US Airways is at it Again-Things That make you go WTF!

[SparrowHawk]

Woman Escorted Off US Airways Flight For Snapping Photo
Deemed a "security risk" for photographing name tag of rude employee

A Miami photographer was escorted off a US Airways plane and deemed a “security risk” after she snapped a photo of an employee’s nametag at Philadelphia International Airport Friday.

Sandy DeWitt said the employee, whose name was Tonialla G., was being rude to several passengers in the boarding area of the flight to Miami.

So DeWitt snapped a photo of her nametag with her iPhone because she planned to complain about her in a letter to US Airways. But the photo didn’t come out because it was too dark.

However, once DeWitt was settled in her seat, preparing for take-off, Tonialla G. entered the plane and confronted her.

“She told me to delete the photo,” DeWitt said in an interview with Photography is Not a Crime Saturday morning.

DeWitt, who already had her phone turned off in preparation for take-off, turned the phone back on to show her that it didn’t come out, but deleted the photo anyway.

“I complied with her wishes but it’s not something I would normally do,” she said. “It just wasn’t usable.”

But Tonialla G. wouldn’t let the issue go. She then walked into the cockpit to inform the pilot that DeWitt was a “security risk.”

Next thing DeWitt knew, she was being escorted off the plane by two flight attendants. Her husband followed.

“I announced to the other passengers that I was being removed because I took a photo,” she said. “ I announced that photography is not a crime.”

MORE

The 19 Most Hated Companies In America

#6 US Airways

Satisfaction rating: 61/100

Common complaints include low-ratings for cabin-crew service, baggage fees and baggage handling, a lack of entertainment options and poor communication regarding delays. The company is currently censured by the Department of Transportation for its lack of communication with travelers.

In June 2011, the airline carrier paid $45,000 in fines for failing to include the law-required applicable taxes and fees on the same page as a print advertisement on air fare.

It also turns out there is a US Airways Sucks Facebook page

Author Commentary: It should be pointed out that US Airways has only ONE Facebook page that I found devoted to their general Suckyness. All of the other major carriers had no less than 4 and it was WN that had four. CO had five pages. I did not do an extensive search as after reading a few of the complaint boards I noticed that some of these people would complain that the water was to wet. Never the less all airlines must IMO do one of two things. A: Get better at managing customer expectations. or B: be more proactive and responsive to complaints when things do go wrong.

 

[WorldTraveler]

Your A and B are absolutely correct... but I would also say that airline employees need to understand that they are on a "public stage" if they work in public contact areas and they need to be prepared to resolve problems appropriately.
None of us know the exact instances of this circumstance but the employee apparently couldn't resolve a situation, the customer was upset, and wanted a name to elevate the issue. The employee got miffed that someone was going to note her name - but she would she also have flown off the handle if the passenger whipped out a notepad and wrote it down?
The passenger was "in the face" but that is the reality of customer service in the US. Some other cultures are far less tolerant of that type of confrontational behavior - others (but fewer) tolerate even more.

your observation about the number of complaint pages shows that even CO and WN do have their naysayers. The internet makes it very easy for people to post their complaints... resolving problems quickly or being certain that you as a company are in the "right" is necessary - and you still may get dinged - even if you are "right" but everyone else has different expectations.
Customer expectations in the internet era can never compete with what a company can put in rules (which airlines love to do - since they get tons of rules thrown at them) and press releases. You have to be prepared to deal with each individual situation BEFORE it blows up.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Not sure about US (and too lazy to look it up), but IIRC, AA's Terms of Transportation specifically prohibit taking pictures of staff. Stilll's, it's in a public area, no matter what carrier.


I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV. Maybe someone more versed in the subject can help out.

 

[dexter]

Agent had every right to tell the captain. This papparazi idms obnoxious at PHL airport. There could have been private passenger photos in the backround which we protect under the passenger privacy act. Also, it is against company policy to be near any cameras or newsman. This agent hapens to know her job well and knows also when she is being put under an airport rage situation as it happens all the time.
DEC

 

[freedom]

if the passnger taking pictures was a creepy dude who liked to go from plane to plane taking pictures of our FA's while at work inside the A/C would that be acceptable ? i doubbt it , and no one would complain if someone like that got thrown off the A/C ...so i don't see what the big deal is about this lady getting the boot ...

 

[gizmo_sc]

Please see link:

http://www.pixiq.com/article/woman-escorted-off-us-airways-flight-for-snapping-iphone-photo

Wonder where this will go?

Read the article .. Looks like SWA saved the day!

 

[cynic]

As I understand it, the passenger in this case was completely out of line and created an ugly situation. The gate agent became "rude" only after being verbally abused. Is taking a pic of an ID or SIDA card a potential security issue? Actually, yes it certainly could be. In this case, it was most likely just an obnoxious woman making the situation even worse and the agent not reacting in the best manner. The vast majority of us wouldn't be able to restrain ourselves if we had to deal with the verbal abuse that airline gate and ticket agents have to deal with on a daily basis. Pulling the woman off the flight due to being rude and obnoxious is good enough for me, no matter what reason they ended up giving.

 

[strangiatotheme]

Well...after reading a little more about what happened, it looks like we had morons on both sides of the incident.

