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Thrown Off a United Airlines Flight for Taking Pictures

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Re: Thrown Off a United Airlines Flight for Taking Pictures

#71

Post by UnoriginalGuy »

hermannj314 wrote: post #49

Naturally, the FA's warning bothered me and I felt the need to explain myself. I signaled for her to come back and asked her to hang my coat. What's with the need to exercise control over another human being like that? Hang up your own coat. The fact that he feels entitled to such service says something about him. People that bark orders at flight attendants probably feel that are part of some untouchable/infallible…

What are you talking about?

The coat closet is at the front of the aircraft. You aren't really allowed to just go rummage through it yourself. So you ask the FA to put your coat in there or to retrieve it.

Re: Thrown Off a United Airlines Flight for Taking Pictures

#72

Post by hermannj314 »

cwilson wrote: post #57
hermannj314 wrote: post #49

Naturally, the FA's warning bothered me and I felt the need to explain myself. I signaled for her to come back and asked her to hang my coat. What's with the need to exercise control over another human being like that? Hang up your own coat. The fact that he feels entitled to such service says something about him. People that bark orders at flight attendants probably feel that are part of some untouchable/infallible…

He was sitting in business class where this type of request is normal. Also, keeping the aisle clear is a top priority of any flight crew (especially pre-takeoff), so they actually prefer you ask them to do things like this as they will be more efficient.

I guess he would know what's appropriate, so I stand corrected on that point.

I guess I'm just too servile. I would have put my iPhone away and read a book and never have been kicked off the plane. (And if my coat needed hung, I would have just sat and been uncomfortabaly warm until I could hang it myself: your failure to prepare should not become the burden of another human being. )

Re: Thrown Off a United Airlines Flight for Taking Pictures

#73

Post by hermannj314 »

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #71
hermannj314 wrote: post #49

Naturally, the FA's warning bothered me and I felt the need to explain myself. I signaled for her to come back and asked her to hang my coat. What's with the need to exercise control over another human being like that? Hang up your own coat. The fact that he feels entitled to such service says something about him. People that bark orders at flight attendants probably feel that are part of some untouchable/infallible…

What are you talking about? The coat closet is at the front of the aircraft. You aren't really allowed to just go rummage through it yourself. So you ask the FA to put your coat in there or to retrieve it.

Ok, as a guy that only flies coach I thought "hanging your coat" means putting it on the little peg that pops out on the back of the seat in front of you / putting it in the overhead bin. I was mistaken. I didn't realize coats at the front of the plane were treated so much better than the rest of the coats. :-)

Re: Thrown Off a United Airlines Flight for Taking Pictures

#74

Post by k-mcgrady »

droithomme wrote: post #31
javajosh wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uh, there are like 9 comments right now (12:54am PST) and literally none of them support the airline. What are you talking about?

All the "Well he shouldn't have used the T word" when he explained that he was taking the photos as part of his travel review job. There were no faults in the way he handled it. The airline was completely to blame, severely inconvenienced him, falsely accused him, and cost him money. Outrageous behavior against any passenger. That he is a 950,000 mile traveler on the airline and often writes articles recommending the…

I don't think it's people defending the airline, I think people just understand the unfortunate way things work now. When travelling by plane it's best to just shut up and do what you're told. The trouble caused by speaking up is obviously not worth it. If the writer had decided to follow the rules and not take anymore photos why did he feel the need to further explain himself? It wasn't going to change anything and at the very least was a waste of his time.

Re: Thrown Off a United Airlines Flight for Taking Pictures

#75

Post by rurounijones »

pudquick wrote: post #62

Yes, it's unfortunate that the flight attendant lied in this situation. However, it would have been impossible for the pilot to verify this - even if the author showed him the camera. Since the author was willing to 'prove' it, it had to be a digital camera - which the author could have very easily used the built-in delete function to remove all photos but one (or be a sneaky terrorist and swap SD cards). In addition…

"You were not kicked off for taking pictures. You were kicked off for acting odd."

Not even odd, slightly odd which is now apparently grounds for getting kicked off an airliner.

