United Airlines Flight To Israel Diverts Due To Bizarre Crew Seat Dispute

United Airlines Flight To Israel Diverts Due To Bizarre Crew Seat Dispute

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A passenger on Saturday night’s United Airlines flight Newark to Tel Aviv was so poorly behaved that the crew made the decision to turn the plane around. Despite that, the guy seemingly didn’t face any major consequences.

Why Newark to Tel Aviv United flight turned around

This incident involves United Airlines flight UA90 on Saturday, April 22, 2023. This flight was operated by a four-year-old Boeing 787-10 with the registration code N12006, and was scheduled to depart Newark (EWR) at 10:55PM and land in Tel Aviv (TLV) at 4:20PM the next day. That’s not how the flight played out, though.

The flight departed around 2.5 hours late due to weather, and only took off at 1:27AM. The plane climbed to 33,000 feet, and started its journey across the Atlantic. Unfortunately around 2hr20min after departure, the crew made the decision to return to Newark.

The reason? A disruptive passenger. According to eyewitnesses, while waiting to use the lavatory on the aircraft, a man sat in one of the flight attendant jump seats in the galley. This escalated, and the passenger and a flight attendant reportedly got into a shouting match.

The crew member reportedly told the passenger that if he didn’t return to his seat, the plane would be turned back to New York. The man apparently didn’t believe the threat, and indeed the plane returned to New York.

The plane ended up landing back in Newark at 6:15AM on Sunday morning, just under five hours after its departure.

This United flight returned to Newark

United claims that law enforcement met the aircraft and removed the passenger. Based on the below video, it doesn’t look like it was a police officer removing the man — I can’t tell if this is some airport security person escorting him off, or a United representative.

Here’s the real kicker, if you ask me. The guy wasn’t arrested or charged with anything, and ended up hanging around the airport for hours, “pleading his case” with fellow passengers about how the crew overreacted and he did nothing wrong.

Passengers ended up spending most of the day Sunday on the ground, before a replacement flight was arranged, which operated as flight UA3040. That flight ended up landing in Tel Aviv on Monday afternoon, roughly 24 hours late. Ouch, what a rough travel day…

Some thoughts on this United diversion

Let me acknowledge that most of us didn’t have a front row seat to everything that unfolded, so we simply don’t have all the facts. Was this guy not listening to crew member instructions? Absolutely. Was this guy being an argumentative jerk? Almost certainly. Did this guy pose any actual risk to the safety of other passengers? We don’t know…

I think the most innocent possible explanation (and I’m not suggesting that this is what happened) would be that the guy didn’t realize he couldn’t sit in the jump seat, then the flight attendant maybe called him out on it with an attitude, and then the guy doubled down and had an attitude as well.

I guess what I struggle with here is that this diversion cost the airline tens of thousands of dollars (if not more), caused tons of fuel to be burned, and inconvenienced 500+ people (since the outbound flight was delayed by around a day, and the return was canceled). My point is, a diversion like this shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Yet when the plane got back to Newark, the guy seemed to simply be escorted off the plane, and was then free to roam around the terminal and hang out with the other passengers? That doesn’t exactly send a strong warning sign to others. There’s just something odd to me about a flight turning around over the Atlantic, only for the passenger to then be released without charges. What does that say about the incident, exactly?

It’s anyone’s guess how good of a job this crew did with deescalating this situation. I do feel that generally speaking, we have a lot more problems with crews doing a poor job deescalating situations in the United States than in other countries. I don’t envy the job of airline crews having to deal with the general public, because there are some awful people out there.

I also wonder if part of the problem might be how crews are trained. If training for these kinds of situations were reframed a bit, could we see crews approach these situations differently? Obviously safety is paramount, and if anyone poses a risk to the safety of the aircraft, a diversion should happen.

But there’s an important distinction between being a stubborn jerk and actually posing a risk to the safety of passengers and the crew. At least that’s my two cents…

Could this diversion have been avoided?

Bottom line

A United Airlines flight from Newark to Tel Aviv ended up returning to Newark, leading to a roughly five hour flight to “nowhere.” This all happened because a passenger sat in a crew jump seat while waiting for the lavatory. An argument escalated, and then the decision was made to return to Newark. Yet oddly the guy didn’t face any charges and wasn’t arrested, but rather he spent hours at the airport trying to convince other passengers that he did nothing wrong.

