American Airlines is getting some very bad press in Brazil, after a downgrade that appeared to be handled very poorly.
In this post:
Ingrid Guimarães downgraded on American flight
Ingrid Guimarães is a Brazilian actress with a huge following on social media, who has blasted American for how the airline handled a recent travel experience.
She shared what happened in an Instagram video, which you can find below. Now, I don’t speak Portuguese, but I have to immediately give her credit for the calm and non-emotional tone in which she shares what happened, which adds credibility to what she says.
On Friday, March 7, 2025, she was flying on American from New York (JFK) to Rio de Janeiro (GIG), and she was booked in premium economy. After she was seated, while already buckled in, she was reportedly approached onboard, and told that she had been downgraded.
The reason for the downgrade was because a business class passenger had an inoperable seat. So the business class passenger was downgraded to premium economy, while Guimarães was downgraded to economy. According to Guimarães:
- She was given no explanation for the downgrade, and was threatened, and told that if she didn’t move seats, she’d be banned from the airline
- American employees reportedly announced over the PA that the flight was being delayed because the actress refused to change seats
- The crew did not attempt to negotiate or offer any kind of compensation, before demanding that she leave her seat
- Her sister and brother-in-law tried to intervene in English, but were told to shut up by a staff member
- A Brazilian flight attendant advised her to leave her seat “por bem ou por mal,” which literally translates to “for better or worse,” but more practically means “whether you like it or not” (based on my understanding)
She ultimately gave in to the pressure, and took a seat in economy. As compensation, the airline reportedly offered her a $300 discount on her next trip with the airline.
This isn’t how you should handle a downgrade situation
I can’t say that I’m surprised that the situation was handled as described, but it really gets at just how bad service in the airline industry can be. This shouldn’t be that complicated. If an airline needs to downgrade someone for operational reasons, passengers should be asked to volunteer, and the airline should offer compensation until someone accepts.
It should be that simple. Operational issues happen, but it shouldn’t be the problem of someone in premium economy that a business class seat wasn’t functioning properly. This is no different than when a flight is oversold, and airlines are supposed to solicit volunteers, rather than involuntarily denying people boarding.
While we only have one side of the story, one thing is for sure — American clearly didn’t take this approach, or else this woman wouldn’t have been strong-armed into downgrading in this way.
Of course you should ultimately follow crew member instructions, but something is very wrong when the way to get a paying customer to accept a downgrade is to threaten and embarrass them.
American has a very broken customer service culture. Morale is low, because executives at the airline have failed frontline workers by not creating a vision for the airline. Quite to the contrary, they spent years pursuing a strategy that failed. American now says it wants to become more premium, and the most basic aspect of that is delivering better customer service. As American management recently laid out in a memo to employees:
It is abundantly clear the competitive battleground in the network airline business has, like never before, shifted sharply to product and customer service. As our ability to outperform in revenue will depend increasingly on embracing that reality and delivering a different and elevated customer experience, especially for our premium and lost loyal customers.
Well, here you have a premium customer, and you see how she was treated. She was belittled and threatened until she was willing to accept a product that she didn’t pay for. I think this is the prime example of what’s broken at American.
Bottom line
American is accused of downgrading a Brazilian actress on a recent flight from New York to Rio de Janeiro. Downgrades happen, though what’s terrible is how this was handled. There was no negotiating, but instead there was threatening and bullying until she had no option and just accepted her fate.
There aren’t many businesses where such a low level of service is tolerated, but airlines are an exception, for whatever reason. If American is serious about a turnaround, I hope the airline studies this situation carefully, and learns from it.
What do you make of this American downgrade situation?
AA apologized and reached out to the passenger.
https://oglobo.globo.com/cultura/noticia/2025/03/11/american-airlines-pede-desculpas-a-ingrid-guimaraes-e-investiga-troca-de-assentos-apos-repercussao-negativa.ghtml
Isn't this a 77W route? With this sort of crew behavior, one has to wonder whether there was an open F seat that the J pax could have been given (or nonrev who could have been offloaded), but the crew chose this instead in order to avoid the J pax getting an upgrade "for free".
Shame! Shame! Shame on them!
I suppose what this really is, is a fight between Brazilians. And then on a bigotry pretext, a woman is trying to drag others in.
Not without precedent.
