American Airlines incident - Mother with baby - SFO to DFW

[Lanny]

This incident was yesterday, Friday, 21 April 2017, on a flight leaving San Francisco for Dallas/Ft. Worth on American Airlines.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/04/22/american-airlines-investigates-reported-confrontation-between-flight-attendant-and-mother.html

 

The mother had her baby in her arms...

[FriedClams]

From first look or sounds really bad, but without all the facts, it seems American handled it as well as possible. "The airline, apparently learned from the recent United Airlines fiasco, and acted quickly. The woman’s seat was upgraded to first class and she was put on another flight. The airline said the employee was “removed from duty.’’"

[bettyandbob]

I found myself wondering what happened before the video started. I couldn't tell if the employee was intending to hit the woman or reckless. I couldn't tell what was occurring to escalate the behavior of the employee and the woman.

 

I need more background to understand the situation.

[gardenmom5]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4434620/American-Airlines-employee-challenges-passenger-FIGHT.html

 

has a bit more information. she had twins with her, not a singleton.

 

I too look forward to more information on this.  with twins especially - I can understand taking a stroller all the way to the plane. 

[Word Nerd]

I'm surprised the passenger who confronted the employee wasn't removed from the flight, especially after saying he'd flatten him.

[SKL]

What isn't clear is whether it was a total accident that the stroller hit the mom's head.

t

But the flight attendant on the video is clearly an a$$hole and needs a very different job, perhaps stamping license plates ....

 

I am sympathetic to a mom traveling with two babies.  I was one.  It's not easy.  She is obviously very very stressed out.  I hope they took really good care of her after that.

[Laura Corin]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4434620/American-Airlines-employee-challenges-passenger-FIGHT.html

 

has a bit more information. she had twins with her, not a singleton.

 

I too look forward to more information on this.  with twins especially - I can understand taking a stroller all the way to the plane. 

 

To the plane but not onto the plane.  I never took an umbrella stroller on board - I was always told to gate check it (and had one destroyed, so I know the risks).  So yes, the employee shouldn't have tried to drag it from her hands, hitting her in the process, but it is normal to exclude strollers from the plane.  Badly handled, of course.

[Word Nerd]

Another passenger said the mother was insistent about not letting the stroller be checked and was almost yelling before the incident. But if the incident happened as reported by the person who filmed the video, the flight attendant handled the situation about as poorly as he possibly could have. If he's that hot-headed, he has no business having a job that requires a cool, calm head to take charge in a crisis.

[OneStepAtATime]

If you read the various accounts (and who knows how accurate the eye witness accounts are before the video), it appears the events went sort of like this?:

 

1.  The woman came on board with twins, a collapsible stroller, and possibly at least one car seat.   (AA rules say that a collapsible stroller can be checked at the gate but it does not specifically state that one cannot be brought on board and stowed.)  

 

2.  The first flight attendant said the woman could look for a place to stow it since it collapses very compactly but if there wasn't space she would have to get it gate checked.  

 

3.  A male flight attendant then came up and told the woman she had to check the stroller.  She argued that she had been told she could find a place to stow it and insisted on finding a place for the stroller.  Since she was juggling twins and apparently car seats? and probably a diaper bag I assume this was holding up other passengers from boarding the plane easily which probably ratcheted up the tension.  

 

4.  The male flight attendant apparently got irritated that she didn't immediately relinquish the stroller and forcibly removed the stroller from her grip causing it to probably accidentally hit her in the head, narrowly missing one of the babies she was carrying.  

 

5.  The stroller is removed.

 

6.  Other passengers got upset, the woman started crying, she apparently put one of the twins in their car seat while she asked for them to return her stroller.  She is very distraught.

 

7.  Other flight attendants and the captain or a co-pilot?  are trying to smooth out the situation, offer her a glass of water, etc.

 

8.  At some point that male flight attendant may have left the plane, perhaps to check the stroller.  It does not appear he is at the front of the plane when the video first starts.  

 

9.  When the video shows a male flight attendant come back on the plane and act in an aggressive manner it appears it was actually the man who hurt the passenger.  Which as mentioned above would explain why the male passenger gets up and specifically addresses that flight attendant in an aggressive manner.  

 

10.  At some point the woman, her babies, her belongings including the stroller are all escorted off the plane and the male flight attendant that hurt the woman continues on to the next destination.  

 

11.  At some point AA then suspends the flight attendant until an investigation can determine what happened but I assume that occurred after the flight had reached its next destination.  

 

12.  AA did find another flight for the woman and her children and issued an apology.

[Joker]

On our last flight with Southwest there are at least two umbrella strollers taken onto the plane with no issue. I didn't realize that wasn't common.

[Lanny]

When DD was a baby, we accidentally ended up on an American Airlines Airbus, going from Bogota, Colombia, to Miami, FL, USA.  We were on Delta Frequent Flyer tickets, but the flight from Atlanta to Bogota the night before had a problem and terminated in Miami, so Delta did not have an aircraft in Bogota for our flight to Atlanta,  and they put us on American, to go up to Miami and then back onto Delta.

 

I had assumed that we would need to "Gate Check" the folding stroller frame, which worked with the Infant Car Seat, but the Overhead Bins in that aircraft were enormous and I put the Stroller Frame into the overhead bin, easily.   Normally, we did "Gate Check" the Stroller when DD was small. That was on American Airlines, on an Airbus.

