American Airlines Promised Not to Boot Passengers For Minor Issues. A Travel Blogger’s Bizarre Ordeal Suggests That Was a Lie

A travel blogger found out the hard way that a new policy at American Airlines to prevent flight attendants from booting passengers over minor issues was a lie after he was kicked off an international flight following a bizarre misunderstanding with a crew member.

Having flown millions of miles, many of which have been with American Airlines, travel blogger JT Genter understandably considers himself to be a bit of an expert when it comes to flying commercial – whether that be in First Class or down the back in Economy.

But a recent flight with American Airlines from New York JFK to London Heathrow has left Genter with a totally new experience, probably one that he never expected could happen to him.

A Simple Game of ‘Carry-On Tetris’

The incident occurred on June 9 when Genter boarded American Airlines flight AA106 and made his way to his seat in the last row of Premium Economy. Upon getting to his seat, he discovered there was no space for his carry-on in the overhead bins.

Genter did what many passengers do in this situation and started to move the bags about in the bin – a game of carry-on Tetris to see if he could get his bag in a bin close to his seat.

The game nearly worked, but one bag wouldn’t fit vertically in the bin. Genter says he asked all the other passengers if the bag belonged to them, and when there was no response, he assumed it was an Economy passenger’s bag.

Genter moved the bag to a free bin a few rows back in the Economy Class section and started to settle into his seat. But just as the plane was ready to leave the gate, a flight attendant discovered the bag that Genter had moved was too big for the overhead bin.

Flight attendant confronts Genter

A fellow passenger identified Genter as the person who moved the bag, and from there, things started to go downhill very quickly.

Genter was told to move his bag to a spare bin in the Business Class cabin, but he explained he was reticent to do so because all of his electronics, medications, and credit cards were in his bag.

“The flight attendant headed into business class, and I assumed the situation would be resolved shortly,” Genter explained on the Award Wallet website.

Instead, the flight attendant returned less than a minute later with a second crew member who happened to be the owner of the bag that had been moved.

“You moved my suitcase. You touched my suitcase, and you moved it,” the crew member said to Genter in a recorded interaction. “You’re outta here,” the crew member then allegedly said while pointing in Genter’s face.

At this point, the purser got involved and initially demanded Genter move his bag. Before he could do so, however, the crew member seemed to de-escalate the situation by agreeing to move his bag to a dedicated crew wardrobe.

Genter is removed from the flight

Or, at least, that’s what it seemed. Just a few moments later, he goaded the purser to have Genter booted from the flight. “I want him outta here,” the crew member demanded.

Genter says a member of ground staff then approached him and asked him to deplane so that he could explain his side of the story. The staff member reassured him that he wouldn’t be removed for such a minor issue.

Not so fast, however. The ground staff member was then informed that the flight attendants would refuse to operate the flight if Genter wasn’t removed from the flight.

With few alternatives left, Genter was removed from the flight with a promise of being rebooked on the very next plane to London. A promise that the ground crew kept.

American Airlines promised not to boot passengers

Whatever your opinion on the etiquette of passengers rearranging overhead bins and moving someone else’s carry-on luggage, it’s also pretty apparent that this was an honest mistake, and no harm was done.

American Airlines prohibits flight attendants from booting passengers for non-safety or security-related issues. In fact, the airline has instructed flight attendants to de-escalate situations as much as possible with the aim of keeping “all customer travel intact.”

In other words, passengers should be allowed to fly unless they pose a safety risk.

“No matter the path, handling these types of issues with respect, discretion, care, and empathy is critical to the solution,” the airline told flight attendants in an internal memo last November. “How we make our customers feel and the perception we leave them with matters, and we all play an important role in that.”

The policy change was brought in following a spate of alleged discriminatory behavior by flight attendants, the most serious of which was the removal of eight unrelated Black male passengers over a false claim that they all had ‘offensive’ body odor.

In the past, American Airlines flight attendants had the unilateral power to have passengers kicked off flights at their sole discretion. It appears, however, that some crew members have found a new and very disruptive way around the airline’s new customer-friendly policy.

Matt’s take – moving passenger baggage is very emotive!

There’s no doubt that passengers find it important to have their carry-on baggage close to them. When there isn’t room in the overhead bins above their seats, it’s frustrating, to say the least.

It’s a really common issue that has to be dealt with with tact and understanding. Sometimes, even after attempting carry-on Tetris, the only solution is to move luggage into a different cabin, many rows from where the passenger is sitting.

In these cases, passengers should be encouraged to remove valuables and medications into a separate bag that can fit underneath their seat.