What do you make of this situation?

Conversations (68)
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  1. Randy Guest

    They did the right thing in turning around. Safety if ALL passengers comes first.

  2. james e benning Guest

    hand him a bill for ALL the related costs to the airline, crew and passengers and fuel. then ban for life.

  3. Scott Guest

    Flight crews need to start being held accountable for this nonsense as much as the passengers. They’re not the saints people keep making them out to be.

  4. Sam Nelson Guest

    In such a confrontation with a passenger I suggest the actual attendant should back off immediately and a different attendant with no history with that passenger endeavour to resolve the situation. Brinkmanship in such a situation is not the best way to solve a situation.

  5. iamhere Guest

    Well, I think there should be a way to determine if the turn around was really necessary. The problem is how to determine this. I think it stems from the flight staff not being very polite or having an attitude, but it cost the airline a lot of money. The problem if you penalize the staff is there could be a real emergency or a real reason to turn back and it could make it...

    Well, I think there should be a way to determine if the turn around was really necessary. The problem is how to determine this. I think it stems from the flight staff not being very polite or having an attitude, but it cost the airline a lot of money. The problem if you penalize the staff is there could be a real emergency or a real reason to turn back and it could make it worse. In a case like this I think the directly involved crew should have been responsible and the passenger given consequences for not following the staff instruction, and for his anger, and disrupting the others on the flight. I wonder the real reason he needed to go back. There's probably more to it.

  6. Bob Guest

    At face value, very poorly managed by the flight attendant and captain.

    And could it be possible that this passenger needed to sit down, for one reason or another?

  7. Mike Guest

    I’m a flight attendant, if someone’s in my crew seat they will always be politely asked to move.
    And 99% of the time they will do so whilst apologising.
    Every now and again you will be asked why but most of these will understand when you explain it to them.
    There are several reasons why passengers cannot sit there, emergency situations when we need immediate access to our crew seats and the...

    I’m a flight attendant, if someone’s in my crew seat they will always be politely asked to move.
    And 99% of the time they will do so whilst apologising.
    Every now and again you will be asked why but most of these will understand when you explain it to them.
    There are several reasons why passengers cannot sit there, emergency situations when we need immediate access to our crew seats and the emergency equipment they contain, decompression scenarios, turbulence. But also because passengers have been known to break things in the crew seat station either intentionally or unintentionally.
    If a passenger started an argument after all this (and it’s been known to happen) then it’s because they want to have an argument, so that’s what I see has happened here because it’s not very often a crew member would start an argument like that.

  8. IrishAlan Diamond

    I feel bad for how heavily the other pax were inconvenienced by the decision to return to EWR. If the guy was assessed to pose a legitimate threat to safety and had a passport with visa free access to Canada, Greenland or Iceland, why not just divert briefly and have him removed? Then the flight could continue to TLV without crew timing out and not inconvenience everybody! And the inconvenience to this guy would have been huge!

    1. Wolff13 Gold

      Common sense is at a premium these days.

  9. Nuke Guest

    Every airline has a Flight Operations Incident Report, or something with a similar name, as well as safety reports. The FAA will be interested in hearing about this, and I'm sure the Captain filled these out after the return. The repercussions could be pretty severe, with fines over $40,000 dollars for disruptions to flights. It's my guess this man will be getting a summons to Federal Court in the next few weeks.

    1. Jonathan Guest

      The guy was speaking Hebrew in the video, so he was probably on his way to Tel Aviv on another airline within a day.

  10. Abetz Guest

    All he had to do was do what the flight attendant instructed him to do. A passenger to does not have to pose a safety risk to be removed from an aircraft. They can be removed for being disruptive or simply bad behavior

    1. Eskimo Guest

      But how and who determines what is being disruptive or simply bad behavior?

  11. Natarajan Sivsubramanian Guest

    This passenger should be blacklisted for travel in UA or any US carriers for that matter. he caused financial loss to the airline by behaving in unprofessional manner, which resulted in the diversion/return of the flight to base.
    UA should notify all other IATA airlines thru IATA for the information of other airlines so that they will be cautious
    in accepting this "arrogant and defying" passenger, for the safety of aircraft, passengers and...

