Great pr there! (And, YES, we do need a sarcasm font!)

about the time the putz shoved his finger in my face he would have regretted coming to work that day. dislocated fingers hurt like a sob.

strollers really should be checked.

that said, that American Airliens employee wanting to fight a passenger should be unemployed by now.

Two words-

Estrogen
Tazer

Strollers "shouldn't be checked". They MUST be checked. She dragged a double stroller onto the plane, then threw a fit when told she could not and that it had to be checked. Nobody could get on the plane with that in the aisle. She didn't cooperate. Jeebus - She wasn't hit, neither was her child - what the hell is she crying and bawling about? Sit your ass down and shut up.

Follow the friggin regulations!

We're lucky our moms didn't have tasers.

You want to cry? I'll give you something to cry about, tzzz tzzzzz!

It is nuts to try to bring a stroller on a plane.
What is the point you can't stroll down the aisle of an airplane with a baby in that stroller. Absurd.

I heard a half dozen accounts of this incident on Sirius radio. All stories began with "The woman was sobbing."
"The woman was in tears."

So what if she was in tears? Good God it is just like when I was in second grade, all a girl has to do is start crying, and the world is supposed to stop turning. Everyone has to stop and attend to the poor crying girl.

Has it ever occurred to people that these girls can turn tears on and off like a spigot? That these girls cry on purpose in order to elicit sympathy.

Crying lady with the stroller: Shut The F*** Up!

I didn't see enough to know what was going on except that she was upset about a stroller. I didn't see anyone hit her.Is that what allegedly happened?

Wasn't she foreign? I could see how this thing could have been started by a lack of comprehension on her part.

When my boys were young, every airline would allow us to keep them in the stroller until we got to the door of the plane. There, we would leave the stroller, grab up the kids and gear, and then board the plane. Then one of the airline baggage handlers would stow the stroller under the plane.

I would be willing to bet, she misunderstood the way it worked, and instead of leaving the stroller at the door, tried to go on the plane with it. Seems strange, but she had to know that a double stroller is not something to "carry on".

Of course everything after that is a cluster.

JMO


Clyde

Just what US airlines need in terms of good PR!! I know flight crews are stressed with overbooking, lousy customer service, surly passengers who want low fares and tons of service, etc., but the United incident and now the American incident do little to boost confidence.

In the case (the American incident), the pilot, who is in command of the plane, apparently did nothing to restore order and control the situation.

I'm sure the police officer who would put the handcuffs on you (after landing for assaulting a flight attendant - this is not taken lightly!) wouldn't agree with your actions.

Well, the bar has been set...

What about boarding personnel let strollers on or not, rather than having stews hit women with them?
I mean, they stop passengers from carrying on trunks dont they?

Duh.

Once in awhile you see or hear what you know to be true

Dear god thank you my momma didn't have a taser

cell phone video may well be teh worst thing thats ever happened in this country....

You almost NEVER see the whole incident and rarely if ever find out all of the facts...

Load of chitt w/o context. Blubbering bitch seems to have forgotten a few things:

1. Boarding a commercial passenger flight is a privilege, not a right.
2. There are regulations attached to that privilege
3. None of the above is negotiable

Regardless of what else may have occurred, that flight attendant won't be able to defend his conduct. It was unprofessional and he's got to own it.

The claim is, she would not give up the stroller, and the attendant tried to check it. She was struck by the stroller and it just missed the baby. It was not intentional, but no nonsense either. He used force to separate her from her property. You can't do that, regardless of the reason. Just remove her from the flight until she can comply with the rules.
If nothing else, ask france air to translate. Translators are pretty common in airports of that size. My brother married a french airline stewardess. (She now works as a translator for google)

So we have no idea what started this lady crying. We have no idea what happened prior to the camera coming on.

The lawyer that is representing the doctor from the United incident is now representing this lady. He knows a payday when he sees one.

That's what lawyers do!

assuming from a bit of a clip is about as stupid as the whole incident.

