WASHINGTON: Less than two weeks after United Airlines prompted a public relations crisis for dragging a passenger from his seat on an overbooked flight, rival American Airlines is trying to tamp down its own controversy.

The airline said on Saturday it is investigating video of a flight attendant angrily confronting a passenger who had come to the defence of a sobbing woman with a baby in her arms.

The viral video, filmed by another passenger, shows a distraught mother carrying her baby boarding the plane moments after the flight attendant had apparently forcibly taken a stroller from her, with other passengers registering shock.

“We have seen the video and have already started an investigation to obtain the facts,” American Airlines said in an email to AFP. “The actions of our team member captured here do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care.”

The incident on a flight from San Francisco to Dallas-Fort Worth was filmed by Surain Adyanthaya, who posted the video to her Facebook account on Friday. “OMG! AA Flight attendant violently took a stroller from a lady with her baby on my flight, hitting her and just missing the baby,” she wrote. “Then he tried to fight a passenger who stood up for her.”

The video does not show the first part of the incident, and begins with the woman crying uncontrollably as a pilot and other airline employees stand by impassively.

Another passenger waiting to board the plane later described the preceding confrontation to the Los Angeles television station KTLA-TV. “The flight attendant wrestled the stroller away from the woman, who was sobbing, holding one baby with the second baby in a car seat on the ground next to her,” Olivia Morgan told the station.

In the Facebook video, a seated male passenger later stands up, saying, “I’m not going to sit here and watch this stuff.” “Hey, bud,” he says to the flight attendant. “You do that to me, and I’ll knock you flat.” “Hey, you stay out of this!” the flight attendant shouts back.

The argument escalates as the female passenger with the baby, now off camera, is heard sobbing uncontrollably.

“Hit me,” the flight attendant says to the male passenger. “Come on, hit me. You don’t know what the story is!” “I don’t care what the story is,” the male passenger replies. “You almost hurt a baby.”

American Airlines said the flight attendant has been removed from duty while it investigates the incident. The airline’s policy says passengers can carry small collapsible strollers for checking at the gate, according to the company’s website. Larger strollers must be checked in at a ticket counter.

“What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers,” American said in its email. “We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident.” “After electing to take another flight, we are taking special care of her and her family and upgrading them to first class for the remainder of their international trip,” the airline added.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2017

Opinion

Editorial

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...