There may be another side to this story. However, improving the flyer experience at AA will take money and so far management has clearly shown they will not spend money/invest for this purpose. They still cling onto the idea that their network is the airline's competitive strategy and that coach passengers are not something the airline should care about. Yesterday flying MIA/RDU the boarding gate indicates the flight is ready to board in 5 minutes...
There may be another side to this story. However, improving the flyer experience at AA will take money and so far management has clearly shown they will not spend money/invest for this purpose. They still cling onto the idea that their network is the airline's competitive strategy and that coach passengers are not something the airline should care about. Yesterday flying MIA/RDU the boarding gate indicates the flight is ready to board in 5 minutes even though the inbound had just landed and not one word from the gate agent. We get to RDU 50 minutes late and wait another 20 minutes for a crew to marshal the a/c to the gate.
This is what happens when you grade people for on time push back. It takes time to negotiate and it is faster just to wield a big club.
Exactly the issue here. Metrics guide actions. If the most import metric is on time departure, customer satisfaction drops off and actions like this will occur.
She was embarrassed, threatened, really? Anyway, we do not have the whole story for sure. Now, she is a celebrity? Because she has followers? Funny times we live in. You'd imagine such a world star would pay business class...
She has literally been an actress for over 30 years
Being an actress for 30 or 50 years doesn't make you a celebrity of any kind
What is your point here? There were other witnesses that can confirm her story. It has nothing to do with her being a « celebrity » or whether she could afford a business class seat or not. This should not be allowed on any class. This is basically bullying and threatening people. Sadly I am not surprised, AA has always been a very sh!ty company.
So the aiirline needed the premium economy sets and asked her to move, what is your point ?
Being an actress for 30 or 50 years does not make you a celebrity
No matter who she is. Everyone deserves respect. Even you.
What a stupid comments!
So, because she was in Economy Premium she can be treated like a trash? I really hope you're rich enough to say something stupid like that...
I can always rely on OMAAT comment sections to deliver the worst possible take on a story and today you take the honours. Congratulations on having an IQ lower than your BMI.
Service culture is absolutely terrible in NA. Maybe FAs just need a tip to provide good service /s
This seems to be an issue in North America that I cannot get my head around.
I have been a duty manager for a large European airline for over twenty years now.
Downgrades have to happen all the time - operational reasons such as aircraft changes with different configurations to broken seats to overselling.
But I can say hand on heart that in over twenty years I have not personally experienced nor heard of any...
This seems to be an issue in North America that I cannot get my head around.
I have been a duty manager for a large European airline for over twenty years now.
Downgrades have to happen all the time - operational reasons such as aircraft changes with different configurations to broken seats to overselling.
But I can say hand on heart that in over twenty years I have not personally experienced nor heard of any of my colleagues experience a situation where AFTER boarding a commercial customer was downgraded. Never.
If this situation happened at my airline this is what would happen:
1. On boarding a business class passenger discovers their seat is in operable.
2. Inoperable seats can be manually reclined by the crew. All business class seats are required by the FAA/EASA to have this feature.
3. We would first look for a non rev passenger (guaranteed on pretty much every flight) within the SAME cabin and swap them.
4. Failing that, we would offer the customer in business service recover (compensation) and advise them they will be able to have a flat bed during the flight but it will have to be manually adjusted.
I fully agree.
The way some NA airlines handle service failures is atrocious.
Situations where passengers have to be downgraded for one reason or another do happen, but if such a situations arises it needs to be handled with tact and courtesy.
Bullying and public (PA) shaming a passenger is a sign of a rotten service culture.
What is a passenger going to do with a $300 voucher (difference on AA between Main...
I fully agree.
The way some NA airlines handle service failures is atrocious.
Situations where passengers have to be downgraded for one reason or another do happen, but if such a situations arises it needs to be handled with tact and courtesy.
Bullying and public (PA) shaming a passenger is a sign of a rotten service culture.
What is a passenger going to do with a $300 voucher (difference on AA between Main Cabin and Premium Economy of that route typically $200) on an airline that she will probably avoid like the plague in the future.
And about 2 1/2 hours earlier a there’s a Delta 767 with Premium select on that route.
Ben has written about this:
https://onemileatatime.com/guides/flight-downgrade/
Proof, if proof was ever needed why AA is rated only 71st in the SkyTrax World Airlines Rankings.
Clearly AA are planning to fail rather than failing to plan.
Wow! Below Ryanair and EasyJet - https://www.worldairlineawards.com/worlds-top-100-airlines-2024/
Terrifying.
