Easyjet throwing woman off flight for 'abuse'

MidlandsMum

Hahaha, no comment!:D

robt_2

Anyone else think that the OP IS that woman, or has had a similar experience happen to her and came on here for sympathy?

moonrakerz

angelapops wrote: »

Isn't one of the questions they ask at check in "did you pack this yourself" I suppose if she didn't know what she was carrying they do have the right to ask her to open it?

This reminds me of a letter I saw a few weeks back, in the Telegraph IIRC. A passenger was asked (at an Irish airport!) - "has anyone put anything in your luggage that you are not aware of ?"

MrsTinks

inchinga wrote: »

Step by step:

• The woman gave up her crackers...
• We (the public) didn't see her arguing about taking the crackers so have only the airline workers say so that she was aggressive.
• The only time we see her is when she is arguing with the manager at the counter, when she is understandably upset and stressed because she has been denied her flight.
• They took her money to provide a service. They decided not to provide a service and didn't refund her money because of hearsay evidence.

I see something horribly unfair here. Who knows, maybe the flight was overbooked and that is company policy - pick a fight with a passenger to bump them off the flight.

They removed her due to a complaint from a staff member for being disruptive and trying insistently to carry a banned item on a flight - not hearsay evidence. Companies and managers have to back employees and will usually do so especially if the passenger in question has tried to carry an item that is obviously banned on their plane. The fines involved if she'd been allowed it are not just a slap on the back of the hand! Not including the obvious security and safety risk.

She ought to be glad I'm not a service desk manager because I would have had escorted from the terminal and if possible pressed for assult on a member of my staff! Being thrown of a flight and refused a refund would be the LEAST of her worries!

It's not ANY airlines policy to pick fights with passengers to kick them off - if you watch Airline or Airport you'll know how often they overbook and the fact that the staff tell the passengers that the flight is overbooked and if people don't volunteer they get volunteered to take the next flight. Starting a fight or argument is most definitely not necessary to remove someone from a flight...

inchinga

darich wrote: »

Step by step

If someone swings a punch at you, or lunges at you with a knife, but misses are you saying because there was no contact it's ok?

No it's not ok, but my point is that I also didn't see the altercation - I did see the whole airline programme, but they didn't have footage of the initial argument. All of you condemn this woman for something that NONE of us actually know happened.

How do we know whether the altercation wasn't as simple as:

AW : Sorry - you can't take crackers with you
Woman: Oh no, I really wanted them
AW : Well you can't because of regulations / laws etc
Woman: ok.

Woman plops them on counter and walks quickly through gate / whatever.

Airline worker feels disrespected (american term I hate, but anyway it fits), and decides to exaggerate story, resulting in story related by narrator on Airline.

That's it. Woman is judged, 'juried' and executed (chucked off).

However, I'm clearly alone in feeling very sorry for the woman. Not much milk of human kindness about....

As a consumer, it worries me that someone can unilaterally decide that they will not help you. Imagine if that continues in everything other walk in life.

You go into a bank. The clerk is rude / slow / making mistakes. You eventually have to say something. The clerk goes to the bank manager and they refuse to serve you and give you your money because you are abusive / intimidating.

You go into A&E. You are bleeding profusely, but the nurse refuses to help you because you weren't polite when you screamed for help.

etc etc.

Flying is stressful. A lot of people have to fly for emergencies etc. This woman apparently had to be at work in Geneva the next day. Maybe she would lose her job over such a small incident.

I'm saying that if there is a problem with a passenger, there should be a proper grievance procedure to allow passengers to put forward their point of view. Security cameras are EVERYWHERE now. Surely to put someone off their flight there should be proof of abuse?

What next, someone getting put off a flight because they look shifty? Even though they just have a natural squint?

You are ALL willing to take the word of the airline worker and give them complete control over the passenger, just because of 9/11. I just hope to heaven that I'm never that passenger.

inchinga

MrsTine wrote: »

They removed her due to a complaint from a staff member for being disruptive and trying insistently to carry a banned item on a flight - not hearsay evidence. Companies and managers have to back employees and will usually do so especially if the passenger in question has tried to carry an item that is obviously banned on their plane. The fines involved if she'd been allowed it are not just a slap on the back of the hand! Not including the obvious security and safety risk.

It's not ANY airlines policy to pick fights with passengers to kick them off - if you watch Airline or Airport you'll know how often they overbook and the fact that the staff tell the passengers that the flight is overbooked and if people don't volunteer they get volunteered to take the next flight. Starting a fight or argument is most definitely not necessary to remove someone from a flight...

