The cliché is true. Unless we learn from the mistakes of others, we are doomed to repeat them.
Southwest Airlines is making headlines for dragging a woman off a flight from Baltimore to Los Angeles. The woman complained she had a “deadly allergy” to dogs onboard and demanded the removal of one service dog and one emotional support dog.
Her request was refused so she demanded an injection from FAs to alleviate her allergic symptoms. FAs noted a medical certificate was required for them to administer an injection, but the captain offered her the chance to step off the plane, receive the injection from qualified medical personnel, then take the flight.
The woman refused.
That certainly left Southwest in a difficult position. It is compelled under law to accommodate passengers with special needs – including those with service animals, emotional support pets, and those with allergies.
Fearing a potential midair diversion, Southwest made the decision to remove the woman. I support that decision, though arguably it could have sought to place the service animals in the front and the woman in the back. Then again, she refused any sort of compromise (like stepping off the plane to administer her shot), thus presenting the crew with reasonable concern she would be a danger to herself or others in-flight.
The Removal Goes Horribly Wrong
She did not take the news well and after repeated attempts to coax her off the flight failed, law enforcement was called to remove her.
What followed was this—
Another dragging incident. And don’t you love (read: despise) how a FA admonishes passengers not to record it?
Ok, how about a genuine apology for dragging this woman off the plane rather than finding another way—even if it mean deplaning everyone else—to remove her? Nope. This was the initial response:
Our policy states that a customer (without a medical certificate) may be denied boarding if they report a life-threatening allergic reaction and cannot travel safely with an animal on board. Our flight crew made repeated attempts to explain the situation to the customer, however, she refused to deplane and law enforcement became involved.
Again, is there no other way to coax a woman off a plane than dragging? It appears she was suffering a panic attack.
That’s not all she’s suffering–
The woman was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, failure to obey a reasonable and lawful order, disturbing the peace, obstructing and hindering a police officer, and resisting arrest. She was transported to the Anne County Court Commissioner before she was released on her own recognizance, police said.
Southwest Response, Take Two
It does seem Southwest has learned something. They’ve now issued a much more sensitive statement.
We are disheartened by the way this situation unfolded and the customer’s removal by local law enforcement officers. We publicly offer our apologies to this customer for her experience, and we will be contacting her directly to address her concerns.
CONCLUSION
I get why some of you would defend Southwest here. The plane was full of passengers, some with onward connections. Delays have a ripple effect that can disturb travel for hundreds. But goodness, she was just clearly a troubled woman in need of help. There had to be another way to get her off the airplane.
Southwest probably made the right call in concluding she was not fit to fly. But Southwest failed by once again resorting to law enforcement as a personal bouncer. I thought we had learned something from the Dao incident…
The government didn’t punished United for Dr. Dao’s incident. Since the government is made by the representatives of the people and the view of the government represent the view of the people, the conclusion is crystal clear. There’s nothing wrong at all with dragging people out of the plane.
Looking at the facts, she was lucky not to be beaten up first before dragged out.
The Dao incident has inspired copycats. Southwest and the police had no other recourse. If there is an apology due, it is the unruly woman to the other passengers and to Southwest Airlines.
Learned something from Dao? I thought the lesson from the Dao incident is that if you can provoke a big incident and fight with police on a plane, you can become a celebrity and get a rich settlement check? Sorry, but my sympathies lie with all the other passengers who were delayed because of this woman’s nonsense. The real lesson that should have been learned from Dao is that passengers should obey law enforcement when being told to leave a plane.
The lady was given numerous choices and she chose not to take up. A severe allergic reaction mid-air would have been disastrous and may indeed have led to a coroner’s court. Regarless of where she was seated in relationship to the two dogs, there is still a lowe albeit risk of an allergy through the air conditioning systems.
I don’t buy that Southwest response #2 is that much better, use of the passive voice doesn’t take ownership for anything that happened, it sounds like they’re apologizing for things outside their control that was done by others.
No apology from the airline is needed. This woman put everybody at risk on that plane by refusing to comply and doing what was asked. Did you notice that while the officers were getting her off the plane, that their weapons were exposed? What happens if one of the other passengers decides to step in and help her by grabbing one of the officers weapon? And what is this failure by the airlines to have to resort to law enforcement as their personal bouncer? Shall we instead call upon some fellow passengers to form a posse and remove the individual? As far as this “deadly allergy” this woman had goes, was she carrying her own medication as one would reasonably expect someone to have when they have a deadly allergy?
Matthew and Gary,
How do you think this should have been handled? She refuses all requests to walk off. How then do you get her off the plane?
Sure you can follow the JetBlue tactic of removing everyone from the plane but all that means is you don’t get video of her ultimately being dragged off. Are you upset she was dragged off or are you upset it was caught on video?
I would honestly like to know how you think airlines should handle removing people from airplanes who flatly refuse to go.
