When I was thrown off a United Airlines flight for taking a picture of my seat, many were quick to attack — blaming me for being over-entitled and concluding that I was wrong to even question the FA’s confusion over in-flight photography. Such attacks were unfounded, but at the same time I could appreciate why they were made. A woman in New York was thrown off a flight before takeoff in Seattle for rudely flouting FA instructions concerning onboard seat exchanges. My first reaction was to condemn the woman…but we should be careful to jump to conclusions.
Watch the video here or below.
Jean Mamakos was on her way to a ski trip and saw several rows of open seats in the Economy Plus cabin while she was wedged into a full row behind the exit row. United offers up to five extra inches of legroom in the forward economy class cabin, offering those seats free of charge to elite members and for a fee to others. Perhaps in ignorance to that arrangement, she moved up and plopped herself down in an open row after the boarding door had closed, where she was quickly interdicted by a FA who called out, “Oh no you don’t!”.
She retreated back but instead of going back to her own seat, she sat down in an open exit row, which was empty. Another FA informed her that this would be considered a seat upgrade and she could remain in the seat if she paid the $109 upgrade fee. One passenger reported the passenger allegedly responded, “Make me” when informed she had to vacate the seat.
What is unclear is what the tone of the conversation was like — whether Mamakos was combative and nasty or just confused and tired. In any case, she eventually returned to her seat and thought the matter was over…until the Captain announced, “There is a lady that wants to get off the plane on this flight, so we have to wait.”
The aircraft door re-opened and three police officers boarded and asked Mamakos to follow them out. She refused and was dragged off the plane, ripping her jeans. Because she resisted arrest, she was fingerprinted, booked (for resisting arrest and “trespassing” on UA), and placed in jail where she sat over a weekend because the courts were closed. She is now suing United for $5mn.
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My first reaction is that this a typical Brookyln jerk who tried to steal a seat that did not belong to her and she got what she deserved. But we should be careful before jumping to that conclusion…for I also tend to think, based on my own incident, that United overreacted.
I mean, I still fly over 100K per year and see a garden variety of jerks onboard flights on a regular basis — from the nasty 40ish business traveler in the cheap sport coat trying to flout his gold status to the young parents who think they are entitled to pre-boarding and premium economy seating because they have a screaming brat in tow. FAs surely see more than I do and for the sake of tranquility, PR, and because the bark is almost always worse than the bite, it seems clear to me that “special” passengers who kick and scream should be pacified in a way that falls short of throwing them off. I have pity on the FAs who have to deal with passengers like Mamakos, but she is not a particular anomaly – there must be a better way to cajole her into submission then taking the easy path by dumping her.
Her lawsuit is laughable…suing United $5mn because Washington State courts are closed on weekends? Good luck with that. Emotional distress? Unlikely. The fact that she had to be dragged off the plane was her own choice…I considered refusing to disembark in my situation, but knew I would have just inconvenienced the others on the plane and lost my solid argument that I obeyed crew-member instructions at all times.
But I am disappointed again in United…throwing off a passenger should truly be a last resort and if the woman retreated back to her seat in defeat, there was no need to throw her off. If she acted up mid-flight, just let her occupy one of the open rows and have her arrested upon landing.
I seriously doubt she will win her $5million lawsuit against Big Bad Goliath, er, United Airlines. Everything in this article points to her defiance, mouthing off, and ultimate resistance to arrest. This, after she blatantly goes to a second (advantageous) wrong seat in another (exit) row that was not her original seat. Sorry, Matt, I don’t think it was a case of her being “confused and tired”. Surely she chose her seat when she checked in online or at the airport. Why didn’t she think about moving to a better seat at the time she checked in and/or paying for the extra legroom prior to boarding? All of this data is online and in kiosks to assist passengers to make that decision. This is another case of someone who just loves to fight with airlines/staff by virtue of the fact that she bought an airline ticket. They think they can say and do anything to suit themselves and no one else exists. Yes, I will admit there are some jackbooted power tripping airline employees out there but not in this case. I might cut her a little “ignorant” traveler slack – she’s still calling flight attendants “stewardesses”. Did she fly United back home or did she buy another ticket on another airline ? Also, I wonder what her friends thought about it ?
I don’t think UA, or any airline for that matter, is out of line to have an uncooperative passenger removed before flight. It could only get worse, with fewer options, once the plane gets airborne. Crews (cabin and flight) do not want to take the risk that you will calm down, or become cooperative. I don’t blame them. 35,000 feet is no place to deal with a problem. BTW, had you refused to get off the plane, you would have been arrested, just like this woman, who deserved exactly what she got.