There is not much to be done on board the aircraft as it could have been resolved before boarding. How do you know whether she hasn’t purchsed a last minute upgrade, hence why she was selected? If it wasn’t her then someone else. Brazilians, and Americans, share one thing in that they are both drama queens/ kings. Indeed it was unpleasant however the crew have a right to recommodate passengers. “celebrities” and “ influencers” often...
There is not much to be done on board the aircraft as it could have been resolved before boarding. How do you know whether she hasn’t purchsed a last minute upgrade, hence why she was selected? If it wasn’t her then someone else. Brazilians, and Americans, share one thing in that they are both drama queens/ kings. Indeed it was unpleasant however the crew have a right to recommodate passengers. “celebrities” and “ influencers” often post what’s often not always accurate.
Maybe, but why victim blame and bend over backwards to defend AA? If there's a good reason, AA has their own PR and lawyers on payroll to do that, and so far AA hasn't offered up any good reasons.
There's also a big difference between that "someone" being told to get out of their seats, and "someone" offering up their seat due to a public offer to downgrade (for a fee).
I also had a similar experience on United, two years ago. I had paid for premium economy, but when I boarded, my seat was occupied. The flight attendant looked into the matter and learned that the other passenger had been offered a cash upgrade at the gate to premium economy. A United ground staff manager boarded the plane and started yelling at me, the flight attendants were very surprised by his behavior.
He was...
I also had a similar experience on United, two years ago. I had paid for premium economy, but when I boarded, my seat was occupied. The flight attendant looked into the matter and learned that the other passenger had been offered a cash upgrade at the gate to premium economy. A United ground staff manager boarded the plane and started yelling at me, the flight attendants were very surprised by his behavior.
He was threatening me that he would “send me to the back of economy”. I was extremely embarrassed, as many passengers looked at what was happening. I wanted to get off the flight, but I was worried that I would have to deal with this man, as he was United ground staff.
One passenger ended up missing the flight, and I was moved to their premium economy seat. The flight attendants and lead purser were extremely apologetic. Offering me business class amenity sets and extra food. They also promised to report the situation to United.
After my trip, I contacted United, and they immediately offered me $650 for the horrible experience.
Since that flight, I’ve never had such a bad experience again, but have had several issues on United. Broken seats, forgotten special meals, etc.
It's very simple. Refuse to leave your assigned and paid for seat. If they wish to arrest you for that, so be it. Let them. They won't. If they forcibly remove you from a flight which you paid for, had a seat assigned, and had already been seated, there is nothing they can do that is outside what will become a David Dao situation.
They just latched on to a woman who they assumed...
It's very simple. Refuse to leave your assigned and paid for seat. If they wish to arrest you for that, so be it. Let them. They won't. If they forcibly remove you from a flight which you paid for, had a seat assigned, and had already been seated, there is nothing they can do that is outside what will become a David Dao situation.
They just latched on to a woman who they assumed was traveling alone and decided she was the chosen one for ease and intimidation.
As a side note, this has happened twice to me over the years. I firmly said, "no." There was a little push back - but when it was clear that I was not getting up from my seat or even discussing it further they gave up.
I want to add this. In defense of AA potentially. If it comes out that she was an operational upgrade to Premium economy that is a whole different story. That changes everything.
Indeed, AA flight attendants should be dealt with the same way as Egyptian street scammers; a firm "No", then tune out and completely ignore any further interactions.
If you engage, you lose.
Even better, say "I am happy to move for $2000 - cash, not voucher" - i.e. an amount that is not ridiculously large, but one would be happy to have accepted.
Half the time, other people will then want cash and offer themselves for lower amounts.
Getting arrested is not a straightforward option for foreigners. It means a likely visa revocation and ban on any future visas. If she has any family or business interests in the US, or both which is very possible for a Brazilian actress, then this would not be something she would do lightly.
A lawsuit for forcibly removing a valid passenger from an aircraft against their will and after taking their seat is equally obtainable by a foreign passenger. In which case I am certain any ban or visa issues would also be removed.
Matches my recent experience on an AA flight from Brazil.
The FA's were rude and obnoxious and I was threatened with removal if I wouldn't immediately relinquish my FAA approved car seat despite having paid for the extra seat and had already boarded.