If you think that removing a stroller is tough, think about how tough it would be to remove the passenger and stroller and children.

Just saying...

Was it the most proper way to do it? I"d say not. But saying a steward hit a woman or ALMOST hit a woman is about nuts when it was in process of doing something else...

Folks are to wound up.

On a note, I"d bet she ain't one I"d want to bring home to momma as they say... if you whine and cry about that.

What ever happened to understanding and following rules?

I mean I research before I do things that are new to me...

Those are all good points. And maybe that flight attendant does an outstanding job, 99 percent of the time. However, he got caught on camera acting in a way that neither he nor the airline will be proud of. He has to accept responsibility for that. I know first hand that nobody sees when you do a good job, but when you don't...the whole world seems to be watching.

Private industry...flying isn't a right.

If I owned an airline I'd shut down for 2 weeks then maybe people will appreciate what a privilege a private company is offering them.

When airline transportation first started it was a "special" occasion to ride on an airplane, people actually dressed nice and were courteous to others.

Now people think it's a form of Public Transportation where any Tom, Dick and Harry can do whatever they want.

I've flown a little, even have a fancy pilots license and dealing with the public like the airlines do would suck. No one will ever be happy in today's entitlement society.

Thing is, airplanes DO crash on rare occasions. This c*nt decides to fly alone with TWO infants??? I realize people will step up and offer assistance where/when needed, but damn...

I don't know why posters on here are calling the woman vile names,especially since we don't even know what exactly set her off. It saddens me greatly that I see more and more of this type behavior here on the fire lately. Have we lost all common decency?

I grew up with six sisters, and let me tell you, girls can absolutely turn tears on and off like a spigot. And as for this lady, I'll bet this was her plan all along. Did she actually think the stroller would fit in an overhead bin or under a seat? No, she wanted special treatment.

True, but I"ve been pushed into a corner where I"ve needed to be a bit verbal with a few folks a few times. Sometimes the PR stuff has to go out the window and you have to tell someone how its going to be or else....

I wish I'd have never been put into those instances.

And RE PR.... I talk to folks all day long at the city. In person or on the phone. But the first time you use foul language the discussion ends or I hang up on you. I know its OT...but folks do not have to put up with some stuff from the public regardless. I have a lawyer here in town that its almost a 50/50 shot if I hang up on him if he calls...

If they didnt see the assault that got the cell phones recording, it didnt happen.

Remember: PICS OR IT DIDNT HAPPEN.

95% of air travelers haven’t a F’n clue how to board or exit aircraft. It shouldn’t be a surprise that you need to have your chit ready to stow when you arrive at your seat and that if you’re doddling you’re holding up the entire plane. It’s really not that hard to fold up the stroller at the end of the jet way, scoop up your kids and plop them in their seat. I can’t imagine trying to wheel a double stroller down an aircraft aisle. Mom was probably all stressed out, kids picked up on that were crying, mom gets further flustered and the c-f rolls on.

That said, if the steward was trained to see a customer who was stressed he could have easily calmed the mom, offered to hold one of the kids, which would have been the quickest way to deal with the issue and would have had mom raving about how wonderful the airline is.

Basically most people are clueless.

You have that right. 2 folks were likely to blame there. Both for not knowing/doing the right things! But assault? Really?

They make a special announcement when they start boarding passengers for folks who need a little extra time or some help in getting on board. They specifically mention folks with little kids. Maybe she got to the gate late? Maybe she was in the bathroom when they called for early boarding? I think they said she was going home to Argentina, so maybe she didn't understand? There's a whole lot that happened before they started rolling film that we don't really know about. When/if the flight attendant yanked the stroller, he was wrong.

How was he wrong if she was on board with what is not permitted? Stupid? Maybe. Wrong? DOn't see that.

Who ever let her by the Plane check-in with a baby in a stroller is at fault, and if she just pushed her way thru, and then the Plane was notified of what was coming down the ramp, then she got everything she deserved. Way too much not shown from the beginning to fault anyone. She could have rushed the boarding pass gate with a bomb in a stroller, thinking a baby on board would save her ass. I think the airline did the right thing. Crocodile tears!

