A United Airlines flight attendant purportedly refused to help an elderly disabled passenger store her small purse and cane in the overhead bin, then tried to get her thrown off the flight when she complained.
United Flight Attendant Says “Union Regulation” Prevents Her From Helping Elderly Woman Store Her Cane, Then Tries To Get Woman Thrown Off Flight
A woman described as “elderly and disabled” was seated in first class in the bulkhead row on a United Airlines flight. When seated in the bulkhead, you cannot have any personal items at your feet for takeoff and landing.
During pre-flight safety checks, the flight attendant asked the elderly woman to store her cane and purse. The woman asked for her assistance.
The flight attendant was angered by the request, stating:
“ABSOLUTELY NOT, I CANNOT DO THAT DUE TO UNION REGULATIONS, WHAT IF I GET INJURED, MA’AM, MAAAAAAM!!!”
I’ve argued before that a flight attendant should not be asked to lift larger carry-on bags in the overhead bin…it’s not fair and not right. But this is different: federal accommodation law requires such assistance and we are talking about a purse and a cane, not the kitchen sink.
But wait, there’s more.
Calmly and politely (according to witnesses), the elderly passenger said she had never had trouble with this assistance before and her request was predicated on her disability.
But this angered the flight attendant even more. She “insisted the lady was being unreasonable,” and after another passenger volunteered to put the purse and cane in the bin for her, the flight attendant then “angrily slammed the bins closed and stomped back to her jump seat.”
The aircraft pushed back, but then stopped suddenly and returned to the gate, with the captain announcing that the plane was returning due to an “incident” onboard.
A customer service agent boarded and approached the elderly woman, telling her the flight attendant had complained that she was “talking down” to her. Witnesses immediately spoke up in her defense and she was allowed to stay onboard (maybe United did learn something from my incident…).
Just witnessed really upsetting incident with a disabled elderly passenger and United flight attendant
byu/mildlyburner inunitedairlines
The same flight attendant then “gave the safety announcement in the most eerie, overly cheerful, almost sociopathic-sounding voice I’ve ever heard,” according to a witness onboard who shared about the experience on reddit.
I did reach out to United yesterday about this in an attempt to learn if there was another side to this story. I’m not surprised United chose not to comment. Even if (and we have no indication this happend) the woman was rude and uppity with the flight attendant, that does not give the flight attendant license to refuse assistance or to try and throw her off.
These Stories Undermine “Good Leads The Way” Narrative
I highlight this story because, yes, I’m rooting for United Airlines to emerge as a premium carrier not just in terms of its onboard product–which is steadily improving–but it service onboard. Most flight attendants are wonderful, which is all the more surprising considering flight attendants have been waiting years for a new contract and are paid comparatively less than their industry peers at American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines.
Yet there are bad apples (I’ll never forget my lying bad apple) and I find it important to highlight these instances as a tool of accountability. If there is no countervailing narrative, this flight attendant does not belong in the skies, nor does any other bitter grump who hates customers but shows up for a paycheck.
Sorry, there are too many in the pipeline glad to take their place. Flight attendants at United deserve a raise, just like the C-Suite has already received. But I hope that a new contract will include stricter performance standards for flight attendants. There are so many great flight attendants (like on this flight) that already greatly exceed the threshold of providing gracious, friendly, and attentive service. If that becomes the standard, United can outshine its industry peers, both foreign and domestic.
But incidents like this must be strictly dealt with. Refusing to help a disabled passenger store a cane and a small purse is unacceptable, full stop.
CONCLUSION
A United flight attendant has been accused of refusing to help a disabled passenger store her cane and purse, then demanding the passenger be thrown off the flight when she pushed back. If that is how the event went down (and witnesses seem to confirm this account), the flight attendant does not deserve to be in a customer-facing role.
Hat Tip: View From The Wing
I was on this flight. I’m guessing the problem was the very rude black flight attendant. She was horrible!
I had a coworker on this flight and said that the FA was a very rude and arrogant entitled black queen who was very disrespectful to this elderly well mannered passenger. Enough with this kind of behavior. Treat others the way you or your family want to be treated.
Some hood rat was on a power trip. Deep inside, she knows she’s just a waitress in the sky.
It always is one of them
The blatant racism in this comments section is DISGUSTING. It’s every bit as nauseating as any FA who’d be rude to a passenger with physical challenges.
Both mindsets are SO WRONG. But here’s betting that grouchy, out-of-line FA had already encountered *at least* one bigot that day, which threw her mood into a tailspin. NOT an excuse, but a VERY feasible explanation. I hope she gets some much-needed downtime to relax, recharge & reflect, so she can do better.
As a retired (lily white, btw) FA, I very much enjoyed flying with people from ALL sorts of different religions, places & races. You can bet it’ll be the SAME colorful lineup in any Heaven that may exist.
Opening one’s eyes to other ways & traditions can be FASCINATING. You miss out on SO much of Life, when you refuse to remove the blinders you were forced to wear as a child. Esp when those blinders were constructed of pure hate. That’s NO ticket to redemption, for ANY of us.
Sadly, those too long steeped in prejudice have far TOO shallow an understanding of human nature.. They remain too blind to see the DREADFUL impact their abusive actions have on our world. The most decent souls try NOT to victim-blame, but to hold the ABUSERS accountable, instead.
As will God, who made us ALL… in such AMAZING variety. Then, sent Someone Special here to teach us to be kind & to respect others, despite our differences.
