Lawyer representing United passenger takes on American Airlines

[laserhaas]

Source: Reuters

Reuters) - The lawyer representing Dr. David Dao, who was dragged from a United Airlines plane, said he will also represent a woman whose clash with an American Airlines flight attendant went viral over the weekend.

Thomas Demetrio told CNBC on Monday that he will represent both passengers whose recent confrontations with airline and airport employees sparked global outrage and prompted a nationwide conversation over U.S. carriers' treatment of passengers.

"Her tale is compelling. The video is a microcosm of what's wrong with the airline industry today," Demetrio said in an interview with CNBC.

In a video posted on Facebook on Friday by a bystander aboard the American Airlines flight, the woman is seen in tears and holding a young child after a male flight attendant had apparently wrested a baby stroller from her.

Read more: https://mobile-reuters-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN17Q1G0

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The betting pool, shall soon begin, on the new BILL before Congress, to outlaw videos on airplanes/jets.

Just sayin.......

[laserhaas]

1. The powers that be hate the truth videos portray

Hence, the end of filming, on flights, must come to an end

[dalton99a]

2. Yeah, cellphone cameras are known to interfere with flight instruments

[muntrv]

3. De-regulation means these companies can treat consumers like dirt.

[trof]

4. I found this on reddit:

I was on this flight directly across the isle from the woman filming the video. This is what I observed:
woman gets on the plane pushing a car seat type stroller with one child in it, carrying a second child on her hip and dragging behind a very large folded stroller that was too big for the overhead bin or to go under a seat.

the flight attendant shown in the video approached from the back of the plane and informed her in a calm manner that there was nowhere to store the stroller. The woman immediately escalated the situation and within about 30 seconds was screaming at him at the top of her lungs.

the flight attendant evidently decided she was not fit to be on the flight (in my opinion the correct decision) and started to move her and her children towards the front of the plane.

when they got to the from of the plane the woman decided she was not going any further. The flight attendant picked up the stroller and lifted it over his head to try and move past the woman. As he was doing this she pushed him and the stroller fell a bit and struck her in the face. She began crying loudly and dramatically. Shortly after this is where the video begins.

The first class passenger then inserts himself into the drama with his faux chivalry but clearly has no idea what has transpired in the back of the plane since he was in a window seat in the first class section of the plane and could not have viewed the incident from his seat.

after another 10 minutes or so the woman exits the plane only to be returned about 5 minutes later and taken to her seat. We wait another 30-40 minutes while various flight and ground crew come and go speaking to the woman. After about 40 minutes she deplanes again this time telling all of the passengers, who are now becoming vocal in support of the flight crew, that all she wanted was an apology from the flight attendant.

Evidently that's what the 40 minute delay was all about. Then we waited another 10
minutes for the ground crew to find and remove her luggage from the belly of the plane.
the flight finally leaves and arrives in Dallas an hour or so late. American representatives are waiting at the gate to speak with the first class passenger who made the threats. What I heard was a very apologetic tone coming from two American employees, as if the airline had done something to upset the first class passenger.

when I entered the bag claim area the first class passenger was right in front of me and as soon as he made it through the revolving door there was a camera crew waiting for him on the other side to interview him.

That's about as factual of an account as I can provide and I realize there may be other parts of this story that I do not know about or did not witness. From what I saw:
if anyone from American should have been punished it should be the ground crew who somehow letting this woman on board with a full size stroller. The flight attendant was put in a horrible situation by a passenger that most passengers in my immediate area thought seemed unstable. She escalated the situation, not him.

in my opinion, the first class passenger should have been removed. Had the flight been in progress he might very well have been arrested upon landing for threatening a crew member. Additionally, he could not have seen any of the back of the plane antics of the woman based on where he was seated.

I agree the flight attendant may have reacted too harshly in responding to the threatening customer in first class, but his actions with the woman in question were professional throughout the ordeal. I am disappointed American has chosen to punish him.

[laserhaas]

6. It was not the flight guys duty to "physically" take control

And this purported account of one witness (obviously upset at the delay) does not defend the physical efforts - which can never be justified.

Furthermore, the gate boarding persons are the ones at fault, for ever allowing an "oversized" item to proceed paste the gate.

[spartan61]

8. This message by a passenger,

who actually witnessed what happened in the coach area of the plane before the video in first class, makes sense. I believe the "distraught" passenger planned for this to happen. She went way over the top with her actions and loud crying. She had to know that strollers have no room for storage on the plane. All she had to do was gate check the stroller from the jet bridge and it would be returned to her at the jet bridge after the flight. Voila...no problems! People are trying to take more and more onboard so they don't have to pay for baggage. The airlines could reduce the baggage fees or allow passengers one or two free bags to be checked, just the way Southwest Airlines does.

[athena]

13. Why should anyone believe this?

How do we know it's not written by one of those people who were so adamant that Dr. Dao was not really a doctor, that he had been belligerent, that flight attendants have the right to kick anyone off the plane regardless of the reason, and that Dr. Dao deserved to be assaulted for daring to disagree with the authorities? In other words, how do we know the writer is not an authoritarian Republican who always sides with the authorities no matter what happens?

[laserhaas]

14. Part of my gist (comment no 6)

Where are other flyers remarks....similar???

[canetoad]

15. Thanks for posting trof

It reminds us that there are always two (or more) sides to a story. Outrage is cheap these days.

[IronLionZion]

5. So they'll ban cell phones and cameras. Take them away from people before boarding

and not just for brown people either.

And of course they have no interest in us having other options for long distance travel in the US.

The American Airlines incident sticks out because everyone involved is white. I expect to see some action on this because of that reason.

[laserhaas]

7. Possibly true

[cstanleytech]

9. No, if they are going to do something its more likely they will grant immunity to the airlines as a

ban on cameras would face potential first amendment issues but granting the airlines immunity for using force to remove a passenger if they have to would not face as many potential challenges.

[laserhaas]

10. Also possible

But not likely.

Immunity tends to create monsters

[cstanleytech]

11. It wouldnt be the first time a government made that mistake though. nt

[laserhaas]

12. True