They can usually bring the stroller down to the Main Cabin Door but then they have to leave them there to be stowed underneath.

The Flight Attendant was wrong not in what he did as far as insisting that the stroller be stowed under the plane but in how he went about it (according to reports, for what that is worth). If, as reported, he lost his cool and yanked the stroller away, either hitting or nearly hitting the woman and nearly hitting the child, then he was wrong.

The commercial airline industry offers a service in exchange for monetary compensation, not a privilege. To suggest otherwise is delusional.

That fatazz stewardess dared me to bring it on and I'd have flattened him.

I spent quite a bit of time in the interior of Mexico as a young man. I was strongly warned that anytime I went into a cantina in the evening for a beer that I could expect to be frequently challenged to a fight.

Young, drunk Mexican males want to prove how macho they are by starting fights. The winner is more macho, you see.

A gringo is an immediate target of interest. My Mexican friends explained that if I got into a fight, the police would be summoned immediately. Then the gringo (me in this case) would be automatically arrested, regardless of the circumstances.

Once outside, a shakedown by the cop for money or a watch takes place. If the gringo refuses, he goes to jail for the night. If the shakedown is successful, the cop frequently gives a kickback to the bartender or whoever summoned the police.

No matter what, the gringo in that situation is almost always going to lose, one way or another. I was always on my best behavior, and still had a couple of very close calls, being assaulted by young toughs for no reason.

One should be just as careful with their behavior entering today's world of commercial aviation, in the security line, at the gate, and on the airplane.

If anyone starts a fight on an airplane, with a male (or female) crew-member, no matter how they were provoked, I can guarantee that the passenger is going to jail first.

And if the passenger behind you is an air-marshal you will be on the carpet in handcuffs before you know what happened.

With the post 9-11 high-stress security environment everybody needs to behave themselves and follow the rules. It is sad, but not surprising, that some very frustrated airline employees lose their cool sometimes.

You can write them up, or complain after you get off the plane, but threatening an airline employee, or laying a hand on one will get you a quick ticket to jail, and no frequent-flyer miles.

My thoughts, too.

I wouldn't define it as a privilege.

It a business transaction. Its no more of a privilege than shopping for navy beans at Wal-Mart.

She was a woman with two babies in a stressful situation.
A little compassion seemed warranted, something the airlines seem to be short on lately.

And the airlines put Tom, Dick and Harry in a "basic economy" where you now have to pay for the right to use an overhead bin, to check luggage, to get a pillow or blanket, headphones or a drink.

screw airlines, you treat people like cattle, expect them to act like it.

It's not now or has it ever been about getting on an airplane. It's about GETTING OFF OF AN AIRPLANE. Do the words EMERGENCY EGRESS mean anything to anyone anymore? The whole idea about keeping the aisles clear is for everyone to get off in case of an EMERGENCY.

The airlines have done a horrible job about information the public about the safety considerations of flying and getting out of a crashed airplane, ALIVE.

The steward didn't use much tact in addressing this issue but the airlines needs to put this out to the flying public light years ahead of selling ONE ticket.

kwg

Sheesh, you guys are pretty hard on a poor lady.... in spite of the fact that that video appears to be only a snapshot of the overall deal. Seriously, if you've ever seen some dude try to bring on a PVC tube full of mega-buuko fly rods, and have his fingers pried/peeled off, you know that this lady's 'upset' was small potatoes.

I'm thankful that I never have to be around large groups of people. Especially in close quarters.


God damn that would be annoying.

L

Who permitted her to get on board with what she got on board with?

Every time i board a plane they got the folks working for the airline i am flying check my boarding pass and size of carry on and then they wave me on?

If she got crap that aint allowed on, why de hail did they wave her on?

NL

Yer two dayom smert fer this dern crew.

Yeah, definitely worse than wading in cow schitt.