Well, it seems Matthew and Gary have spent too much time in foreign airlines they forgot that courtesy is not a norm in US line…
I have to disagree with you on this one. This incident is very different from the Dao fiasco. Here you have a clearly unruly passenger, demanding a special accommodation that’s impossible to provide (no way Southwest can kick off a service animal and ESA), who continued being belligerent even after being presented with compromise solutions. I’ll ask the same question as 121Pilot: what do you and Gary propose be done in cases like this, where a passenger refuses reasonable requests to deplane? Keep negotiating with her for an hour to see if she calms down? What if she doesn’t, and for that matter, what do you consider a reasonable amount of time before calling authorities? If it’s law enforcement involvement that bothers you, would you rather have had Southwest employees take her off? If so, I can smell the lawsuit for “intentional infliction of emotional distress” a mile away, though that’s probably going to happen anyway…
I respect your point, I just don’t think that police should be use to drag people off airplanes until they pose a safety risk to others. It’s a matter of principle. She did not pose a risk by refusing to move. She may have posed a safety risk to others had she been allowed to fly, but she wasn’t a threat yet. And consequently I would have continued to reason with her as long as necessary. I liken it to torture. It may work in some cases, but it is contrary to our values. “The ends justify the means” is flawed logic.
“Reason with her as long as necessary?” What about the other passengers? Are they going to calmly await the outcome of the open-ended reasoning attempts? I think you’ll have the fellow passengers becoming exasperated and taking matters into their own hands.
my comment was deleted for no good reason. typical lib.
?
are you an idiot. What do you starve her off the plane? how disconnected are you from reality. Think about it for every 10 minutes she holds up the flight with a hundred people on board, she waste 8 hrs. of peoples time. This looks like it was at least 30min of her BS, that means she wasted 24hrs of time. Now that’s 24hrs of cum time the universe has lost thanks to her BS. and we all know that lady is being a drama queen.
Matthew,
I want to make sure I’m understanding you. Your suggesting that when an airline asks a passenger to get off an airplane and they refuse that they should never call the police? They should take people off, cancel the flight, take the aircraft out of service and cancel down line flights. But never ever under any circumstances force that passenger of the plane? Is that what your suggesting? I hope not because it sounds a lot like arguing economy is better than business class.
And if not the question is still valid. At some point you may have to force a passenger off an airplane and how would you do that? If your going to suggest they just need to keep reasoning with her then for how long? An hour? Two? Three? Ten?
I get what you’re saying, but…this creates an untenable situation. If I’m understanding you right, you’re saying that a passenger basically has an unfettered right to argue with an FA as long as they want, without fear of removal, so long as they don’t pose a safety risk to others. So – if I decide I don’t like my middle seat and decide to take another passenger’s window seat a few rows up (assume neither are preferred seats you have to pay for), I can refuse to move and argue with the FAs for 4 hours if I feel like it with no consequences, as long I’m not directly threatening anyone? Because it sounds like that’s what you’re suggesting. How is that then fair to the other passengers? The crew that’s now likely going to time out? The passengers on the other plane that’s supposed to use the gate, but now can’t because I’m being an a$$, and are now delayed? The airline that now has to pay for accommodations and find a way to reschedule a plane full of misconnections?
My argument is not that the ends justify the means, but that all laws/rules/policies are created to balance the rights of all stakeholders. Yes, forcibly removing a passenger is unpleasant. It is also necessary in some circumstances to maintain fairness for all users of the system.
“There had to be another way to get her off the airplane.”
Please tell us what that would be when an individual flat out refuses.
Agreed with 121Pilot and MeanMeosh. She committed a felony not complying with instructions from the crew. She did not comply and had to be removed. It was her choice to have force used.
“Please tell us what that would be when an individual flat out refuses.”
Taser. I am not kidding.
Throw her in the can! “Hot towel?”…..”why thank you.”
Stupid entitled b**ch. She deserved to be dragged and humiliated as she selfishly made a scene. Why would anyone stick up for her?
I cannot understand something. She says she had a deadly allergy to something on the plane. Why then refuse to leave the plane, when staying would be life-threatening?
Totally different from the UA incident. Southwest had no choice but to remove a passenger claiming a “deadly allergy” (even if probably bogus) to someone or something legitimately on the plane. No different if she had claimed to be deadly allergic to the overhead bins and demanded the airline remove those.
Lol. If I was on duty on that plane my response would be along the lines of the following:
Pax: I’m allergic to animal! I can’t seat near animal!
Me: ok , just a moment please. Let me work out something.
—pretend to be busy for a moment—-
Me: excuse me Ms. I may have found a solution for your problem, but we need your cooperation for it. Could you accompany me with your boarding pass to the gate desk, we may have to adjust the seat numbering on boarding pass for the proper paperworks. Unless we do that, the captain won’t fly. Let me help you with your bag along, so nobody will touch it, please follow me Ms.
—at the gate—
If I can re-accomodate seating arrengement, I do it. If orders from above or regulation stipulates the pax need to be rescheduled, I do it. But I tell it OFF the board. Mission accomplished!
See….. simple smile, courtesy and creativity goes along the way. But all the comments even from a frequent flyer blogger resorts to violance. Some bonehead even put delays, misconnection in the argument.
I don’t believe Matt was saying the pax was right and airline was wrong. Its HOW they handle the situation that was DEEMED TO BE UNHUMAN. All your comments was literally jokes…. hahahaha….
Many of you are assuming this lady is of sound mind and has no agenda. She DOES have an agenda and it’s obvious. This is MUCH different vs. the Dr. Dao situation. There wasn’t any other option to get her off the plane. She should get banned from Southwest (and other Airlines) for life.