I’m not a Portuguese speaker but I am a native Spanish speaker and the two are very similar. “por bem ou por mal,” sounds a lot like a threat. It literally means for good or for bad, but in practice it does not mean whether you like it or not. It is more along the lines of either you move voluntarily or we will move you by force. It’s what it means in Spanish slang anyway.
It's basically "we're going to move you, the easy way or the hard way". It's a very obvious threat, that implies forceful removal of the passenger. Absolutely insane behavior.
AA has many problems and they all start at the top. Accountability comes to mind with this issue, starting with the broken seat that couldn't be occupied. 1st, was it reported by the previous flight crew, and if so, 2nd, why wasn't it immediately fixed? Who's accountable here? It's hard to imagine Emirates, Qatar, or Singapore Airlines letting an expensive business class seat be broken to the point that its unable to be occupied. Seems...
AA has many problems and they all start at the top. Accountability comes to mind with this issue, starting with the broken seat that couldn't be occupied. 1st, was it reported by the previous flight crew, and if so, 2nd, why wasn't it immediately fixed? Who's accountable here? It's hard to imagine Emirates, Qatar, or Singapore Airlines letting an expensive business class seat be broken to the point that its unable to be occupied. Seems like no one is minding the store!
@Heath Haha. You just summed up how it is with U.S. airlines. Nobody pays attention to these things.
I don’t believe the story. Simple as that…too much of the situation is against standard protocol, especially as it was US originating.
I’d go so far to say it’s a ludicrous story.
But I love Ben’s blog otherwise!!!
If you were MIALonghorn you would definitely believe it.
The only thing I don't believe is why she's not flying business or first.
She's actually quite well known and not a D-list.
@LALonghorn not ludicrous at all since this is something that is quite common on American Airlines as mentioned by other commenters here though out the life of Ben’s blog.
What she mentions at the end of her video is interesting. She asked what the criteria was for selecting who to downgrade. She was told they picked the person who had paid the least for their ticket OR a woman traveling by herself based on a record locator. She was that unlucky woman. Her assumption is that they assume a woman traveling without a man who would fight for her rights would be more willing...
What she mentions at the end of her video is interesting. She asked what the criteria was for selecting who to downgrade. She was told they picked the person who had paid the least for their ticket OR a woman traveling by herself based on a record locator. She was that unlucky woman. Her assumption is that they assume a woman traveling without a man who would fight for her rights would be more willing to accommodate the downgrade. She arrived in Brazil on International Women’s Day with a bad taste in her mouth given not only her experience, but also the response she received regarding the criteria used to select the unlucky passenger.
The American Airlines crew at JFK is pathetic. I had to check a bag due to liquids and luckily I gave myself time. There was a long line which shouldn't be unusual especially with passengers on that evening's flight to Delhi where passengers often check more baggage. For the estimates 200 or so people in line, there were were around 8 agents present but only 3 were actually processing bags. The others were standing around...
The American Airlines crew at JFK is pathetic. I had to check a bag due to liquids and luckily I gave myself time. There was a long line which shouldn't be unusual especially with passengers on that evening's flight to Delhi where passengers often check more baggage. For the estimates 200 or so people in line, there were were around 8 agents present but only 3 were actually processing bags. The others were standing around chatting (I would have presumed on their break?) but it wasn't a good look. I'm glad I had arrived early so that I didn't miss my flight but there were some people in line who were cutting it pretty close to departure. The staff couldn't have cared less. The culture is broken and it starts at the top. I wrote about my experience in the post-flight survey and I told them they could contact me about my experience. That was in early December and crickets. Wouldn't hold my breath.
Here lies your problem.
If you have to share the check in line with 200 more people, don't expect the airline to contact you back.
If your name is on the list to use the area behind the doors, you will be contacted within a week or two.
I lost status with American years ago and generally avoid flying them nowadays. This flight just happened to be the only one that worked with my schedule. I knew it would be a crap experience but it was so laughably bad it just reinforced my rationale for not flying them more often.
Reading this blog makes me feel super lucky to live in an Alaska hub to be honest
I was in C on a recent narrow-body AC flight, MCO-YYZ. While still parked at the gate, a woman in an economy bulkhead middle seat made it known that she had a problem (handicap?) with her legs, and the seat was forcing her to sit at an awkward angle that was deeply uncomfortable. She was apparently complaining — if quietly — to the F.A.s and check-in crew, and our takeoff was being delayed. The crew...