I have well over a million miles with United and half that with good old Continental and another million with American, Alaskan, Emirates, Quatar Air, BA, Quantas and Virgin with a number of random flights with others over a thirty year period and have never had an issue short of a personal family flight from our place north (Spokane airport) back home to the San Antonio airport with American. The incoming flight to Dallas was going to be fifteen minutes late, I queried the flight attendant and "all was good". They sold our seats, closed the doors and sent us to a hotel. I exploded to the point of having a TSA confrontation. I, frankly, was stunned with my years of flying in all sorts of goofy places that a Dallas to San Antonio flight would be my sole problem flight. Bottom line, my experiences have been pretty positive.

Everyone here who has made their way out of a crashed aircraft raise their hand.

Or stroller.

There is no opportunity to get it right the second try.

I drive with the drunks on Friday night to go fishinb to dodge the stroller caused crashes.

What is she bawling for? Acting like someone hit her kid with a car. And that flight crew needs to take control of the passengers. The lack of authority and direction was ridiculous

NL

Yeah, thats what people were recording and pissed about.

And, a testosterone charged passenger threatened to knock the flight attendant flat.

Boy, is he a knight in shining armor. What a hero.
He also committed a federal felony, assault of a flight attendant, and he should be charged.
Not the first guy who made a fool of himself, being manipulated by a female.

Basic economy is still better than first class Grayhound...

No one is forcing anyone to fly airlines...people can drive, take a bus, hitchike, take a train, RV, bicycle, boat....lots of options for people that aren't competent enough to follow simple rules.

Several people in this thread still haven't gotten the message about strollers. They ARE allowed past the door at the top of the jetbridge, all the way down to the door of the airplane.

That is where the strollers are left, for the baggage handlers to get them and load them into the belly compartment.

At the destination the strollers are brought back up the stairs by a baggage handler so that the parents can retrieve them, right there by the door of the airplane. They can then load their infant into the stroller and push the loaded stroller up the jetbridge and into the terminal.

During heavy family holiday travel periods it is not unusual to have a dozen or more strollers handled this way on a single flight.

If the passenger tries to bring a stroller onto the plane, the first flight attendant nearest the entry door has to stop them and tell them to leave the stroller outside the door. Or, in an effort to help a mom with her hands full, the flight attendant might say, "I will take the stroller for you, and have it taken downstairs. It will be brought back up to the door at our destination."

As this is happening, the entry is blocked, and the boarding process is getting delayed. Now, if the person doesn't speak English, or for some reason refuses to give up the stroller, the boarding process comes to a halt until the situation is resolved.

Remember, the agents and the flight attendants are under tremendous pressure to get the door closed on time. Regulations do not allow the door to be closed until all passengers are seated and all luggage stowed with all bins closed. A computer on the plane sends a time signal when the door is closed that confirms to the FAA and the world that the door was closed on-time, or not, and by how many minutes. If the door didn't close on time, the delay has to be accounted for, and employees are held responsible. This is quite stressful for the employees, as you can well imagine.

Things like strollers, wheelchairs, and walkers are handled like this every day. They are allowed all the way to the door of the aircraft, but they aren't permitted in the passenger cabin.

You're really struggling with this.

What rules weren't followed? Please cite them specifically.

"Strollers aren't allowed in the passenger cabin."

That seems simple enough.

Except when they are allowed...

Many strollers are small enough to fit the bins (specifically and exactly) and many airlines do not object to them... she had apparently just flown many legs with her stroller in the cabin...

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/special-assistance/traveling-children.jsp
AA-Strollers

'' Each ticketed customer is allowed 1 stroller. Only small, collapsible and light strollers (up to 20lbs/9kgs) can be checked at the gate.
Any stroller that weighs over 20lbs/9 kgs, is too large or is non−collapsible must be checked at the ticket counter.

