors. The airlines themselves know of specific employees who have psychological problems, but they let them continue to fly, and abuse the public. They are ticking time bombs; the male flight attendant on American, who challenged the passenger to a fight, is just one example of that problem. There was an incident several years ago on a major carrier, (it may have been American), whereby a verbally abusive flight attendant was harassing some passengers. When she came to a male passenger in first class (he had asked for a soft drink in a nice manner, and had flown millions of miles with that airline), he politely asked her to speak to him in a civil manner, and not in a degrading manner. However, she decided to retaliate, and told him that she was going to write him up “for interfering with a flight crew”, and that the cops would be waiting for him to arrest him at their final destination. Fortunately, this scene was witnessed by other passengers in first class, who told the male passenger that they were not going to stand for her abuse, and that they would bear witness against her. When the plane landed, they told the cops what really occurred, and hence, the passenger was left alone. When this matter was brought to the attention of the other flight attendants, they all admitted that the loud mouth flight attendant, had been a problem for some time. Yet, the airline company did nothing about her, up until that point. I believe that she was suspended. However, she should have been fired. If a law abiding passenger, who has flown millions of miles with an airline, can be subjected to that sort of abuse, what can the average occasional flyer expect? If the witnesses would not have stepped forward, not only could the male passenger have been arrested, but he could also have been placed on the no-fly list. The power that flight attendants have, has gone to their heads.