I don’t necessarily disagree with UA’s decision to give this particular passenger the boot. It does seem that she was being obnoxious, and telling an FA “make me” when one asks you to move isn’t a good idea. But what irks me, if it’s true, is the FA teller Mamakos “oh no you don’t!”. I’m sorry, I really don’t care how obnoxious a passenger is, how bad a day that employee has had, or how abused that employee feels by management – being rude to a customer is, and should be considered, unacceptable. The alleged rudeness is probably giving this story more legs than it deserves, to boot, since it just feeds into the narrative of flying being a poor experience.
remove her?, perhaps and justifiable
arrest her? – completely unnecessary and vindictive – it serves no “safety” purpose at all – drag her off and wish her good riddance
Did she have a bad attitude, maybe? While I appreciate many UA FT, we all know that they can be some nasty ones on board. What I don’t think most people realize here is that airlines and in turn airline’s employees can do pretty much whatever they want and the courts have given them immunity from prosecution. From DL instructions to CSR or gate agents to almost NEVER give compensation to pass being thrown off planes for pictures or changing seats. Airlines and airline employees know that they can pretty much do what ever they want to pass and, whether they be frequent travelers or leisure travelers there is no more recourse unless the DOT responds. That is the new world, get use to it.
You are now associating your action with this lady. Whether true or not by association you come across as a total jerk. It would be such a fun flight with you and 100 similar bent passengers all on board together complaining about everything including your award seats.
It sounds as if her biggest mistake was resisting arrest. That is what put her in the big house. I would bet that if she had complied with the officers and exited the plane, United would have accommodated her on a later flight. Regardless of what transpired between the traveler and the FA’s, once the police are involved only an idiot would not follow their instructions.
Even if the FA didn’t handle it very smoothly, it seems pretty clear that this was s situation of Mamakos’s making, and that UA had no choice but to offload her, once the situation between Mamakos and the FA’s had deteriorated to this extent. It would have been uncomfortable for everyone.
As for the arrest, chances are she would not have been arrested had she gotten off the plane when asked to. She forced the police to drag her off. That’s what got her arrested.
Yes, FA’s can sometimes be more pleasant or tactful. But they are the ones who govern the cabin, and passengers need to be polite and respectful and submit to them, at least within reason, and Mamakos didn’t.
Good customer service is one thing but for a customer to become rude and obnoxious and cause a charged atmosphere for other passengers is enough for me to have her thrown off the flight. If things were this bad on ground, they are bound to get worse in-flight. I would hate to be served by tense flight attendants who have one eye on this belligerent passenger and there is a us versus them (passengers) attitude in play. As much as I would hate to be in this lady’s shoes (they would not fit me anyway :)), I would also not try to sneak into an upgraded seat and throw a tantrum when asked to vacate it.
Reminds me of a nun doing a crossword on a plane. Being stumped, she asks her seat mate if he knew a four-letter word ending in “unt” referencing a female.
Her fellow passenger replies, “Aunt,” upon which the nun says, “Uh…do you have an eraser I could borrow for a sec?”
The passenger in question ignored the flight attendant’s announcement (come on…we’ve heard it on United a gazillion times) that Economy Plus seats (which include exit row seats) are are available for an additional fee).
It appears that the aggrieved passenger believes that the rules don’t apply to her, and I am certain that when the police approached her, they initially told her that she would have to exit the plane, which she refused to do.
It was only then that things, in contrast to the plane, headed south, and her jeans became religious (hole-y).
Unfortunately, she found someone desperate enough to take her stupid case.
I only hope that the judge takes one look at the case and says, “Get this shit out of my courtroom.”
I suspect, however, that her boorishness will be rewarded, based on the economics of the situation.
A sign of the times. I don’t think United was the cause of her arrest, even though it was obvious the Captain called the police. But, you can’t expect the police to react the same way as an airplane captain would to the situation he was presented with.
Our police are becoming less tolerant and are moving toward a zero level of it. Seems like the “shoot first, ask questions later” M.O. will be our future, unless some attitudes (on both sides) change here in the USA.
Whatever this woman did, the captain was correct in putting the safety and serenity of his plane, crew and passengers first. Flying is dangerous enough without adding more, unnecessary strife.
Here’s a story written back when this incident happened in 2013, it contains several details that shed some light on what happened. It sounds like the pilot was told by the FA that the passenger refused to return to her original seat, so he decided to have her removed due to not complying with flight crew instructions. But police later said which seat she was in her when they took her off the plane, and that it was the original seat assigned to her and printed on her boarding pass.
http://ctwatchdog.com/finance/spat-between-passenger-and-stewardess-results-in-police-dragging-traveler-out-of-united-airlines-plane
What was the outcome of the trespassing case and the resisting arrest case?
Also I believe they have to give the defendant an IA judge in jail whether it is by video or in person within 24 hours. I don’t see how she sat there for three days? For misdemeanors they might even have a standard bail schedule also.