I was in C on a recent narrow-body AC flight, MCO-YYZ. While still parked at the gate, a woman in an economy bulkhead middle seat made it known that she had a problem (handicap?) with her legs, and the seat was forcing her to sit at an awkward angle that was deeply uncomfortable. She was apparently complaining — if quietly — to the F.A.s and check-in crew, and our takeoff was being delayed. The crew asked if there was anyone in the forward cabin who was willing to downgrade and, after a moment of thought, I volunteered. It was amazing how many people, crew and passengers, both thanked me and said they wouldn't have done it.
I understand that there are people who will say I was being a sap, and yes, the woman should have bought a better seat rather than manipulating her way up front, but it was a relatively short flight and if I could diffuse a potentially tense situation and help the flight get moving with a small sacrifice, I was ok with that.
The more important point is how Air Canada then treated me. The crew made sure I got the business class meal and service, and the head FA promised me Air Canada would make it right. It was a matter of trust and I believed her...and Air Canada came through. Within 48 hours, I received a full refund for the flight.
I continue to fly Air Canada, because I believe they will treat me with kindness and I know they live up to their word.
In the case described in @Ben's post, AA shot themselves in the foot for no reason. All they had to do was treat their passengers with respect, and be a little generous with the person who was downgraded. Besides being the right thing to do, they would be receiving an entirely different type of attention.
I haven't flow AA since I was like 10.
But I have flown AC a lot for someone who lives in the US and doesn't travel for a living (I am dual citizen), and in every class. I don't get the constant complaints from people about AC. No the food isn't top notch nor is the equipment. But service has always been good and IFE selection one of the best.
This would be a perfect time to write an article on what person should do if they found themselves in this situation?
Not much you can do - the gestAApo cabin crew will summon the stormtroopers to drag you from the aircraft if you refuse to comply.
I don’t mean to rant Ben and readers, but American Airlines has a nasty structure at all levels. There are several good employees within the carrier but they are like rare gems. Morale is low and many of these ground supervisors are on a power trip. Additionally Brazil has several legal protections for its citizens against actions like this and it’s sad that the action against the carrier is gonna be taken from a foreign...
I don’t mean to rant Ben and readers, but American Airlines has a nasty structure at all levels. There are several good employees within the carrier but they are like rare gems. Morale is low and many of these ground supervisors are on a power trip. Additionally Brazil has several legal protections for its citizens against actions like this and it’s sad that the action against the carrier is gonna be taken from a foreign country. She paid for her seat. Literally it’s giving Dr. Dao vibes.
Everyone made a bad decision.
AA training JFK agents the MIA way.
AA gate agent handling the situation.
Actress giving up her seat for $300.
If one lesson you take from David Dao, if you're removed from your seat after you buckle up, settle for $140 MILLION.
That's 000,000 more zeros behind what she got.
I’m transitioning from American to United/Lufthansa/SWISS. Good riddance.
Im curious what American'w response to this would be.... hopefully this leads to an operational change going forward. (or am I being too charitable towards American?? )
This happened to me (in reverse) last year on Qatar out of SFO. I was seated in my Q Suite ready for an amazing experience when I was told that I had to move back to economy. The flight was over sold and because I was “on miles” I needed to move back to accommodate a paying passenger. I elected to be off loaded. Not fun and left a bad taste in my mouth.
Your last booking ever with Qatar, I hope.
I’m actually booked on QR next week SFO-DOH-JNB (using AA Advantage Miles). But I do have a backup plan. Let’s see if this works out this time around.
This is terrible.
@ben, I recently got downgraded from EY F to biz at the gate due to a inop seat at the gate. They offered me $600. Thoughts?
What's the difference in price between F and biz? I bet it's more than $600...
I agree. I contacted them via email two weeks ago with a specific breakdown, and have yet to hear back. Still waiting from them. It's not like you can upgrade from J to F regularly or at all for $600.
I haven't flown these routes but it's entirely consistent with United out of Sao Paulo, when the passengers might be worse. You can't really assign blame as an outsider, reliably, to anyone involved who's bound for Rio. How does one succeed these days in any career with exposure to the people dominating society in Brazil?
Truly terrible optics even for American. Say, doesn't American have to offer some reasonable compensation for involuntarily downgrading a passenger?
Well, with FAs like Donna, nothing surprises me anymore. The airline will — at most — issue some generic apology and nothing will change.
$300 compensation? For real?
Premium economy is around twice the economy fare.
FAIL
The lady doth protest too much.