    This passenger should be blacklisted for travel in UA or any US carriers for that matter. he caused financial loss to the airline by behaving in unprofessional manner, which resulted in the diversion/return of the flight to base.
    UA should notify all other IATA airlines thru IATA for the information of other airlines so that they will be cautious
    in accepting this "arrogant and defying" passenger, for the safety of aircraft, passengers and crew members.

    I am a retired airline officer from an international airline. crew seat is crew seat and it is meant for them only
    and no one can sit there. for example, a college principal or school principal seat can be occupied by principal only and no student can sit there. same way, people have to respect others.

    1. Eskimo Guest

      And you can find better ways to communicate that rather than locking down the whole campus to remove the student from the school principal seat.

      I'm sure if this passenger was very disruptive, in the age of smartphones, we would have seen much more of what happen on TikTok.

      And if every IATA airlines will be cautious in accepting this "arrogant and defying" passenger. I'm sure your ex-, would happily slip some gifts to some...

      And you can find better ways to communicate that rather than locking down the whole campus to remove the student from the school principal seat.

      I'm sure if this passenger was very disruptive, in the age of smartphones, we would have seen much more of what happen on TikTok.

      And if every IATA airlines will be cautious in accepting this "arrogant and defying" passenger. I'm sure your ex-, would happily slip some gifts to some airline to make sure @Natarajan Sivsubramanian will never set foot on a plane ever again. See how dangerous that could be?

  12. Hebrews R Us Guest

    Lots of Israelis in Airline News lately. they know they can always Play the "Anti Semite" Card or make $$$$$$$$ by playing the "Victim" Card. Almost All of the time they get away with it.
    There must be a Lot of money in "Travel Blogs" because it is mostly a Hebrew entity. Nothing personal Mr."onemileatatime". you are very Good and Fair in what you do campare to VFTW or TPG,etc.

  13. jetjock64 Guest

    Honestly, what's the real problem with sitting on the FAs' jump seat while waiting for the lavatory? Maybe the FA wanted to sit down or something; couldn't the FA wait? I thought the name of the game was cutomer service, not power tripping.

    1. Zero Guest

      What's next, making a drink yourself when they're busy? Give me a break. Stand or don't get up until it's free. This guy was an entitled lazy loser. Period. And UA should be charging him all excess charges associated with the delay.

    2. wpcoe Member

      One reason those seats are not to be used for passenger seating is that in the event of an emergency (think explosive decompression or severe turbulence) the F/A must have immediate access to the jumpseat for their safety.

    3. BenjaminGuttery Diamond

      Your kidding me, right? I do think the FA/Crew over reactedHERE, BUT. and a BIG BUT: No one should ever sit in the jump seat but the crew, unless specifically told to by the crew. Period. It probably was latched up too, and he just pulled it down and plopped in it. So rude and weird.

  14. Jorl Guest

    The flight attendant should be fired for convincing the pilot to turn the flight around. This cost the airline thousands of dollars and inconvenienced hundreds of passengers for nothing! If you’re not going to arrest the passenger and fine them, then nothing should be done in these situations. Otherwise the passenger should be held accountable and fined enough to cover the costs of turning the flight around and compensating every passenger.

  15. Bob Guest

    Flying into Israel you have to stay seated for the last hour of the flight or they’re not supposed to land. I think it would’ve been worse to get to Israel and have to divert somewhere else because some guy didn’t want to listen.

    1. Gil Guest

      But he did sit.. btw, it’s strange that this restriction is almost solely a imposed by U.S. airlines, never by Israeli airlines

  16. Mary Guest

    This is a flight to Israel. They were the first country to required reinforced cockpit door on El Al before other airlines did it because of the flight hijacking. The security protocol was probably triggered when this person started arguing with the flight attendant next to the cockpit and he will not go back to host seat. The FA does not have the authority to turn the flight back. It’s the pilot’s call and if...

    This is a flight to Israel. They were the first country to required reinforced cockpit door on El Al before other airlines did it because of the flight hijacking. The security protocol was probably triggered when this person started arguing with the flight attendant next to the cockpit and he will not go back to host seat. The FA does not have the authority to turn the flight back. It’s the pilot’s call and if the pilot assessed that this might be a potential safety issue with the whole flight then he made that call. This would have been avoided if he just complied and get back to his seat and wait for his turn.

