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It’s not all the airlines’ fault. Sometimes it’s the Ugly American traveler.
Washington Post ^ | May 10, 2017 | By Fredrick Kunkle

Posted on 05/10/2017 1:09:41 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

U.S. airlines have received some well-deserved criticism lately for their routine mistreatment of customers.

But maybe it’s time air travelers also look in the mirror to see why so many jetliners have become venues for Mile High cage fights. Those folks might see a reflection of the Ugly American. The whiny American. The entitled American.

Just this week, we’ve been treated to a fight night on a plane at Burbank Bob Hope Airport in California that ended with a Southwest Airlines flight attendant buried somewhere in the scrum. At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida, passengers started duking it out with sheriff’s deputies and each other after Spirit Airlines canceled hundreds of flights amid a labor dispute with pilots.

“We are definitely seeing a small number of passengers who appear to be manipulating the public outrage at airlines to try to get something, or to disobey crew member instructions,” Taylor Garland, a spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said Wednesday. “We believe this is unfair to the vast majority of passengers who just show up for a flight that they want to be safe, efficient, uneventful and friendly, and get on with their travel plans.”

There’s no doubt that the airline monopoly has inflamed everyone’s nerves with its casual callousness toward customers. A day after members of Congress wagged their fingers at United Airlines chief executive Oscar Munoz and other airline bosses, news broke that American Airlines would soon be shoehorning more passengers into some of their planes.

But the problem — to view the video from Fort Lauderdale and California — is also us.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: blamethevictim; overbooking; overcharging; overcrowding; thugairlines; travel
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1 posted on 05/10/2017 1:09:41 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

It’s just a reflection of life in America under Democratic oppression: Sit down and shut up.


2 posted on 05/10/2017 1:12:12 PM PDT by Kudsman ( Anyone to the Right of Stalin is a Far Right Wing candidate to the Far Left Wing Media.)
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To: Kudsman

You’re exactly right.

Used to be something didn’t go you way, you pretty much accepted it as something you deal with when you’re an adult. Obviously exceptions apply when warranted, but you don’t handle them physically.

Along came the Democrats and now you riot when you don’t like something. You refuse to comply. You start fist fights.

You refuse to accept that the other political party’s candidate won the election, and it’s his right/obligation to govern as best he can as he sees fit, and as the law allows.


3 posted on 05/10/2017 1:16:28 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Happy days are here again!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

“We are definitely seeing a small number of passengers who appear to be manipulating the public outrage at airlines to try to get something [dignity? respect? honesty?], or to disobey crew member instructions [to comply and obey]”


4 posted on 05/10/2017 1:16:46 PM PDT by Zarro (Oh, we don't call them the "MSM" any longer; they are now the "Basket of Detestables")
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

sometimes?

um... sorry, it’s almost ALWAYS the ugly Americans fault!

the problem is... it doesn’t matter, because no company can afford the bad publicity of something like this being shouted from the rooftops. No one remembers the millions of happy travelers... they only remember the one jerk who got filed getting kicked off the plane.


5 posted on 05/10/2017 1:18:33 PM PDT by TexasFreeper2009 (Make America Great Again !)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Once you establish that there are cash rewards for a behavior you’ll see more of that behavior.


6 posted on 05/10/2017 1:21:08 PM PDT by discostu (You are what you is, and that's all it is, you ain't what you're not, so see what you got.)
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To: TexasFreeper2009

Perspective is an interesting thing. You said “kicked off”. I would say “dragged off after refusing to give up the seat he paid for and was already seated in, so the airline could make room to move staff around”.


7 posted on 05/10/2017 1:23:24 PM PDT by Zarro (Oh, we don't call them the "MSM" any longer; they are now the "Basket of Detestables")
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To: Zarro

should never have been allowed to board to begin with in my opinion.


8 posted on 05/10/2017 1:25:28 PM PDT by TexasFreeper2009 (Make America Great Again !)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The article is right. Some airline workers are overbearing and heavy-handed. Some airline passengers are arrogant, feel entitled to do what they want and overreact to honest airline mistakes. Airline SNAFUs make a good case study of how people — airline workers and passengers — react to a pressure situation.


9 posted on 05/10/2017 1:26:51 PM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Why of course that’s true. It just depends on who the Nazi media targets next.


10 posted on 05/10/2017 1:31:37 PM PDT by ImJustAnotherOkie
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
It’s not all the airlines’ fault. Sometimes it’s the Ugly American traveler.

 

True. I just posted a case in point...

Woman says United crew forced her to urinate in a cup (Fake News Headline?)
Chicago Tribune ^ | 05/10/2017 | Matt Campbell

Posted on ‎5‎/‎10‎/‎2017‎ ‎10‎:‎02‎:‎36‎ ‎AM by Responsibility2nd

11 posted on 05/10/2017 1:32:40 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Talk about yer 'ugly American'

12 posted on 05/10/2017 1:36:52 PM PDT by InvisibleChurch (https://thepurginglutheran.wordpress.com)
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To: TexasFreeper2009

And why is that?


13 posted on 05/10/2017 1:36:57 PM PDT by This_Dude
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To: Zarro

Methinks United Airlines reminded WaPo how much they spend on advertising with that rag.


14 posted on 05/10/2017 1:38:06 PM PDT by Fido969 (IN!)
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To: Kudsman

Democrats or not, when I’m on a plane I want everyone to shut the hell up so I don’t have any freaking delays. I’ll help throw anyone to the tarmac who wants to make a scene


15 posted on 05/10/2017 1:40:11 PM PDT by InvisibleChurch (https://thepurginglutheran.wordpress.com)
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To: This_Dude

The airline made several mistakes.

The first was letting this guy board to begin with.

The 2nd was not increasing the offer to give up a seat high enough to get someone to voluntarily get off.

The 3rd was the amount of forced used on the jerk looking for a payday.


16 posted on 05/10/2017 1:40:30 PM PDT by TexasFreeper2009 (Make America Great Again !)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Why link to a paywall? As if I would subscribe to the WP rag to read the article.


17 posted on 05/10/2017 1:41:23 PM PDT by Rebelrage ("To crush your enemies -- See them driven, and to hear the lamentation of their women")
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To: Kudsman

the full phrase is: Sit down, Buckle up and shut up.


18 posted on 05/10/2017 1:42:41 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer; All
While I agree with the headline and the premise of the article; let us not forget what drives these "ugly americans" to that act-out stage.

The TSA.

Being poked, prodded, groped, sexually assaluted, forced to strip and disrobe in front of stangers, made to wait in long lines, being insulted, forced to comply with idiot rules and regulations, having to deal with rude, inconsiderate and below average human beings, having your personal belongings searched, and dozens of other horror stories that are repeated tens of thousands of times each and every day - why this is more than enough to drive the average person insane.

It's a freaking wonder someone does not take a flamethrower to these TSA goons on a weekly basis.

But we have been trained and conditioned to be good little sheep. We keep out mouths shut as some huge hulking thing (possibly female) gropes our teenage daughters. We swallow our pride and dignity as we know that any normal response to these assaults will only result in our being arrested.

We adapt and adjust to our own "1984".

19 posted on 05/10/2017 1:44:28 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

We didn’t have these problems when we were a real country.


20 posted on 05/10/2017 1:45:11 PM PDT by The Toll
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