Continental Express FA kicks mother and child off Houston flight.

[igneousy2]

If it's the same "witnesses" that have been on my airplanes at my past 3 airlines I would say that the "witnesses" didn't see jack...they were all sitting there reading their newspaper and maybe they hear a comotion in the seat in front...by the time they look up after taking a sip of their coffee all they see is a pissed-off flight attendant belittliing a "poor innoccent passenger." Then they get word that now they have to go back to the gate! Now they are really pissed. Now when the media asks "was this poor little lady and baby bothering you" they answer No! we should of continued to Twidledum, GA because this poor lady wasn't doing anything that justified her getting kicked off.

As far as the Captain kicking the passenger off! I say absolutely! As far as "questioning" the flight attendant before making the decision. Beyond "this lady threatned me" what more do you want? She says she wants them off, they are off.

There is only one FA in the back of these airplanes and if your one crewmember (eyes and ears) can't handle the situation, regardless of the reason she can't handle the situation (her bitchy attitude pax fault whatever) and she wants them off then they are off; period. If the situation gets any worse the first you are going to hear about it is when you open the door at your destination and go to bitch her out for not bringing you your coffee at cruise and you find her knocked out in the aisle because the ladies boyfriend got fed up and knocked her out.

If it turns out that it is the fault of the flight attendant then MANAGEMENT will deal with her. If it turns out to be the FA's fault then to prevent further problems MANAGEMENT can either A. - hire better flight attendants, or B. - treat the FA's better to prevent bitchy attitudes.

In either case - not the Captains problem. Captain had a safety issue - FA can't do her job because of pax - solution: get pax off. Done. Nice job Captain. This is a difficult situation only if you think your job is larger than it is.

Later

 

[Deuce130]

So deuce what would you do. Interview the lady and when she denies it let her stay on the flight? With the same FA? Even though your FA said the lady threatened her? Maybe the witnesses were all traveling together with the lady. I would have to side with my flight crew. There was some sort of disturbance and at this point I would say the lady has to go or your FA has to. The last thing I want is to allow the lady to stay on board and have some sort of confrontation erupt and have to divert.

You can not judge a person by their home or how they dress. Some of the biggest dirtbags drive BMW's and live in the best neighborhoods.

Just what I said I would do - find out what was going on and decide accordingly. Simply hearing "she threatened me," wouldn't do it. I'm not saying the FA didn't explain herself to the CA - I don't know what she said. I do know, however, that if I were the CA and the FA explained the story the way the passenger explained it, there wouldn't have been anyone kicked off the plane. And, as a decent human being, I would sure as heck get the facts straight before I booted a mom and toddler off the jet and back to the terminal. That's why the CA gets paid the big bucks.

 

[Deuce130]

If it turns out that it is the fault of the flight attendant then MANAGEMENT will deal with her. If it turns out to be the FA's fault then to prevent further problems MANAGEMENT can either A. - hire better flight attendants, or B. - treat the FA's better to prevent bitchy attitudes.

In either case - not the Captains problem. Captain had a safety issue - FA can't do her job because of pax - solution: get pax off. Done. Nice job Captain. This is a difficult situation only if you think your job is larger than it is.

Later

Sounds like you may be better suited for a job in MANAGEMENT. Either that, or MANAGEMENT needs to C) Hire Captains who can think and make decisions without emotion. Anything that happens on an airplane is the Captain's problem. I figured you'd learn that after three airlines.

 

[Charlie Brown]

I actually laughed when I heard this on the local news last night. Keep in mind I live 800 miles from IAH.

In any case, I can see countless FA's that I flew with saying those things to a mother, or any other passenger for that matter. Did this happen according to the media reports? I am inclined to believe there is a fair amount of truth to the mother's claim, based on my past experiences. Having other passengers verify her story, to me, speaks volumes. IF this really happened the way it is portrayed, the FA needs to be let go. Trying to build a brand is hard enough without negative press. If there are other factors, then I trust it will be found out. The truth has a way of always surfacing. I hope there are many inaccuracies in the media story, and they will be found out. If she takes legal action, which she has said she's considering, we should all learn "both sides" of the story.