The terrorists have won a great victory if acting slightly odd is enough to terrify an airline company into kicking a passenger off a plane.

Re: Thrown Off a United Airlines Flight for Taking Pictures

#76

Post by UnoriginalGuy »

jrockway wrote: post #23
DoubleCluster wrote: post #17

Never ever directly accuse someone of lying. Mostly because it's usually a communication problem where they said it unclear and your heard it wrong. Also because you should always give someone a way out without losing too much face. I would have said something like: Sorry if I gave the impression of not cooperating, but I can assure you I did not and will not take any more pictures this flight. It would mean a lot to…

Everyone really should read "How to win friends and influence people."

No, they really shouldn't. I've read it. Meh.

Full of just cliché advice and fluff. In fact you'll get as much good advice from reading the wikipedia article as you will from reading the book:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influenc...

Re: Thrown Off a United Airlines Flight for Taking Pictures

#77

Post by shuzchen »

batgaijin wrote: post #70
pudquick wrote: post #62

Yes, it's unfortunate that the flight attendant lied in this situation. However, it would have been impossible for the pilot to verify this - even if the author showed him the camera. Since the author was willing to 'prove' it, it had to be a digital camera - which the author could have very easily used the built-in delete function to remove all photos but one (or be a sneaky terrorist and swap SD cards). In addition…

Yeah, saying "I'm not a terrorist" is kind of a line I'd expect to hear to in a tv show or something. Do you tell the cop "Don't worry, I'm not a kidnapper"?

Obviously they didn't believe he was a terrorist or they would not have booked him on another flight.

Re: Thrown Off a United Airlines Flight for Taking Pictures

#78

Post by jemfinch »

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #65
jemfinch wrote: post #27

Captain: I don't have any, but United will have no trouble finding me. My name is...[removed]. Why do victims protect their aggressors in this way? The captain made a wrongheaded decision, and he should at the very least have his name attached to it.

I really resent the way you used "victim" and "aggressor" there. Really quite manipulative. As the article its self said, from the captain's perspective he was likely always going to believe a FA over a pax, in particular if the FA claimed the pax wasn't being cooperative. Now if the quotes were accurate I think the captain was quite rude, but we really don't know what the FA said to the captain, maybe he got the imp…

The author contracted carriage in exchange for money, and the captain refused to honor that contract. The author was a victim. The captain was an aggressor. Those are facts, not opinions, and they're not manipulative. It's your prerogative to resent them, but they remain facts.

It's interesting that you seem to be claiming the captain wasn't an aggressor, but then believe that giving his name to his actions would be "petty revenge."

Re: Thrown Off a United Airlines Flight for Taking Pictures

#79

Post by doktrin »

hermannj314 wrote: post #49

Naturally, the FA's warning bothered me and I felt the need to explain myself. I signaled for her to come back and asked her to hang my coat. What's with the need to exercise control over another human being like that? Hang up your own coat. The fact that he feels entitled to such service says something about him. People that bark orders at flight attendants probably feel that are part of some untouchable/infallible…

That's basically SOP in business class on international flights. The level of personal attention / service is almost jarring at first (this applies 10x to first class).

Re: Thrown Off a United Airlines Flight for Taking Pictures

#80

Post by frinxor »

batgaijin wrote: post #70
pudquick wrote: post #62

Yes, it's unfortunate that the flight attendant lied in this situation. However, it would have been impossible for the pilot to verify this - even if the author showed him the camera. Since the author was willing to 'prove' it, it had to be a digital camera - which the author could have very easily used the built-in delete function to remove all photos but one (or be a sneaky terrorist and swap SD cards). In addition…

Yeah, saying "I'm not a terrorist" is kind of a line I'd expect to hear to in a tv show or something. Do you tell the cop "Don't worry, I'm not a kidnapper"?

When a flight attendant tells you to not take pictures, its obviously for security/terrorism concerns. I find it truly ridiculous if we can no longer make true statements in an attempt to alleviate such fear ("I am not a terrorist").

When a cop pulls you over because there was a kidnapping a year ago, you do not end up in jail for making the claim "Don't worry, I'm not a kidnapper"

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