United Airlines hasn’t had a good month. They’re taking hits in the media and customers are pissed off about how they handled a passenger being forcibly removed from an oversold flight.
They’ve also had a scorpion sting a passenger during a flight. (I don’t think we can really blame the airline for that one!)
Over the weekend a couple was supposed to fly to Costa Rica for their destination wedding when they got kicked off of their United Airlines flight!
Maybe the couple was having second thoughts about their upcoming nuptials and caused some trouble before the plane took-off. No, that wasn’t the case.
The couple, Michael Hohl and Amber Maxwell had flown from Salt Lake City to Houston for the flight to Liberia, CR. When they got to their seats, they saw a stranger sleeping across their row!
I don’t know about you, but I’d probably point this out to a flight attendant. However, the couple decided to take a seat, still in economy a few rows in front of their original seats.
Here’s where the story differs between the passengers and United Airlines.
The couple claims that the FA asked why they weren’t in their seats so they explained the situation. They say that they followed the crews orders and the man was woken up. Regardless, an air marshal came over to them and told the couple that they needed to get off of the plane.
United claims that the “passengers repeatedly attempted to sit in upgraded seating, which they did not purchase, and they would not follow crew instructions to return to their assigned seats“.
It’s hard to say what really happened here but it does sound like the couple could’ve unknowingly sat in premium economy seats. (That’s just my guess.)
In the end, the couple was rebooked on another flight the following day and they made it to Costa Rica with enough time to still have their wedding on Thursday.
When there’s two sides to a story, it’s definitely hard to say who’s at fault here. What do you think?
Find out more from Yahoo here.
Patrick- What’s so sensational?
Lily- The couple’s story very well might be. My guess is that another passenger was across the row during boarding so they helped themselves to a row closer up. Who knows for sure the true story…
There is no way an airline allows someone to be a sleep across a row of seats as they neared takeoff. You have to be upright in your seat – no leaning back even. This couple wanted upgraded seats without paying for them.
This story is BS.
Talk about a sensationalized headline. Sheesh.
You can do better than that.