Good Grief woman! You don't know she was being disruptive. And how do you come to the conclusion she was insistently trying to board with a banned item?

I've taken a pen knife in my handluggage before on a flight to africa. When they searched my bags and found it I had to give it up. I didn't realise I was carrying something banned, mainly because it had been attached to my keyring for a couple of years, and I'd never actually used the penknife - it was just my keyring.

People do not automatically know that christmas crackers would not be allowed. When she was told she wasn't allowed them, she gave them up. There was nothing to suggest she was trying to blow up the plane.

She ought to be glad I'm not a service desk manager because I would have had escorted from the terminal and if possible pressed for assult on a member of my staff! Being thrown of a flight and refused a refund would be the LEAST of her worries!

I suppose it isn't possible to be more vindictive. And it's probably someone with your jobsworth type of mentality who was the airline worker in question.
"They spoke to me funny - kick em off".
"She looks richer than me - kick 'er off."
"He's better looking than me - kick 'im off"

Exaggerations? I don't know - no video evidence seems to be required.

robt_2

Why does this bother you so much?

I strongly suspect you have had a similar experience.

shrouded_1

inchinga wrote: »

I saw something on 'Airline' which really got me thinking:

There was a woman travelling to Geneva, and she had a box of christmas crackers.

The backstory which was not on film : She was supposedly told she couldn't take them on board, and after trying to get them to change their minds, she was told no way. In a huff, she shoved them down on the counter. The crackers 'apparently' hit the airline worker.

On Film : The woman was taken back to the front desk where she was told she couldn't fly and her bags were being taken off the plane, because no one can treat their staff like that (Easyjet).

The woman was devastated and went off wailing. She came back when she had calmed down, and asked them to provide evidence she had hit the worker, as she said she had just shoved the crackers on the counter as she was in a hurry, and was astounded when they said she hit the worker. The manager just said that she had been seen hitting the worker by another manager. She asked for camera evidence, and they said no it was up to them to decide whether someone posed a threat or whatever.

Then she spoke to someone else, who very tellingly said that a manager had seen her thrust the crackers on the counter, and had seen the worker had to move her head back to avoid being hit. The implication there is that the worker was NOT assaulted.

How can easyjet just throw this woman off her flight, for what I can imagine lots of people have done before? E.g. I was told on a flight I couldn't take my 'sealed' can of drink with me, and I was annoyed, so in a fit of bad manners I thrust it on a counter at the worker and told her to get rid of it then.:o I had a long stopover, and was travelling with kids which is never easy.... The point being that even mild mannered people like me can occasionally snap a bit.

If passengers can be thrown off flights and the airline face no consequences, what then? They also said she would have to write to easyjet for a refund. I bet that refund will never get to her.

Stroppy biatch deserved to be chucked off. There are no excuses for behaving like a three yr old (unless you are a three yr old). I hope she didn't get her refund either.

inchinga wrote: »

The evidence points to the fact that she didn't actually touch the worker. Obviously staff just took against her because she put up a bit of an argument to keep her crackers. Do you really think that she deserves to lose her seat, probably her money, and also however much inconvenience it took to get home? Really? For something that comes down to 'he said, she said'?

Yes. I do front line work and Joe Public can be revolting & rude. Good on easyjet for standing up for their staff.

inchinga

robt wrote: »

Why does this bother you so much?

I strongly suspect you have had a similar experience.

Why should this be of any significance if I had?

Caz3121

I worked for many years in an airport and came to the conclusion that people had a personality change when they stepped over the door and left their brain outside.

An airport seems to be a place where logic has no place - I used to deal with abuse on a regular basis from

"But I telephoned to say I was stuck in traffic and to hold the plane for 10 mins for me so why has it gone"
(no concept of 100+ people on beard wanting to go on time or air traffic slots which, if missed, can cause tremendous delays for the flight and the rest of the day)
This would often end up in screaming matches and I remember physical violence - who was at fault? who was late?....but it would of course be the airlines fault.

Got the comments about the drugs and bombs in cases - customers would certainly be spoken to by security and police and refused travel..."but it was only a joke"....were not laughing after that

Best one was a gent who was going daft and screaming as the whole airport was closed due to weather (pea soup!) no-one could tell him exactly WHEN the fog was going to clear....who would have got the brunt of the abuse...the airline staff...deserved? think not

People are not kicked off for no reason but there is certainly a zero tollerance policy (the staff are not paid enough to take the abuse) If seeing that incident gets some other people to think about their behaviour and act like grown ups then good stuff!.....