  17. Kay Guest

    I was a FA for 32 years. People sat on jumps seats from time to time, a discretionary thing waiting for the washroom, elderly, frail, etc. Having said that, if this jump seat was in the galley area and the crew were busy with service, (2hrs in) how would be impeding their work area and service duties. Also was he there a few minutes or as some pax would do, planted himself there for quite...

    I was a FA for 32 years. People sat on jumps seats from time to time, a discretionary thing waiting for the washroom, elderly, frail, etc. Having said that, if this jump seat was in the galley area and the crew were busy with service, (2hrs in) how would be impeding their work area and service duties. Also was he there a few minutes or as some pax would do, planted himself there for quite a while, which is a definite Nono. The jump seat is only for flight personnel or to be used during a medical emergency, yet we used to have discretion as to who and when to use, as stated we do not know what he said to FA, if he appeared to be a threat etc.

    1. BradStPete Diamond

      I also was a F/A. Pax do not realize (nor do we communicate it) that there are Off Limits places like the jumps and the galley. I suspect a very senior crew, and very poor communication and clearly poor de-escalation. Sad. I feel for everyone impacted.

  18. Globalnomad Guest

    While there is a time and place for everything, having spent umpteen flight hours at 35k feet on travel both domestically and internationally for work and otherwise…. I see a sense of entitlement with passengers who basically think they can do whatever they want. My opinion is just that an opinion… in this case he sat down was asked to get up and likely very likely argued that he was doing nothing wrong just like...

    While there is a time and place for everything, having spent umpteen flight hours at 35k feet on travel both domestically and internationally for work and otherwise…. I see a sense of entitlement with passengers who basically think they can do whatever they want. My opinion is just that an opinion… in this case he sat down was asked to get up and likely very likely argued that he was doing nothing wrong just like he was trying to do at the airport…. Instead of just saying hey ok got it….. the a flight attendant is in their rights to ask a passenger to vacate crew seats… I really do think it goes to this sense of entitlement whether one recognised it or not…. And a case of “but why”…. 35k feet in the air … yeah…I’m going to listen to instruction like it or not. This guy was too busy being righteous…

  19. ABC Guest

    Bet he won't do that again!

  20. Eskimo Guest

    This is a new low for authoritarian flight crews exercising their post 9/11 super powers.
    Sitting on a jump seat during cruise is a safety concern?
    How about de-escalate rather than escalating.

    First they came for the drug junkie, and no one speak out.
    Because you're not intoxicated.
    Then they came for asking eye masks, and no one speak out.
    Because you're not asking anything from the crew.
    Then...

    This is a new low for authoritarian flight crews exercising their post 9/11 super powers.
    Sitting on a jump seat during cruise is a safety concern?
    How about de-escalate rather than escalating.

    First they came for the drug junkie, and no one speak out.
    Because you're not intoxicated.
    Then they came for asking eye masks, and no one speak out.
    Because you're not asking anything from the crew.
    Then they came for the jump seat, and no one speak out.
    Because you're not sitting near the wrong people.

    Then they came for you and there was no one left to speak for you.

    1. AnonymousFA Guest

      It’s not the last rows of seats. On those A/C there’s a crew rest area above that FA go and take their rest. There’s beds for them there.

      It’s a HUGE safety issue because in the event of unexpected turbulence or decompression, that’s where you go and secure yourself. If you have random people siting there then you have no where to go quick enough to secure yourself and possibly put a oxygen mask on....

      It’s not the last rows of seats. On those A/C there’s a crew rest area above that FA go and take their rest. There’s beds for them there.

      It’s a HUGE safety issue because in the event of unexpected turbulence or decompression, that’s where you go and secure yourself. If you have random people siting there then you have no where to go quick enough to secure yourself and possibly put a oxygen mask on. At that altitude you have less than 30 seconds before you fair due to lack of oxygen.

      It’s not anything authoritatian or political. Its a private company on a privately owned aircraft with rules and regulations that must be followed. If you don’t follow them then there’s consequences.