Good luck explaining putrid mindsets to our SHARED Maker. I will pray for you, as well as for those unfairly maligned & mistreated by bigots.
Don’t want to see downtrodden people exhibiting animalistic behaviors? Then STOP treating other human beings like garbage. STOP denying them a decent education. STOP entrapping them in oain, just b/c they wear the skin GOD gave them.
A better world will NOT be created via cruelty, bigotry, greed OR hate. And don’t forget – Satan is *always* recruiting like mad, as he *always* has. You just might NOT be playing for the “team” you *though* you’d joined. Good luck with THAT!!
Good points, Wanda. Thanks for sharing.
At first this story pissed me off. Then I read your comment and now I hope the next flight you are on a black FA throws you off the flight… while it’s in the air
The FA was prejudice and should be canned. Sick of the entitled shitty behavior.
The FA probably needs to see a psychiatrist but should receive employment counseling (different from psychiatric counseling) about helping passengers. However, the FA should be fired for making up a report about kicking the passenger off. That kind of violation is a kind of corruption and dishonesty. I am usually for employees not being fired but that kind of ethical and corrupt violation desires termination.
There is too much unhelpfulness and othering in this timeline.
Can we choose one with a social valence of cooperation, please?
Please elaborate.
Yeah but they won’t can the f/a because “racism”
She didendo nuffif.
Ive been racially profiled for being white about four times since living in the south. Twice with United at IAH , once with TSA at IAH , and once with American at PHL the latter maybe just a sign of the times. You need to be polite but firm in these situations. We wouldn’t even be discussing this story right now if it weren’t for the reddit user , grumpy flight attendant , or elderly passenger not being a redneck rich Karen. So annoying but the FA also could have just put the bag up and closed the bin. It’s not airport meltdown season. Wait for the holidays for that.
Fly the friendly skies!
I’m a retired flight attendant that flew for 41 years. I wasn’t going to say anything about this (from what I understand reading the story, the flight attendant was clearly wrong, rude and unprofessional). Why does her race have anything to do with her behavior? She is an employee of United Airlines, she is a flight attendant and she is a woman of color! I had to deal with this type of racism all of my career (I am of mixed race and proud of it!). So let’s deal with the issue, not the race! We help the elderly, the differently abled and those at the bulkhead. If you as the flight attendant, can’t lift it, then get assistance
Carmen, I agree!
It’s sad how fast the comments have fixated on race.
Uh oh…., The dreaded ‘race card’ is pulled ….
Having a tantrum and being rude to a customer is bad enough, but the lie the FA told to prompt a return to the gate is u forgivable. She’s a dishonest person. Fire her.
*unforgivable. Stupid iPad.
Karma knows FA home address and will visit at the right time. Lazy female depending on her Union to defend her, yet same Union cant or wont get a deal for their membership. Bet FA has no problem bending over for canes at home or hotel room lol. Fly United!
The issue is not race, but economics
When a union and company cannot even find agreement on basic compensation, there is no way that service levels or employee behavior will be addressed
Oh stfu. This behavior would’ve likely happened contract or not.
to highlight the economic challenges facing the industry including getting a new contract for UA’s FAs and other labor groups, LUV just reported its 1st quarter financials and outlook which involves a deeper decline than expected in demand and capacity in the second half of the year mirroring what DL and UA previously said over the past two weeks.
ALK just said that even 1st quarter demand is falling off faster than expected and their 1st quarter profit will be worse than expected. Their post market stock is down even worse than LUV’s.
AAL reports tomorrow.
the AFA should have gotten a deal w/ UA a long time ago. Service standards and employee behavior issues will continue to come up just as they did during the years that AA spent deciding to settle with the APFA.
and if UA decides to settle, the impact to their earnings will be steeper than if the economic status quo of the last few years continued – but that is not likely to be the case.
hopefully, Matthew will cover tomorrow’s earnings
I intend to cover AA’s earnings.
good.
WN’s is just as relevant.
We have just 2 airlines that are reporting profitable Q1s.
As ALWAYS, I only have half the story. I rembered a radio advice show. The caller was ticked that she brought some food to her neighbor who only faintly said “thanks.” The giver was p!ssed. The host asked: could her father have just passed, did you wake her up, is she just back from chemotherapy, etc? Going from A to C (or anywhere) in ATL is easy. What else in on the redcoat’s plate. It reminds me my friends in restaurants. People get upset that the staff doesn’t take their 13 month anniversary as equally special as a grandma’s 90th bday.
But @Dave W, at least here I asked United about it and gave UA 24 hours to respond before writing about this. The silence is telling too…
Jeezuz f’n Christ Tim what does your BS have to do with this story?
are you unaware of how badly AA’s FAs customer service fell during their contract negotiations?
people get testy when their money is at stake.
Agreed. He parrots the same tired points across multiple blogs. It’s a crying shame he’s here now. I hope he migrates back OMAAT.
it’s either fact or it’s not.
The number of events with nasty confrontation with AA FAs skyrocketed while the APFA and AA battled it out.
The only people that don’t understand the relationship between union contract status and employee performance are those people that have never witnessed how nasty airline labor relations are.
Remember the end of UA’s ESOP and UA pilot’s cry to “squeeze the golden goose until it lays its last egg?”
You’re drawing conclusions, and parroting your typical talking points. You’re pathetic.
Nice language.
Why hasn’t she been fired? So much for “accountability”.