Customers are allowed 1 stroller and 1 car seat per ticketed passenger. Both items may be checked at the ticket counter or one item
can be checked at the gate and one at the counter. These items are checked at no charge, when traveling with a child or to adopt.''



they have caught out a number of lying POS cops, so cant be all that bad.
better still maybe EVERYONE should wear a bodycam these days...

Just think of all the stupid we would miss out on if there were no cell phone cameras.

Gotta like the gay stewardess shaking his finger.

She shouldn't have been flying unaccompanied with TWO infants. If an emergency situation occured she'd be fűucked along with other passengers.

It's also not true, like most every thing written on this thread.

BS

My cows for the most part have better manners and don't smell near as bad.

That'll just about cover "Fly-bys"...

alot of planes crash while people are boarding and putting away carry on items?

Thank you for the citation.

If you read the comments in the link, there is an eye witness that explains a lot of what happened before the film. miles

Lots of interesting opinions posted here but the one that counts is the airline's and American figured it out right quick.

American Airlines suspended a flight attendant after an altercation on Friday in which the attendant took a stroller from a woman traveling with two young children and then argued with other passengers.

“What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers,” the airline said in a statement. “The actions of our team member captured here do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care. In short, we are disappointed by these actions.”

The woman and her family were put on a different flight, from which they caught a connecting international flight. The airline said it had upgraded the family to first-class seats for the rest of their trip and was investigating the episode.

“We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected,” the airline said in its statement.

Actually, I don't believe he did.
He said "IF you did that to me, I WOULD do ..." that is not an actual threat, as it has a conditioner to the statement. As long as mr. Pudgy doesn't do a repeat with white knight, he is perfectly safe. No actual threat.

For all three his "Home of the free and land of the brave" crap it has been my observation that the average American white person puts up with and is a lot more supportive of casual authoritarianism than most people in the rest of the world.

I suspect that being a foreigner, she was completely unaccustomed to the casual brutality that passes for customer service in this country.

Not mine. Are are those really thoughts? The kind you ponder over. Seem like knee jerk reactions after a fight with the wife.

I think there is some truth to that. Heck, even the casual vacation traveler has a different level of tolerance than a seasoned business traveler.

Get behind someone in TSA who doesn't know to take off their belt, their shoes, throw out the bottled water and get the laptop out of the case...

I was behind a young girl going thru security and the TSA guy pulled what was at least a 7 inch lock blade knife out of her bag. I just looked at him and went to another line. I knew that line wasn't going anywhere soon.

I'm not going to dog a woman traveling with two children who is stressed. I don't like it, I don't want her sitting next to me if I can help it but its easy to forget after you've flown for years that for some people this is a once every 5 years experience. Security, switching gates and terminals, etc., its all new, its all stressful and they're just trying to get to wherever they are going.

I agree with some that say there is a lack of compassion in some of the responses.

I doubt I'd have been restrained enough to not knock out the bald headed, short, dick like stewardess' chicklets. It would not have been good for me no doubt but I've never been one to worry. I swing first and sort it out after.

I'd read that the gate agent told the lady that the collapsible stroller was allowed onboard as long as there was room in the overhead.

Either way that bald prick looked like a little punk that would have benefited from facial reconfigureation. 😉

Who said they waved her on. She was just inside the "front door".... that takes just a second, and she may have been dragging the attendant with her...

I"m going out on a limb and say as hysterical as she was, there is still stuff out there none of us may ever know...

And yet the number of POS cops pales in comparison to the number of POS other humans... maybe we should all wear them all the time.

OR we should learn how to follow rules and interact with other humans on a calm level. All around...

Of course there is going to be save as much money in the lawsuit as we can point of view publicly... and the behind the scenes actual feelings we'll never know..

Ok. They let her pass on to the plane, evidently with no one explaining she may or may not be allowed to keep the stroller. Pretty probable if not evident.

I had to check my carry on once, as it was too large. They let me know before I got to board, where my pass was checked, as they should.

Top three stupid claims made so far by posters:

"she shouldn't be on the plane with two small children in the first place"

"strollers must be checked at the ticket counter!"