    2. Zero Guest

      What the he77 are you trying to say exactly? Try again.

  21. jon Guest

    Hard to believe there wasn't an air marshall onboard a Tel Aviv flight and if so why didn't the marshal get involved?

    1. TravelinWilly Guest

      Air Marshalls are not, generally, asked to resolve seating disputes between intransigent passengers and power-drunk flight attendants.

    2. BenjaminGuttery Diamond

      Your kidding me, right? I do think the FA/Crew over reactedHERE, BUT. and a BIG BUT: No one should ever sit in the jump seat but the crew, unless specifically told to by the crew. Period. It probably was latched up too, and he just pulled it down and plopped in it. So rude and weird.

  22. Bogus us airlines is getting new lows Guest

    It’s not the jump seat, simply the last rows that were ‘designated’ for cabin crew to sit on.

    The USA’s service culture is definitely the worst in the world. If the same thing happened in any Asia countries, this cabin attendant and the pilot that decided to turn around will be fired immediately. But of course, such bogus things will never happen in these carriers.

    1. Icarus Guest

      In civilised countries people are not simply sacked although the USA has few rights unlike Europe. Asian countries and the gulf discriminate and have almost no employment legislation so of course it’s simpler to dismiss someone.

      If the passenger did not comply with crew instructions and was not in his designated seat he was in breach of the conditions of carriage.

  23. Henry Guest

    Ok dude, it was not a seat dispute, the passenger was not following flight crew instructions not to seat in the jumpseat. Bizarre seat dispute lol

    1. Eskimo Guest

      Crew instructions, regardless of anything (facts, truth, merit), is holier than the Ten Commandments.

      Moses couldn't even get you across the sea when you get diverted.

  24. ML Guest

    @Ben I ebelueve you have the flights wrong. The diversion and return to EWR was Saturday nights UA90, they scheduled a replacement UA3040 at 8pm Sunday. Sundays UA90 also had issues, and ultimately was scheduled for 1:16PM monday

  25. Patti Guest

    Ben, lately you want to comment on the "bad" in a story even before we read it and make up our own minds.

    The disgruntled passenger, the horrible cruise ship line.

    Make up your mind whether you want to present the facts, as you barely know them, or be judge, jury snd executioner.

    This is getting to the point, I don't even care to read here because you've already passed judgement.

    1. TravelinWilly Diamond

      “This is getting to the point, I don't even care to read here…”

      The Points Guy is looking for followers, go look there.

    2. Zero Guest

      TPG doesn't care. Did you ready about his real estate deal and AmEx?
      He doesn't need followers.

    3. Patti Guest

      Atleast he doesn't push his judgements on us.

      We are perfectly capable of reading the story and deciding for ourselves.

      In fact, I see the title and opening line has been changed since the original so I must have hit a point...or a nerve.

    4. Zero Guest

      Let's not jump to conclusions since we weren't there...
      Was this guy not listening to crew member instructions? Absolutely. Was this guy being an argumentative jerk? Almost certainly.
      Ok yeah let's not jump to any conclusions since we don't know the facts and none of us were there.

  26. Mark Guest

    I think an important point not brought up in the article is passenger rules inside Israeli airspace. If you have a passenger not listening to crew member instruction earlier in the flight then it could be a much larger problem at the end of the flight with huge consequences.

  27. lavanderialarry Guest

    The passenger was told not to sit in the crew jump seat. He presumably argued and certainly didn't follow their instructions. It's pretty simple, here. This son of a bitch caused a diversion, inconveniencing passengers, crew, the airline, etc...and thus should have his flying privileges suspended for a time, made to pay a fine. This isn't about passenger and crew dynamics. Just fucking follow the crew instructions and don't argue. He had the option to...

    The passenger was told not to sit in the crew jump seat. He presumably argued and certainly didn't follow their instructions. It's pretty simple, here. This son of a bitch caused a diversion, inconveniencing passengers, crew, the airline, etc...and thus should have his flying privileges suspended for a time, made to pay a fine. This isn't about passenger and crew dynamics. Just fucking follow the crew instructions and don't argue. He had the option to sit in a few minutes (on the toilet) or back at his seat, or if absolutely necessary, on the floor, so long as the crew didn't object. C'mon.