Automatically defending the actions of this crew, just as automatically crucifying them, is ridiculous. No one, the crew or the Mom and Baby, should be thrown under the bus just yet.

 

[gt1900]

You have to look at the FA before you make your decision... With some of the rude, condescending FA's ive flown with, I would believe the pax 100% if they were treated like crap... But then again, ive flown with some wonderful FA's and know that if there was a problem is was most likely the pax fault.. This could have very well been a discruntled FA and in that case, I would believe the pax.. But, if it was a good FA that knows how to deal with pax well, than you have to back your FA 100%.... Every situation is different, and there is not nearly enough info from the media for anyone of us to actually comment on how best handle the situation..

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Where's the threat to flight safety? The FA's ego...?

Like the other poster said... if you'd never traveld with kids then its impossible to understand.... I'd like to see opinions on this based on who has kids..

A good Captain would have resolved the issue by addressing the FA concerns and taken the mother and her kid to the desitnation.

 

[pianoman]

Where's the threat to flight safety? The FA's ego...?

Like the other poster said... if you'd never traveld with kids then its impossible to understand.... I'd like to see opinions on this based on who has kids..

A good Captain would have resolved the issue by addressing the FA concerns and taken the mother and her kid to the desitnation.

Rez, I often agree with you. But we don't know what the alleged threat was, and we don't know the personality/quality of the FA. So this is mostly like armchairing an accident investigation. Not enough facts to assign fault. I can't say I would have taken her. Depends on what the "threat" was and who the FA was.

I know there are some FA's I've worked with whose word I would never question. There are also those I'd rather not fly with again, in which case Mom and baby probably would have gone.

 

[airplane wizard]

I take the FA's side. I hate kids and people need to shut them up. Or else use a condom next time. Soccer mom pays like 2 cents for her ticket and then thinks everyone should kiss her ass.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

I take the FA's side. I hate kids and people need to shut them up. Or else use a condom next time. Soccer mom pays like 2 cents for her ticket and then thinks everyone should kiss her ass.

I'm sure more than one person has wished your parents took your advice.....

Not that it is an orginal statement... so it is quite possible some one said it before your lifetime.... thus your parents didn't need to count on you to say something to prevent your birth...which would've been impossible.... clear as mud?

Now call your mother (or yell up from the basement) and thank her for what you don't understand, with any luck your Mom and Dad did a decent job and there is still hope for you....

 

[Stifler's Mom]

I'm sure more than one person has wished your parents took your advice.....

HA HA HA.

I have small children and I try not to travel with them (too much of a headache) However, my son loves being around airplanes and constantly points them out as we sit in the terminal. Every 45 seconds he gets excited and says, "Daddy, look, a red and blue one." (Delta paint job) or "Daddy, there goes your airplane." (POS RJ)

Sounds like this 19 month old toddler was probably excited and fascinated by his airport experience. God knows I can thank my parents for numerous trips to watch airplanes takeoff and land when I was young caused me to fall in love with them to the point I decided to make a career out of it.

Were not talking about a screaming baby or some unruly brat who trashed the airplane by throwing his cookies all over the floor.

Probably just a FA having a bad day, and she lost her cool. For all we know, the ExpressJet plane was probably trapped on Ramp 3 for 30 minutes while "2-plane Jane" was working ramp control, and then they had to wait in a 30-deep money line for departure.

 

[Powda5]

I have had MANY f/a's who were very rude to me on flights. They had no idea I worked for an airline. I actually helped an f/a pick up trash off the floor and she snapped it out of my hands and shook her head with an exasperated sigh, pushing the cart away aggressively, never saying anything. I have had them make rude faces and answer with attitude. I am tired of it. It's not every one-and there are some great f/as, but there are WAY more rude ones than I can believe.

I get the feeling customers are an annoyance to their day.

Last week an fa was kicked off one of our planes for being rude to the CREW she was flying with. What's the deal? If I'm annoyed at a customer or coworker or having a terrible day, you'll never know it by my reaction at work. Anything can get done without being RUDE. You can be a professional in any situation.

 

[PCL_128]

Where's the threat to flight safety?

The FA said that she was threatened. That's all that I need to hear to have the passenger removed.

Like the other poster said... if you'd never traveld with kids then its impossible to understand.... I'd like to see opinions on this based on who has kids..