Edited April 22, 2017 by Lanny

[gardenmom5]

If you read the various accounts (and who knows how accurate the eye witness accounts are before the video), it appears the events went sort of like this?:

 

1.  The woman came on board with twins, a collapsible stroller, and possibly at least one car seat.   (AA rules say that a collapsible stroller can be checked at the gate but it does not specifically state that one cannot be brought on board and stowed.)  

 

2.  The first flight attendant said the woman could look for a place to stow it since it collapses very compactly but if there wasn't space she would have to get it gate checked.  

 

3.  A male flight attendant then came up and told the woman she had to check the stroller.  She argued that she had been told she could find a place to stow it and insisted on finding a place for the stroller.  Since she was juggling twins and apparently car seats? and probably a diaper bag I assume this was holding up other passengers from boarding the plane easily which probably ratcheted up the tension.  

 

4.  The male flight attendant apparently got irritated that she didn't immediately relinquish the stroller and forcibly removed the stroller from her grip causing it to probably accidentally hit her in the head, narrowly missing one of the babies she was carrying.  

 

5.  The stroller is removed.

 

6.  Other passengers got upset, the woman started crying, she apparently put one of the twins in their car seat while she asked for them to return her stroller.  She is very distraught.

 

7.  Other flight attendants and the captain or a co-pilot?  are trying to smooth out the situation, offer her a glass of water, etc.

 

8.  At some point that male flight attendant may have left the plane, perhaps to check the stroller.  It does not appear he is at the front of the plane when the video first starts.  

 

9.  When the video shows a male flight attendant come back on the plane and act in an aggressive manner it appears it was actually the man who hurt the passenger.  Which as mentioned above would explain why the male passenger gets up and specifically addresses that flight attendant in an aggressive manner.  

 

10.  At some point the woman, her babies, her belongings including the stroller are all escorted off the plane and the male flight attendant that hurt the woman continues on to the next destination.  

 

11.  At some point AA then suspends the flight attendant until an investigation can determine what happened but I assume that occurred after the flight had reached its next destination.  

 

12.  AA did find another flight for the woman and her children and issued an apology.

 

excellent summary.

 

my understanding from reading was the upgraded her to first class - and got her on the next flight.

 

the f/a handled things very badly.

[goldberry]

 The passenger shouldn't have said what he did,but the airline employee should have the skills in place to de-escalate a tense situation. 

 

THIS.  Right here.  There are always going to be people who are not behaving correctly, whether intentionally or out of ignorance.  You should be able to handle those situations without causing escalation by your own actions if you are in that job.  If you can't do that, you should be held accountable. 

 

Sounds like the airline handled this pretty well though so far.

[Shelly in IL]

There are always two sides to every story. I believe the public does not know all there is to know. Unfortunately, it is all a court of public opinion and that doesn't always equal fact.

[Ali in OR]

We usually have an excellent experience traveling with our disabled daughter, so I can tell you how airlines should handle this situation. Any family traveling with small children should be allowed to board first, as we are allowed to board early with our disabled dd (sometimes it's just my husband and her boarding early, sometimes they allow the whole family (the other two are not small children anymore so that's all right if it's just dh and dd). I know some airlines board families traveling with small children first, but not sure which do and which don't. I thought all strollers needed to be gate checked as is true for wheelchairs. A calm attendant can help mom on the plane and either find room for the stroller before everyone else boards or explain to her that it will be gate checked and will be waiting for her when she deplanes. Sometimes our wheelchair is already waiting for us before we get off the plane; sometimes we wait 1 or 2 minutes. It's never a long wait. Just letting the mom get situated with her kids beforehand should have diffused the situation, whether the stroller would fit or have to be gate checked. I totally agree with discipline/retraining or possibly firing an attendant who can't treat passengers sensitively.

[Um_2_4]

I have always traveled with an umbrella stroller (not the cheap ones, a European brand as they handle travel better) when they were little. I usually put it on board (or rather the attendants did). Once I think they were full and gate checked it, but only after we were situated on board, not rip it from my hands as I try to board.

I feel for the mom of twins trying to handle all that. They should have helped her get situated with the twins/car seats and then gate checked the stroller (if they MUST, my experience is there is often room the crew has access to, at least on international flights, coat closest type areas, etc.).

Although I just thought about it, and all my flights were on non-American airlines (LA to london, LA to paris, La to copenhagen), so it seems their customer service may be better. Mental note made for future flights.

[extendedforecast]

On our last flight with Southwest there are at least two umbrella strollers taken onto the plane with no issue. I didn't realize that wasn't common.

I use to fly home on Southwest with two children under two. I was always allowed to bring my collapsible stroller on the plane. It has been many years since though.

[TechWife]

It has been many years since I have needed a stroller in an airport. I always took my umbrella stroller on board and put it in the overhead bin when I was traveling solo. It rolls down the center aisle perfectly and takes up next to no room in the bin. People can still put their bags in the overhead compartment because the stroller goes all the way to the back. 

[SKL]

I didn't try to bring my stroller on the plane, but checked it at the gate, the one time I traveled with babies.

 

I certainly have had many times when a flight attendant told me I could not store something in the overhead bins, for various reasons.  It's not something to get feisty about in my opinion.  However, I am sure there is more to the story here.

[extendedforecast]

I didn't try to bring my stroller on the plane, but checked it at the gate, the one time I traveled with babies.

 

I certainly have had many times when a flight attendant told me I could not store something in the overhead bins, for various reasons. It's not something to get feisty about in my opinion. However, I am sure there is more to the story here.

If I was told I could store the stroller by one flight attendant, and another flight attendant told me the opposite, I would be irritated and feisty, especially if I was already anxious about flying with twins.