    1. Eskimo Guest

      "Just follow the crew instructions and don't argue. "

      Sounds very authoritarian.

      Can't believe most people here think "Just follow the crew instructions and don't argue." is ok but are still calling out North Korea, or Russia. (Not that I condone either position)

      See the hypocrisy here?

    2. Ralph4878 Guest

      Following a crew member's instructions and not arguing with them when they are responsible for the safety and well being of everyone on the flight is not a symptom of authoritarianism - it's following safety protocols that one agrees to when one purchases a ticket (see also: conditions of carriage/passenger rules and fares). It's truly twisted and sickening that you would liken this situation to what Jews and others experienced during WWII and the Holocaust...

      Following a crew member's instructions and not arguing with them when they are responsible for the safety and well being of everyone on the flight is not a symptom of authoritarianism - it's following safety protocols that one agrees to when one purchases a ticket (see also: conditions of carriage/passenger rules and fares). It's truly twisted and sickening that you would liken this situation to what Jews and others experienced during WWII and the Holocaust by invoking Niemöller, as you did in your 12:29pm comment.

    3. Eskimo Guest

      Your response is exactly what a happy Russian would say about Putin, not a symptom of authoritarianism.

      In the age of extreme propaganda, soon there will be no one is left to defend you. As you have witnessed here.

      By the way, you should learn more about Niemöller. Especially his views before WWII, he even admit he is antisemite. His verse isn't just about Jews or Holocaust or Hitler, it's his regret about not acting...

      Your response is exactly what a happy Russian would say about Putin, not a symptom of authoritarianism.

      In the age of extreme propaganda, soon there will be no one is left to defend you. As you have witnessed here.

      By the way, you should learn more about Niemöller. Especially his views before WWII, he even admit he is antisemite. His verse isn't just about Jews or Holocaust or Hitler, it's his regret about not acting soon enough to prevent the rise of an unstoppable power. Something that present day propaganda is more effective than those times.

    4. BenjaminGuttery Diamond

      Huh? Are you serious? Your saying a private company asking you to behave like a adult for a few hours is anything remotely close to authoritarianism is absolutely laughable.

    5. Jake Guest

      It's like the cops closing a major street for hours because some idiot jaywalked. Out of control power freaks.

  28. Anthony Diamond

    Airlines should write in the contract of carriage that disruptive behavior like this can lead to these penalties:

    1) Cancellation of return flight without refund
    2) Closure of mileage account, including forfeiture of miles
    3) Suspensions or permanent bans from flying the airline
    4) Referral to broader "no fly lists" across airlines

    So that in a situation like this, where a passenger is being annoying and disruptive but not necessarily dangerous, FAs...

    Airlines should write in the contract of carriage that disruptive behavior like this can lead to these penalties:

    1) Cancellation of return flight without refund
    2) Closure of mileage account, including forfeiture of miles
    3) Suspensions or permanent bans from flying the airline
    4) Referral to broader "no fly lists" across airlines

    So that in a situation like this, where a passenger is being annoying and disruptive but not necessarily dangerous, FAs and pilots can make a decision to take other kinds of action

    1. Bagoly Guest

      The problem with referral to broader no fly lists is that airline employees (whether cabin crew, flight crew, or management) do make mistakes, and however good the appeal process is in theory, practice is a different matter.

    2. Icarus Guest

      In general you cannot apply no fly lists between airlines. If a passenger is banned on United, he or she cannot be prohibited from travelling on Lufthansa or American.

      The comments above are already in most airlines’ conditions of carriage.

  29. Gabe Z Guest

    One of the issues here is that American carriers generally don't have an actual "leadership" role on board. That is, the purser isn't really the boss of the team, and the pilots view themselves as an effectively separate chain of control and management.

    So if any ONE FA is having a really bad day and wants to push the issue, no one inside the "org" is going to stop them, and they'll just turn...

    One of the issues here is that American carriers generally don't have an actual "leadership" role on board. That is, the purser isn't really the boss of the team, and the pilots view themselves as an effectively separate chain of control and management.

    So if any ONE FA is having a really bad day and wants to push the issue, no one inside the "org" is going to stop them, and they'll just turn that plane around.

