Well, this is awkward! A United Airlines passenger clashed with a gate agent and refused to deplane after he admitted to confronting an off-duty flight attendant who had allegedly been rude to his deaf wife. Now the video of the interaction is going viral.
It’s not clear when the incident took place, although the video recently appeared in the cheekily named ‘PublicFreakout’ sub of the popular social media site Reddit, where it has since attracted a lot of attention
man and wife are asked to leave the plane
byu/Lazy-School-7580 inPublicFreakout
But don’t worry, the man who appears in the video says that he wanted to be filmed and would be posting the video to bring attention to why United wanted him off the plane.
What appears to have happened is that the man is traveling with his deaf wife, and some kind of interaction with an off-duty flight attendant unfolded in the gate area before they boarded the plane.
The man accused the off-duty crew member of having been rude to his wife and chose to confront the flight attendant after boarding the plane by walking down to her seat near the back of the aircraft and demanding an apology.
The incident then escalates with the Captain deciding that the man should be deplaned, resulting in a rather awkward exchange with the gate agent, who was given the unenviable task of having the man and his wife removed.
“She was rude to her. So when we got on the plane, I tried explaining to her that my wife cannot hear properly,” the man says to the gate agent.
“So instead of saying I’m sorry, which has happened before many times with her condition, she just began to get ruder and snapping back at me.”
The man continued: “So what you’re talking about is removing somebody who is hearing impaired from a flight because one of your employees who’s not even on your crew right now was rude.”
At this point, the man then addresses passengers sitting behind him in the Main Cabin, reiterating his story: “I want everybody to understand what’s going on. There’s a woman on this plane who was completely rude to my wife because of her hearing disability.”
“She didn’t hear her. So instead, she [the off-duty crew member] was rude about it. So I let her know, and instead of apologizing, she continued to get rude.”
The reason for the couple’s removal was, according to what the gate agent had been told, that the man had used “foul language” towards the off-duty flight attendant… an allegation that the man refutes.
We don’t know, unfortunately, how this incident ended, although the gate agent was insistent that the pair deplane with the offer of being rebooked on the next flight.
What we can say, though, is once the Captain has made his decision for someone not to travel, that decision is final. There’s very little point in arguing, and it’s probably only going to make the situation more heated.
In this particular incident, it could even lead to a point at which an airline decides, hey, actually, we’re no longer even willing to book you onto another flight. Find an alternative way to get to your destination.
That being said, the man clearly wanted to have his side of the story documented, so there is method in what he was doing by relaying his account on camera and giving United an opportunity to change its position.
Viewers are largely siding with the man in this incident, with one person commenting, “Not a good look, United,” and another adding, “Poor guy. This is as calm as anybody would be in that situation.”
Ever since the Dr David Dao beating incident in 2017, when security agents at Chicago O’Hare left the physician bruised and battered while forcibly removing him from a United Express plane, the airline has really sought to keep on-board confrontations at a minimum.
By and large, United has done a good job at de-escalating incidents and avoiding some of the nasty encounters we’ve witnessed at rival carriers, especially American Airlines.
That being said, perceptions are very difficult to change, and that’s clearly shown in people’s opinions of this incident, with one person commenting: “It’s United so by default I’m siding with the passengers,” with another also echoing those thoughts: “This is United Airlines, too. The same airline that five years ago beat a man unconscious and dragged him off the plane.”
Insight from a flight attendant
Aviation law gives the Captain or Commander ultimate authority, and if he or she says someone needs to be removed, well, it’s no longer up to United to decide how best to de-escalate the situation.
The decision has been made, and that’s what is going to happen.
Nowadays, however, don’t expect an airline to automatically call law enforcement if someone initially refuses to deplane (unless, of course, their behavior is clearly dangerous). There will be plenty of negotiation first, and lots of managers involved, trying to avoid any kind of physical conflict.
If negotiation doesn’t work, then the entire plane will be deplaned. Normally, at this point, the passenger being removed from the flight gets the hint, but if they don’t, law enforcement will be called in without any cameras being pointed at them.
