Air travel seemingly keeps getting more difficult and inconvenient. That's something airlines should want to fix, but those companies also want to maintain rules that protect their interests even if they don't benefit passengers in any way.
Now, it needs to be noted that air travel is difficult even when an airline makes every effort to put passengers first. Southwest Airlines LUV, for example, made some major mistakes during its holiday meltdown and should have invested more in its technology (which it's doing now) but it does not control the weather.
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Airlines also don't control the security lines that back up for hours nor is it their fault when you can't find a parking space at the airport. But, it's fair to say that airlines do control the pre-flight, boarding, and in-flight experience.
Little things can make that better or worse and many airlines work to make sure that they have rules -- sometimes secret and rarely used rules -- that benefit them. That's something passengers learn about more often now because the prevalence of smartphones and the reach of social media make it harder for companies to keep secrets.
That became evident in August when a woman who purchased an extra seat for her child on an American Airlines (AAL) -) flight learned that having a ticket with a seat assignment did not actually entitle her to a seat, just transportation. Now, the airline has suffered another issue that should leave passengers concerned not just about their flight, but their freedom.
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American Airlines makes a mistake, passengers pay
American Airlines recently saw one of its flight undergo an overnight delay after a dispute involving seating disputes caused the entire plane to be deboarded. Making e everyone get off to avoid a confrontation with a single passenger has been a common way for airlines to de-escalate problems.
In this case, however, the airline has been accused of over-reacting in a way that literally led to police involvement and the plane not being able to take off on the day it was scheduled to leave, according to View From the Wing. A passenger on the plane, @_Maiaph, shared what happened on X (formerly Twitter).
Welcome to @AmericanAir where you can be forced off a flight when the airline screws up your seat. A woman became reasonably (non-violently) upset, they forced her, her sister, her baby, and all other passengers off the plane, and escorted them away with a dozen cops," she posted.
That was then followed by her sharing a defense of the passengers and a critique of how the airline handled the problem.
There are several passengers, including self, who can attest that these women did nothing to warrant this treatment. A flight attendant on our plane felt “unsafe” and thus the police were called & we deplaned. American refuses to give us names of the pilots and flight attendants.
Many passengers (and potential passengers) were likely surprised to learn that an airline can make everyone get off a plane just because one person or group misbehaves (or in this case doesn't). Forcing people to get off the plane also caused a second problem that caused the plane to be unloaded again and the flight delayed.
The extra time pulling everyone off, caused the crew to "time out," meaning that the plane could not take off. @_Maiaph Tweeted about that as well.
Update: we’re deplaning again and our flight is now pushed till 6:00AM tomorrow. @AmericanAir you owe us answers. This is unacceptable. All because two women had their seats messed up and got reasonably upset.
"In general I see more social media criticism of American Airlines, which also flies more passengers than competitors. Cabin crew aren’t as friendly overall as at Delta, and aren’t trained in de-escalation as at United. Although there are amazing exceptions," View From the Wing's Gary Leff, an expert in the airline industry who has covered it for more than 20 years, shared.
American Airlines did not return a request for comment from TheStreet.
