Another case of US Airways flight attendants and captains overreacting? On a flight Thursday night from Philadelphia (PHL) to Islip (ISP), the flight crew kicked off a blind man and his service dog, supposedly because the blind man had used offensive language after flight attendants asked him to calm his service dog. Passengers disagreed and noted no disturbance from the dog, nor did they hear the passenger use any inappropriate language when speaking with the crew. As the passenger was being kicked off the flight, other passengers were outraged and loudly voiced their objections. The pilot was forced to exit the cockpit and after seeing the uproar in the cabin, decided to cancel the entire flight. All passengers were then bussed from Philadelphia to Long Island.
Check out the full story and video interview at WABC New York.
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7 comments
I am heartened by the reaction of passengers in support of what sounds like an overreaction to the blind passenger and his assist dog.
When I was kicked of a Mesa/United flight after boarding because I use a ventilator (documented and FAA approved for air travel), no passenger made a peep in my defense.
It’s amazing these flight attendants think they are god. I have witnessed some of the rudest people on the planet on US Air and American. Imagine how amazing the world could be if people were simply held accountable for their actions at work. Unions suck
Not like this is an excuse, but this would have been a Piedmont flight, not US Airways. I feel like that should be noted in your write up.
Not to point out the obvious, but there is a probably a decent ADA lawsuit that possibly could be filed. I hate to see the threat of litigation used irresponsibly as leverage, but the ADA is about civil rights in the end.
Yeah this story was really sad, but I always assume that there was more to the situation than originally reported. That said, many flight attendants have a very low tolerance for handling challenges, and American/USAir seem to disproportionately have more of them than the other airlines.
And in continuing outrage, US Airways posted possibly the most insulting push-back against its own customers anger, by continuing to blame the victim. As if the entire plane-load of people had (of course) totally misconstrued the situation they themselves experiences–all of them. The most spectacular PR fail this Comms professional has ever seen. Amazing. I grieve for the “New American.”
I just flew from DFW-SFO next to a really nice blind guy with a service dog on AA. The flight crew was really helpful to him and accommodating to his dog going out of their way to make sure they were both comfortable. I hope this is an isolated event.