If you can't control your kids on a plane, then don't take your kids on a plane. Simple solution.

A good Captain would have resolved the issue by addressing the FA concerns and taken the mother and her kid to the desitnation.

Resolved the situation? The FA said that she was threatened. Take a look at your PCL FOM. If memory serves, then that qualifies as a Threat Level 2. It's not something that you're supposed to take lightly. It's not the Captain's job to determine whether an FA is being honest or not. Once she claims that she's been threatened, then that's game over, back to the gate. The authorities and the company can worry about what happens next.

 

[NEDude]

If you can't control your kids on a plane, then don't take your kids on a plane. Simple solution.

How do you propose "controlling" a 19 month old who is excited by looking out the window at an airplane?

Resolved the situation? The FA said that she was threatened. Take a look at your PCL FOM. If memory serves, then that qualifies as a Threat Level 2. It's not something that you're supposed to take lightly. It's not the Captain's job to determine whether an FA is being honest or not. Once she claims that she's been threatened, then that's game over, back to the gate. The authorities and the company can worry about what happens next.

I agree that when the situation occurs, you cannot question the FA. Go back to the gate and get it resolved immediately. But if it is determined that the FA was out of line she should be terminated. At most companies (not just airlines) an employees bad behavior causing national embarassment for the company is grounds for immediate termination.

 

[Blucher]

Like Louis CK said: "When people without kids see a parent harshly scolding a crying child in public they generally think 'what a bad parent, I would never treat my child like that.' When other parents see that, they generally think 'what did that horrible child do to that poor parent?'"
Off topic a bit perhaps...but this whole thread is an exercise in speculation and hearsay. Congratulations, you now all officially qualify as US (take your pick, CNN/Fox/etc...) "news media experts."

-Blucher

 

[NoJoy]

There has to be more to this story. From what I have read, the toddler was a little annoying, that's all-Most people who fly to ASE are MUCH more annoying than any toddler. Man they really hate it when they have to fly the DHC-8 instead of the jet. (I just smile though) If a FA can put up with these folks on a daily basis, they are prepared for just about anything-

 

[CaptainSpaz]

huh?

I find it most interesting that a woman from Gwinnett, GA was flying "Continental Express." To me, that speaks volumes.

-Blucher

What's your point?

 

[Alchemy]

Take a look at your PCL FOM. If memory serves, then that qualifies as a Threat Level 2. It's not something that you're supposed to take lightly. It's not the Captain's job to determine whether an FA is being honest or not. Once she claims that she's been threatened, then that's game over, back to the gate. The authorities and the company can worry about what happens next.

Pwnd.

 

[PCL_128]

How do you propose "controlling" a 19 month old who is excited by looking out the window at an airplane?

If it's not possible, then I suppose you'd better not take your 19 month old child on an airplane. That's why God invented the minivan.

 

[CaptainSpaz]

oh brother...

If it's not possible, then I suppose you'd better not take your 19 month old child on an airplane. That's why God invented the minivan.

Remember to bring that little nugget of wisdom to your next job interview.

 

[capt. megadeth]

I have had numerous situations where our 20 something single flight attendants and felch fest male fa's have bitched moaned and complained a whole flight about the " Rude mother in seat 5A with her 3 kids trashing the plane on a transcon"

Let me start by saying that I will give the benefit of the doubt to any parent traveling with small children as it can be a borderline nightmare on a perfect day..

They have no concept of the energy that can go into caring for children 24/7..

I would have consulted the other Fa's or spoken with the woman myself before i kicked a mother and a kid off a plane

I got an idea....if you can't control your kids.....DO NOT FLY WITH THEM! There is no excuse for crap all over the cabin after a flight because your kids threw crap all around. If they do, you need to clean it up.

If taking care of kids takes so much energy and you can't handle it.....I got another idea......DO NOT HAVE MORE! Many people seem to ignore this simple solution and have more kids "because they want them". I want a Corvette but I can't afford it so I don't have one. I want a dog but I can't take care of it right now so I don't have one. Hello? It's a simple concept.

I have no tolerance for screaming babies. I think I may have a breakdown when I have some of my own. That screaching in my ear is enough birth control for me.