Just two weeks after the horrific United Airlines video of Dr. David Dao being forcibly removed from a flight, there is a new shocking video from Friday evening. An American Airlines employee “violently” struck a mother with the stroller she brought on, and nearly struck her baby while doing so!
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The BBC reported that the incident occurred at the San Francisco International Airport just as passenger were preparing to embark on their flight heading to Dallas/Fort Worth, American Airlines’ main hub. The passengers were putting their suitcases in the overhead bins and taking their seats when this shocking incident occurrent.
Fellow American Airlines 591 passenger Surain Adyanthaya took the video with his cellphone. He posted the video, along with a photo to his Facebook page, explaining that the American Airlines employee had “violently” taken the baby stroller from the mother, hitting her and nearly missing her baby daughter.
“OMG! AA Flight attendant violently took a stroller from a lady with her baby on my flight, hitting her and just missing the baby. Then he tried to fight a passenger who stood up for her. AA591 from SFO to DFW.”
The video that he posted was filmed right after the stroller incident. What we see is the stunned and emotional woman sobbing hysterically, clutching onto her child, muttering some unintelligible words, sobbing more, and then, finally, heading out the airplane door.
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Meanwhile, a male passenger came up to the front and asked for the name of the American Airlines employee who assaulted the woman and her child. When the man saw the hostile employee, the man bravely said to him “Hey, bud, you do that to me and I’ll knock you flat.”
The employee lunged towards the man and demanded that he “stay out of this.” Then the American Airlines employee egged on the passenger to hit him.
“Hit me! Come on, bring it on.”
Next, the employee attempted to justify his actions to the passenger, implying that this situation was none of his business.
“You don’t even know what the story is.”
The brave passenger was not having any of this. He made it clear that there was no reason that the woman should be hit with the stroller, as well as the near miss of the baby girl.
“I don’t care what the story is. You almost hurt a baby.”
American Airlines’ employee suspended after row with passengers: https://t.co/wjZofgqOOy pic.twitter.com/EKr7KqzaGP
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 22, 2017
Taking no time to let this situation get negative, American Airlines has suspended the employee who struck the woman and nearly hit the baby. The airline was quick to apologize and said that they were “deeply sorry for the pain we have caused” the passenger, and her family.
“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.”
Meanwhile, the airline advised that they were “making sure all of her family’s needs are being met while she is in our care.”
The woman and her family took a different flight to Dallas, and American Airlines upgraded them to first class. Again, the airline apologized, and stated that this employee did not share the company values.
“The actions of our team member captured here do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care. In short, we are disappointed by these actions.”
TMZ later reported that the woman, who was traveling with twin babies, was told to check in the double-wide stroller at the end of the jetway. She was instructed to not try to take it on the airplane. It is not clear if there was a language or comprehension problem. The airline apologized to the passenger and her family and put them all in first class all the way back home to Argentina.
Recently, airlines have been in the headlines for some very shocking treatment of passengers. On April 9, Dr. David Dao was removed from United Airlines Flight 3411, from Chicago to Louisville. When the video went viral, the United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz returned with a lukewarm statement that further fueled calls to boycott the American airline.
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Yesterday, CNN reported that United Continental Holdings (UAL) announced that Munoz, the current United CEO, will not become the chairman of the board of directors in 2018 as was originally intended. It is assumed that his lukewarm response to the Doa incident hurt the airline earnings.
Do these incidents affect your decision when choosing an airline? What are your thoughts about this recent American Airlines flight attendant?
[Featured Image by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]