    The theory I assume is CRM related, but in practice it's more like terrible outcomes of badly designed union rules.

    Although the FAs primary role is for "safety", because there are so few actual safety issues in modern aviation, their practical actual job is 99.999999% customer service. But the role is not structured for customer service, it's structured for safety. The mismatch is evident on almost every US carrier flight.

    1. Patricia Russo Guest

      Incorrect. Mist flights, especially international ones, have a purser or lead FA. Sometimes two pursers; one for first/business class and the other for coach.

    2. Zoe M Guest

      I think you misunderstood his comment. He never said there isn’t a purser on every flight. He said the purser has no authority over the crew. And he is actually, unfortunately, pretty spot on with his entire analysis.

  30. Jon Guest

    Not sure why you would base a story on tweets and video from such a partisan anti-choice, anti-gay, retro religious activist.

  31. John Guest

    Not excusing his behaviour, but the fact he wasn't escorted off by law enforcement or charged (at least not yet) speaks volumes. [Looks at United]

    1. Tw Guest

      It’s important to note that typically the FAA will issue a fine or FBI will follow up with charges after the crew has written up their statements. Local PD doesn’t always have cause or need to arrest the passenger unless they fail to comply with the PD on arrival.

  32. NSS Guest

    Not sure we need retraining. Airlines are pretty clear about following crewmember instructions. If they tell you to get out of the jump seat, get out of the jump seat. In case of emergency, I want action. I don't want an FA thinking "oh wait, in my training they told me there are levels of response and shades of gray and what am I supposed to do here and if I do it wrong will...

    Not sure we need retraining. Airlines are pretty clear about following crewmember instructions. If they tell you to get out of the jump seat, get out of the jump seat. In case of emergency, I want action. I don't want an FA thinking "oh wait, in my training they told me there are levels of response and shades of gray and what am I supposed to do here and if I do it wrong will I get fired or disciplined." There are some places where I am fine not having rights, and at 35000 feet is one of them.

    1. Samo Guest

      Well, if you don't want cabin crew to think how to de-escalate the situation, or at least not provoke a completely unnecessary conflict, then you'll get more air rage, more diversion and more unpleasant experiences for everyone. What most people want is a peaceful flight and civilised solution of any problems.

      I don't understand what is it with Americans not understanding that policing with consent is far more successful strategy than using force wherever possible....

      Well, if you don't want cabin crew to think how to de-escalate the situation, or at least not provoke a completely unnecessary conflict, then you'll get more air rage, more diversion and more unpleasant experiences for everyone. What most people want is a peaceful flight and civilised solution of any problems.

      I don't understand what is it with Americans not understanding that policing with consent is far more successful strategy than using force wherever possible. It works very well elsewhere in the world and incidents like the one described in the article are far less common in regions where crews aren't trained to become minitrumps.

    2. Bagoly Guest

      Perhaps the same issue that makes many opinion-driving Americans feel it's safer for most people to have guns.

    3. Eskimo Guest

      Sure, guns.
      That's why FOX is running stories of armed homeowners stopping robberies, while CNN is running stories of armed homeowners shooting harmless people who they feel threaten. Nether are running both type of stories.

      The media propaganda is driving Americans apart and that's a very big problem.

  33. Matt Guest

    Almost certainly it was a power trip by both the United crew and the passenger.

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TravelinWilly Guest

Air Marshalls are not, generally, asked to resolve seating disputes between intransigent passengers and power-drunk flight attendants.

4
Bogus us airlines is getting new lows Guest

It’s not the jump seat, simply the last rows that were ‘designated’ for cabin crew to sit on. The USA’s service culture is definitely the worst in the world. If the same thing happened in any Asia countries, this cabin attendant and the pilot that decided to turn around will be fired immediately. But of course, such bogus things will never happen in these carriers.

3
Ralph4878 Guest

Following a crew member's instructions and not arguing with them when they are responsible for the safety and well being of everyone on the flight is not a symptom of authoritarianism - it's following safety protocols that one agrees to when one purchases a ticket (see also: conditions of carriage/passenger rules and fares). It's truly twisted and sickening that you would liken this situation to what Jews and others experienced during WWII and the Holocaust by invoking Niemöller, as you did in your 12:29pm comment.

2
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