"follow the rules!"

The situation was being sorted out, exactly where a stroller situation is usually sorted out when kids are less than 2yo: at the plane door. We've put strollers overhead; we've had helpful crew stash them elsewhere in the cabin, we've left them at the plane door; we've checked them at the ticket counter when the kids get old enough to walk through the terminal. None of this is unusual.

It is unusual to instruct a mom to look for overhead storage, and then rip it away, doing harm, when said storage is not available. It is unusual to do anything but gently explain the fate of the stroller to the woman, using a smartphone translator if needed. "Your item will be located on the passenger loading ramp when you arrive" translates to "Uw item wordt bij de aankomst op de passagier laadoprit geplaatst" in Dutch, in less than a second on my phone. It is apparent from the body language of the various crew and gate agents, that gentle explanation is outside of their capability.

Just a bunch of unwarranted drama on everyone involved's part as far as I could tell.

Pathetic but not surprising in today's world.

They didn't have to wave her on, strollers are allowed on AA flights. I imagine the crying started when a stew who choose to show his azzhole side was mean to her and her babies. He might have injured her a bit ripping the stroller away. I think that's why the guy on the plane wanted to rearrange his face for him. He's seen the chit the stew did and was ready to stand up for it. Losers on here only want to blame the woman. Figures.

face it. This was just another engineered 'event'. What a neat trick. You want Company X stock to tank for your own benefit, just stage an event, and let it 'go viral'. The rubes will believe any stupid thing they see on YouTube, or the 24HourCampFire. lol

This^^^. Bins were full and they were put out having to deal with her. Now, had she been AA.....

Let us know when you load up on stock and how much, Mann.

He just needs his meds adjusted and he'll be fine.

Can't believe a guy would act that way towards a woman and child. Pretty f'ed up, regardless of why. 99% of passengers only fly a handful of times in their lives.

Modern progressive christian gentleman.

THIS.

Had a friend from Argentina also that was staying with me. Flew out early the next morning and was caught in a very slow security line. Got to the gate before departure but after they had closed the door down the ramp. The plane sat there for at least 15 minutes after he arrived at the gate, but they refused to board him. He went ballistic. That sort of thing wouldn't necessarily happen in Argentina. This is a guy that flies regularly to Europe, China, SE Asia and Africa for business. Always first or business class and he was floored with the airline's treatment of him. In Argentina, they would've allowed him to board. I would dare say, based on my travels to South America, flight crew would not treat a woman as this man appeared to treat her.

I wasn't surprised by the stew and his actions. I was appalled that the captain did not step in quicker, take control and get things settled quicker.

THIS. He has ABSOLUTE command. He should have stepped in, neutralized the situation by ordering the steward to stand down and speak with the woman. As stated previously, there are no deviations from the rules aboard, but this was one hell of a goat rope and in the end, the CAPTAIN holds responsibility AND accountability.

The bullchit protection that the flight crew enjoys should not be applicable until the aircraft has pushed back. Some short little prick doesn't get to assault a passenger with immunity.

I have flown all over the world with my two small children. My 3 year old has been to 19 different countries. My 13 month old has been to 6. Plus travel within the USA.

Traveling alone with kids sucks and should be avoided if possible IMO. Sometimes that is your only option.

The stroller situation is a crap shoot. Sometimes it gets checked with the luggage but most times it is gate checked. Sometimes at the counter and sometimes at the plane. My unit it too big for the overhead.

Traveling with kids within the US is tough enough. Traveling internationally takes it to a whole new level. Try to keep a 2 year old entertained for a 14+ hour flight while trying to respect all the other paying passengers that cringe to know there is a kid on the same flight.

Point is the passenger/parent needed to roll with the situation. Follow the instructions of the crew (even if they are idiots) and move to your assigned seats. That said, a little grace and a helping hand from the crew would have gone a long way.

The goal is no drama, just get yourself and the kids seated as efficiently as possible. Most of the time the stroller will get where you are going just like your luggage.