Bozo Flight Attendant Tosses a Toddler
Baby on board? Not any more.
Photo: ExpressJet Airlines
It used to be called Bus-Driver Syndrome -- somebody given a little authority who wielded it to an extreme -- but we now need to rename it Flight-Attendant Disorder: Last month in Houston, a cabin attendant on a Continental Airlines commuter flight operated by ExpressJet ejected a 19-month-old child and the child's mother because the kid babbled "bye-bye plane, bye-bye plane" during the stew's how-to-fasten-a-seatbelt lecture.
It was a mid-route stop between Atlanta and the mother's destination, Oklahoma City, so she was left with no baby supplies and couldn't get a flight out until the next day.
The two were kicked off the airplane after the flight attendant told the captain that the mother had "threatened her." In fact the mother had said, "I'm not going to drug my child so you can have a pleasant flight," after the attendant told her to knock the kid out with some Benadryl--a stupid suggestion that many pediatricians strongly warn against.
The mother had already told the woman that her child would soon be asleep in any case. Indeed, they had to wake up the kid to kick him off.
Was the child annoying others? Apparently not, since several passengers protested the F/A's draconian demand, perhaps unaware that they too were risking eviction for "interfering with a flight crew." Interfering with an idiot is more like it.
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Your last line said it all. They said the little boy had to be woken up to be kicked off the plane - what was that flight attendant thinking!
Posted by: lorib | July 16, 2007 at 08:44 AM
The beat goes on. Minutes ago, I read about an eight-year-old boy, a third-grader who was denied boarding in Cortez, Colorado for his anxiously awaited first-ever airplane ride. "We can't get you on this plane, you're a terrorist," the ticket agent told him. His name was on the TSA no-fly list.
The TSA says that no children are on the list, only kids with the same names as known or suspected terrorists, and that it's up to the airlines to make the distinction.
Not to politicize this, but so many of our assumed personal liberties have disappeared since the ineptly named Patriot Act was put into effect. In past months, I have had a minor USPS employee tell me that my mail would no longer be delivered to my box unless I filled out (for the second time, since they'd lost the first one) a form full of personal information. And a teenage bank clerk tell me that my bank account would become unusable unless I filled out a similar form and brought to the bank photo ID, etc.
I expect any minute to have the checker at Shoprite tell me my food will be cut off unless I recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Posted by: stepwilk | July 16, 2007 at 09:32 AM
LoriB, obviously the flight attendant *wasn't* thinking. Well, that thought doesn't make me feel very good. Flight attendants who don't think. And these people are responsible for assisting others in the event of an emergency?
Some people are just little wanna-be-more-important-than-thou-arts who enjoy having their little power trips. If I were that mother, I'd be calling their CEO.
Posted by: tracker1312 | July 16, 2007 at 10:56 AM
I think the flight attendant is saying "bye-bye job" right now.
Posted by: lorib | July 16, 2007 at 12:03 PM
Never underestimate the power of the flight attendants' union...
Posted by: stepwilk | July 16, 2007 at 12:23 PM
Kate Penland and her son, Garren, as well as the other passengers, plus the crew. were delayed 11 hours. I am amazed that Kate Penland still had her wits about it and Garren did so well. While he didn't do well on the GMA set ... somehow he coped, for those 11 hours.
Where did the crew wait? Did they have better accommodations than the passengers? Did they get to sleep horizontal? If the passengers tolerated, at the very least, Garren's repetitive talk, after an 11 hour delay, why couldnt the flight attendant.
Now to the flight attendant (FA) ...
- First, did the FA ask for help from another FA or cockpit crew member? I think that should be standard. Do not try to handle a bad situation yourself. It is what we do if we are in a similar situation. Another person may be able to establish rapport and resolve the conflict. Plus, it helps if there is a complaint. Another FA may not have seen it as an issue. Take the hint.
- What training did the FA get on dealing with children & from those who will not sit still to those who cry and talk nonstop? I feel bad for the parent whose child has ear problems, when the plane descends & and only can cry. What about adults who talk nonstop are they booted?
- Did the FA lie to the pilot when she said Kate Penland threatened her? While a threat is a Federal violation, I wonder if communicating a false statement about it is, too? It is too bad that Kate Penland didn't know enough to say to call the authorities ... because by most (maybe all but one), she didn't communicate a threat.
- Did the FA say it was HER plane? If so, is that mutiny?
- Was the FA recommending a drug a violation of Federal law? When I was a pharmacy tech, I was not allowed to even say what I take or give my children & the pharmacist had to.
- If the other passengers sided with mother and child, why did the FA continue? Was she afraid of losing face & well now she has given HER airline a bad name, as well as her family (I wonder what her mama thinks) plus the USA.
Why didn't the pilot investigate what the FA said? I believe he is the sole authority to remove anyone from the plane. Will she or he be in trouble, too?
Was there an air marshal on board?
I hope when the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights Act of 2007 goes before the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee they will include abusive (and those that lie) crew members, including fines and Federal time behind bars.
Posted by: Medchill10 | July 16, 2007 at 03:45 PM
Do be aware that what we're talking about here was a "commuter flight"--an Embraer or Bombardier regional jet, don't know which it was, but it certainly would have had a sole flight attendant aboard, nobody else for her to accede to. Yeah, and therefore it was "her plane." Not that I'm excusing her conduct, but let's not assume this was a Boeing with half a dozen stews aboard.
I've never flown as an airline pilot, but having flown business jets, sometimes with cabin attendants aboard, I also know that there's enough going on in the cockpit during pre-takeoff taxi that when a member of your cabin crew comes forward and tells you they've "been threatened," you don't have a symposium, you go back to the gate, especially in this era of...oh, don't get me started.
Bottom line is that this captain may well have known this was buehlchit business, but that it was infinitely easier for him to shut up and go back to the gate than "get involved."
Posted by: stepwilk | July 16, 2007 at 10:20 PM
I still think the very, very least the airline should have done was give Ms. Penland her luggage and assist her in making an alternate arrangement, especially as a young child was involved. That's one airline that will never see my business.
Posted by: Scarboroughjoe | September 14, 2008 at 05:50 PM