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Delta flight diverts on champagne request

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DieselDragRacer

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 30, 2006
Posts
11,056
A Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Costa Rica diverted to Tampa last night because of an unruly German couple, The Associated Press reports.The incident came on Delta Flight 413, which departed Atlanta at 6 p.m. ET before making the unscheduled stop in Tampa around 7:34 p.m.

ET. Delta spokeswoman Chris Kelly Singley tells AP that the "unruly" husband and wife were removed from the Delta 757 at that time.
ALSO ONLINE: Unruly Japanese flier pleads guilty in attendant assault
AP says the couple apparently was upset at meal service on the flight, writing:
Tampa International Airport spokeswoman Janet Zink identified the passengers as Peter and Gabriele Strohmaier of Dusseldorf, Germany. She said they were seated in first class and demanding food and champagne and refused to sit down.
Zink said no charges had been filled. The FBI and Transportation Security Administration were investigating.
The Strohmaiers, however, insist they were not being unruly. When reached by AP at a Tampa hotel, the couple said the attendant on the flight "exaggerated" the situation.

Peter Strohmaier says he "did nothing except to say I would like to have the meal and so on ... all normal things."

Then he asked for champagne, only to be told by attendant that there was no champagne left on the flight. That, according to Strohmaier, is when the trouble began.

He apparently voiced his displeasure about the absence of champagne, alleging the attendant responded by saying she did not like his attitude.

"I am not prepared to accept such behavior," he is quoted as saying by AP.
As for as the charge that they refused to sit down, Gabriele Strohmaier tells AP "we were not standing."

Another side of the story comes from Patch.com, which writes:
Jamaica Plain Patch local editor Chris Helms was on the flight. Helms corresponded via e-mail, "We've landed in Tampa for a person to be taken from the plane." Helms wrote that, according to a witness, the man was chastising a flight attendant and was warned they would land the plane if he didn't calm down.
As for the Strohmaiers, they tell the AP that they'll be taking another airline -- "naturally not Delta" -- to complete their trip to Costa Rica.
And, in a separate story involving an unruly flier on Delta, The Associated Press reports:
A 65-year-old Japanese man pleaded guilty Friday to assaulting a flight attendant aboard a Delta Air Lines flight from Tokyo to Honolulu, a federal prosecutor said.

Sohei Yamanouchi was expected to return to Tokyo on a Japan Airlines flight Friday. His passport would be returned after paying the $2,500 fine the judge ordered him to pay, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Song said.

Yamanouchi hit the flight attendant once with an open hand and once with a closed fist after drinking four glasses of wine in business class during the Monday flight, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court. A crew member also noted that Yamanouchi had a glass of champagne before the plane departed.

FULL STORY: Guilty plea in Delta flight assault; $2,500 fine
After the meal service, the flight attendant was speaking to a passenger sitting behind Yamanouchi about a media player that wasn't working. He then rose from his seat and struck the flight attendant on her left shoulder with an open palm, then punched the same shoulder, shook his fist at her in a "threatening manner," and told her to "shut up" in English, the complaint said.

He was escorted back to his seat and there were no other confrontations during the remainder of the flight.
 
Cabin crew in the US are out of control these days, trumping their perceived authority over simple customer service, especially in first class. I was on a UA flight to DXB and was shocked at the lack of service in biz class. After a horrendous meal service, the cat rachers were never seen again for the rest of the flight. Do that on an Asian or ME carrier and you will be fired.
 
Cabin crew in the US are out of control these days, trumping their perceived authority over simple customer service, especially in first class. I was on a UA flight to DXB and was shocked at the lack of service in biz class. After a horrendous meal service, the cat rachers were never seen again for the rest of the flight. Do that on an Asian or ME carrier and you will be fired.

I agree. You can hear some of them verbally assault half the people boarding then those same FAs come up and tell you they are having trouble with a passenger. Of course you are. You're freaking rude to them. Meanwhile you never have a passenger issue with the nice FAs on board.
 
Cabin crew in the US are out of control these days, trumping their perceived authority over simple customer service, especially in first class. I was on a UA flight to DXB and was shocked at the lack of service in biz class. After a horrendous meal service, the cat rachers were never seen again for the rest of the flight. Do that on an Asian or ME carrier and you will be fired.

And then they wonder why the US industry is not competitive and blame everything but service!
 
Does the shoe fit zone? At least sometimes?
And I'm not antiFA- I've seen time and again the personal skill good FAs use to decompress altercations a bit, and how many times grumpy pax leave happy when the FAs really serve them and work hard to turn them around -
But you have to admit, we've all seen a whole lot of the opposite. Diffusion is a skill all FAs should have in droves- but many are way more into drama and escalation, taking cover under their union and the "primarily for your safety" card.
 
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Same old song and dance with you guys. It's ALWAYS the FAs fault....
:rolleyes:

That's one way to see what we're saying. Another is to recognize what we're saying and see it as truth. I'm sure the view in the back for an entire flight would only underline our point.
 
That's one way to see what we're saying. Another is to recognize what we're saying and see it as truth. I'm sure the view in the back for an entire flight would only underline our point.

But that's like saying "TBX is ALWAYS the pilots fault." A good one could slow down, request alt altitude, etc. (Point being: there are always people willing to judge the situation b/c they can "fly the plane better" or "handle the pax better" than the schmuck who is being criticized.)

Both statements are ridiculous. No matter the skill set displayed by either crew member, there are sometimes that the ride just sucks and there are sometimes that the pax suck.

Does that mean there aren't nasty a$$ crew out there on BOTH sides of the door? No--there are plenty.

In this case (TPA) however, I can believe the crews were spot on. DL isn't going to divert b/c of the innocent poor misunderstood pax not getting champagne. There is FAR more to this than that.

Don't turn this into an incompetent FA issue. The CA made the call in the end.
 

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