The Recent Rise of In-Flight Confrontations

By: Arianna Grewal

     In recent weeks, most have heard about the incident which occurred on a United flight making its way from Chicago O’Hare International Airport to Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. David Dao, 69, was one of the four passengers picked to exit the flight to allow room for airplane employees. Dao claimed he had patients to tend to that weekend, and refused to leave the plane.

     Chicago Aviation officers were then called to remove him and were taped dragging him off the plane. Passengers watched in shock and the video shows one woman disgusted, exclaiming, “This is wrong, look at what you did to him!” The doctor ended up with a bloody nose, a concussion, and two missing teeth.

     United was later condemned for their statement which they released following the incident, for many people felt it not only sided with their employees, but also blamed the passenger. Dao and United Airlines did reach a settlement of an undisclosed amount. In addition, the airline said it would “create a new check-in process that would allow passengers to volunteer to give up their seats for compensation, and increased the limit of that compensation to $10,000 from $1,350.” Many were outraged by what happened to Dao and set out to expose all unacceptable behavior demonstrated by airline staff. Hence, there have been other reports and recordings of similar incidents in recent news.
         
     A confrontation between an American airlines flight attendant and a mother with a baby was taped by another passenger two weeks following the United incident. Although the video does not show what happened beforehand, Surain Adyanthaya (the woman who recorded and posted the video) mentioned that moments before she began recording, the flight attendant “violently” took away the mother’s stroller before hitting her, and barely missing her baby.

      Another woman, Olivia Morgan, was waiting to board the flight when this event occurred. She said, “The flight attendant wrestled the stroller away from the woman, who was sobbing, holding one baby with the second baby in a car seat on the ground next to her.” The video starts when the mother is seen crying and says, “Just give me back the stroller, please.” Morgan spoke with the mother following the incident, and the mother explained how a female flight attendant said she could look for space to keep the stroller, but she would need to check it in at the gate if there was no space. According to the American Airlines website, “Only small, collapsible and light strollers (up to 20lbs/9kgs) can be checked at the gate. Fully collapsible strollers may be carried on board with the passenger as long as they fit in an overhead bin,” and this mother’s stroller was collapsible, according to Morgan.

     Another passenger, Tony Fierro, can be heard saying he is “not going to sit here and watch this.” Fierro, clearly upset because of how this situation was handled, stands up and says to the flight attendant, “Hey bud, hey bud. You do that to me, and I'll knock you flat.” The flight attendant tells him to stay out of it, before repeatedly saying to the passenger, “Hit me. Hit me.” The mother was escorted off the plane and the flight attendant was let back on the plane shortly after this incident. Fierro spoke about the event later, and explained his actions: “A baby almost got hurt," he said. "That's what just fired me up, so that was it. I don't want to make a big deal about it.”

     Following the episode, the woman opted for another flight, and was upgraded to first class for the rest of her trip. The flight attendant was immediately suspended as the airline “investigated.” American Airlines released a statement which says, “We have seen the video and have already started an investigation to obtain the facts. What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers...We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident."

     Lastly, the most recent incident involves a Delta pilot and two women who were seen brawling on the floor of a jet bridge. In the recorded video, the pilot is seen grabbing one of the woman’s hands, and smacking her in the face before stepping back. Upon the video’s release, the pilot was immediately suspended but returned back to work shortly after the airline said, “his actions de-escalated an altercation between passengers.”

     Any act of violence or striking at a customer/passenger should be considered unacceptable except in a life threatening situation. However, circumstances similar to Dr. Dao’s and the mother’s with the stroller, were completely unnecessary, cruel, and unprofessional. Although the Delta pilot’s actions may have “de-escalated the altercation,” it does not make it okay to hit a passenger. With all the recent news of events like this taking place, it's hard not to wonder if these episodes are newly occurring, or if episodes like this always happened on airlines and because of Dr. Dao’s incident, we’re becoming more aware of it now.