 

[tadjr]

Unfortunately the company seems to have gone totally whacked in regards to complaint letters and "the customers PERCEPTION" regardless of what actually happened and what you have to back it up. Agents are being put on levels for 1 letter where the customer says the agent "was rude" even when the agent was doing their job (checking bags, charging fees, etc). Everyone knows any time you tell the customer something they dont want to hear, you're very likely to come across "rude" in their perception. Until this new mantra from management changes, I wouldnt be surprised to see more stories like this. People are scared for their jobs and if just 1 letter from someone that happened to get in your line, board your flight, etc and didnt like what you had to tell them (more often than not COMPANY POLICY), gets you on a level, people are going to do some weird things. Personally, I tell them what it is and if they want to argue, I get a sup or manager. I dont have time to play games, or get into issues and I'm not going to take the heat when someone who doesnt like policy decides I'm the one they're going to write about because I'm doing my job.
Not sure if this incident in PHL was related to this new policy and what exactly happened, but I'm sure we'll hear about it here first.

 

[WorldTraveler]

As I understand it, the passenger in this case was completely out of line and created an ugly situation. The gate agent became "rude" only after being verbally abused. Is taking a pic of an ID or SIDA card a potential security issue? Actually, yes it certainly could be. In this case, it was most likely just an obnoxious woman making the situation even worse and the agent not reacting in the best manner. The vast majority of us wouldn't be able to restrain ourselves if we had to deal with the verbal abuse that airline gate and ticket agents have to deal with on a daily basis. Pulling the woman off the flight due to being rude and obnoxious is good enough for me, no matter what reason they ended up giving.

Unfortunately the company seems to have gone totally whacked in regards to complaint letters and "the customers PERCEPTION" regardless of what actually happened and what you have to back it up. Agents are being put on levels for 1 letter where the customer says the agent "was rude" even when the agent was doing their job (checking bags, charging fees, etc). Everyone knows any time you tell the customer something they dont want to hear, you're very likely to come across "rude" in their perception. Until this new mantra from management changes, I wouldnt be surprised to see more stories like this. People are scared for their jobs and if just 1 letter from someone that happened to get in your line, board your flight, etc and didnt like what you had to tell them (more often than not COMPANY POLICY), gets you on a level, people are going to do some weird things. Personally, I tell them what it is and if they want to argue, I get a sup or manager. I dont have time to play games, or get into issues and I'm not going to take the heat when someone who doesnt like policy decides I'm the one they're going to write about because I'm doing my job.
Not sure if this incident in PHL was related to this new policy and what exactly happened, but I'm sure we'll hear about it here first.

I don't doubt for a minute that US mgmt might be using incidents to thin the ranks of their employees ... and that is a shame that they don't stand up for their people if that is the case.
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But Americans are rude people.... it is part of the American culture and it is becoming more prevalent not less.
If you are going to be in customer service, you have to figure out how to diffuse incidents like this without blowing your fuse - even if the customer was completely wrong.
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As for the specifics of the case, do you realize how absolutely absurd it is to say that airline X has a policy against photographing employees and that it is a security risk to photograph a SIDA tag (which we don't even know the passenger did - but rather the name tag)?
It is precisely that type of passenger unfriendly full of rules mindset that airlines have that completely alienates the public.
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I'm not about to defend the passenger... I don't know enough of what she did to start the whole thing.
But when it was the US agent's chance to resolve, she blew it -and only made it ten times worse by pulling the passenger off of the plane.
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And now, not only does US mgmt know the name of the agent involved but so does the rest of the world.

 

[signals]

US can't catch a break
Another bad review, USAirsucks.org, WN saves the woman from the LUSers, life must suck at US!

Yet in this case, I am going to side with US
I can speak for myself(and we don't have the full details to this story), I'd have a problem if someone photographed my SIDA ID! Oh now maybe people will see a security risk!

We live in a civil society and we can write a person's name or remember it. So the lady was a moron that was trying to start something. I would see major problems with her behavior.

If her behavior doesn't set off alarms to those with security access, then you've gotten too lax!

 

[john john]

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[john john]

As for the specifics of the case, do you realize how absolutely absurd it is to say that airline X has a policy against photographing employees

Two-way street
Agents should go to work packing video/camera to record events to defend there self I am sure the company and passengers will not have a problem with that. Just video passengers a will and edit and cover you’re a$$ lets open that box



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[xUT]

Two-way street
Agents should go to work packing video/camera to record events to defend there self I am sure the company and passengers will not have a problem with that. Just video passengers a will and edit and cover you’re a$$ lets open that box

Sometimes, employee photo shoots are Okey Dokey...

 

[WorldTraveler]

We STILL haven't determined that the passenger was photographing the SIDA badge... but rather the name tag.
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I don't think it is necessary for employees to pack cameras to defend themselves... if they were doing nothing wrong or standing by company policy, then there should have been no problem if they asked the passenger to wait while they contacted someone else - even another agent - to vouch that the agent was in the right.

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let's remember though that this became an EVENT when the agent went on the aircraft and wouldn't even accept when the passenger deleted the picture... and then elevated it to a cockpit situation that, honestly, the captain had no idea what was going on by that time.
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I'm not doubting that the passenger was the south end of north bound four legged creature.
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But it appeared to be the agent that wouldn't let it go... that escalated it... and ultimately will pay the price for it - in the name of USAirways.
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Sometimes it doesn't matter who is right but rather who is going to hurt by continuing to elevate a volatile situation.
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Sometimes diffusing a situation is the best thing - and if you do escalate it, you need to make sure you are going to win. Given that there is a reasonable fear among US employees that the company will stand them up, it seems all the more prudent to diffuse the situation rather than let it escalate.
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I doubt very seriously that the passenger will suffer any harm in all of this - even if that is what should have happened.