With a leadoff like this, I don’t blame you for jumping to a conclusion that United is simply hopeless…
A 77-year-old woman who uses a wheelchair was left alone and stranded at a gate at Newark airport for 12 hours after United Airlines bumped her from her London-bound flight, the woman’s son alleges.
But things are not always as they seem.
A man claims he dropped his mom at Washington National where she was to fly via Newark to London. Upon reaching Newark, she was bumped off her flight to London.
United initially responded–
While we offered our customer a hotel and to take her there, she declined our offer of assistance. We checked on her throughout the evening. We have since spoken with our customer’s family to express our sincere apologies and are working with our team at Newark to review what happened and to ensure we learn from this incident.
But later followed up with an important clarification. The woman was never bumped. Her flight went out with open seats–she just did not make it the gate in time.
Maybe the wheelchair chair assistance service is to blame or maybe it was a flight delay. Maybe there was a line to use the restroom. We don’t know. What we do know, based on the clip above, is that her driver in Heathrow texted the woman’s son stating that her flight arrived at 8:40a and she had not shown up.
I’m going to assume that she was on UA16, scheduled to arrive at 9:20a but it must have arrived early. That meant there were two additional flights to London–someone may have dropped the ball there. United currently offers six daily flights from Newark to London:
United offered the woman a hotel and she declined it. The innuendo is that she declined it because she could not get to the hotel herself, but we don’t know that. We have no idea.
The Son’s Obligation
You may think this is harsh, but was the son just too lazy to drive his mother to Washington Dulles or send her on a taxi or Uber there? United operates three non-stops per day from Washington DC (Dulles) to London. Why start at National and take a delay-prone regional jet via a delay-prone hub? All I am saying is that if it was my infirm mother, you can bet she’d be flying nonstop. Delay or cancellation? Then I’m in town to help. I’d also make sure she had a charged mobile phone. I do empathize with the son’s anguish over not being able to locate his mother and having to deal with the inept Philippines call center at United.
CONCLUSION
So let’s not jump to conclusions. It may be that United is guilty as charged. Perhaps not. The facts are playing out and it seems there is a lot more to the story than the news video above.
I agree with your potential criticisms of the son. Did he purchase the connecting flight because it was cheaper than a nonstop flight? If so, that seems cheap and inconsiderate to me. I’m not saying that he or his mother deserved to have this happen to them, but it is possible that the son bears some of the blame. I would not even send my 30-something wife on a connecting flight like that if there was a suitable nonstop alternative, let alone a wheelchair-bound parent.
THANK YOU for being a voice of reason. These days tons of losers are so quick to be a “social justice warrior” while being a bully themselves.
Why the son booked her through National is a red herring. United has a legal obligation to assist her in making the connection. It’s not a “social justice warrior” thing – it’s what the law says the carriers have to do.
Would I have done it? No. But that’s totally irrelevant.
United has an obligation to assist…if assistance is requested. Usually, the need for assistance is indicated in the passenger record (PNR). Was assistance ordered for this woman?
Based on my 1 million miles with United Airlines (stopped flying UA in 2013), my bet is that United is somehow culpable in this unfortunate incident.
To steal a line from Geico – “It’s United. Its what they do.”
Wait…. if she’s not bumped in the first place, why did united acknowledged the accusations of the son that his mother is bumped? They even acknowledged of offering her a $1,000 voucher.
Then again this is united. Then again this is USA. Something do something stupid, everybody condemn it without knowing the facts. When there’s a little bit new opposite unconfirmed fact(s) everybody stands to defend it.
What a hypocrite drama queen bunch of people….
“The Son’s Obligation”
Precisely. And had he taken her to IAD he could have waited there to make sure his mom was safely onboard and the flight departed. He could probably have got a discretionary airside pass to accompany her to the gate.
If the lady is offered a hotel and declines it what can the airline do? They can’t force her into a cab and into the hotel.
And the fact that UA had to investigate the situation in response to the article reeks of the son going straight to the press.
Matthew,
Looking at the video you linked to there’s a (supposed) shot of the son’s iPhone SMS. The message from the car service is dated “Saturday”. That points to a Friday evening departure. It’s too late to do a Flightstats check without paying the subscription. But maybe checks on FlightAware or FR24 could give a clue as to whether a DCA-EWR was delayed.
And rather darkly humorous that the news report was done from IAD where the son should have booked his mother from in the first place.
Maybe it was an award ticket because that’s the only possible explanation for routing that way when Dulles to Heathrow has multiple flights per day on three airlines. But that’s still a poor excuse – you pay the premium to fly nonstop for someone that needs a wheelchair!
Yeah, no one knows what happened. As a son to a father who is disabled and needs wheelchair assistance, I would NEVER book him on a one-stop itinerary especially if it’s an int’l flight. This all could’ve been avoided if he booked a non-stop flight on either UA/VS/BA to London. He would’ve been able to get a gate pass as well to accompany his mother to the gate at IAD.
The question really is what happened at EWR? I don’t understand why UA didn’t rebook her on a later flight. Even if UA had no space, they could’ve interlined with BA/VS as well even though it would’ve been the least preferred option for them. Also, if the mother declined a hotel room even after being offered assistance to/from the hotel then the son shouldn’t be blaming UA.
“I don’t understand why UA didn’t rebook her on a later flight. Even if UA had no space, they could’ve interlined with BA/VS as well …”
If Matthew’s assumption is correct (she missed the 21.05) it was likely too late to interline to BA (21.35 dep) or VS (22.00). Check in would have closed for those flights and boarding for BA would have been close to closing. The only other one (non UA) is Air India at 22.30, though AI is Star Alliance. And that’s assuming there was availability on those flights (let alone the later UA’s).
Sorry, no sympathy for United. There might be individual cases where United did not make a mistake, but if you look at a broad base of experiences they are not a consumer oriented company. In addition to my many bad experiences with them this was the worst and similar to the one described. My mother from Florida was flying 20 + hours to visit us in Guam. She was flying business class. I was in Japan on business and got on the same flight as her from Narita to Guam, but in coach. She changed her business class seat to coach to sit with me and we had seats next to each other. At Narita airport where she was in a wheel chair United had bumped her and moved my seat. When she asked for he business class seat back or to seat with me they basically told her to fuck off and they will look for another plane for her. We were going to stay in Tokyo together until she got a plane. Not a great end to a 20 hour trip for a 90 year old woman
When somebody gets off a flight and needs wheelchair assistance, it is NOT United or actual airline staff that do that. This passenger would have been met by a wheelchair pusher who works for a third party airport vendor. Generally these are people who may not speak good English or don’t know enough to ask questions. They probably dropped her off at the wrong gate and there she sat while everyone else (including her) was oblivious.
Good point, JoEllen. Wheelchair service at every airport is operated by a third party vendor, generally contracted by the Airport Authority and then assigned to provide service for each airside.
I would also question if it was a through ticket or a separate Dulles to Newark ticket. If it is a separate ticket then that is not an international flight ticket….would be a domestic flight ticket only with no connection to the international flights. Hence, a missed connection has no bearing on the United flight. The international flight would require a minimum two or three hour check in. Sounds to me there’s more to this story!