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US Airways Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry
You can't drive drunk. You can't operate heavy machinery on NyQuil. And you can't fly angry. At least according to US Airways. Consumerist picked up a story of a traveler who was hoping that US Airways would price match a ticket that he had purchased to the new, lower price. US Airways informed him that they couldn't match the lower fare. When he expressed his true feelings about the airline's inability to be polite corporate citizens, he was told that angry is the new al Qaeda.
Just check out this exchange from his conversation with customer service (CS):
CS: "Did you say you were going to be angry on the flight?"
James: "I totally did. If I know that the guy sitting next to me spent $150 less for his seats than me, you better believe I'm not going to be happy."
CS: "Well, if you're telling me you're going to be angry I'm going to notify security."
A representative from US Airways Executive Relations later reiterated that James had said that he was "going to be angry, and that's one of the words we look out for."
I'd love to know what other words get you added to the watch list. And is it just for security? If I say that I'm parched, do they warn the bartenders in the airport lounge? If I mention that I'm horny, are the flight attendants put on high alert (sorry Heather)?
So add vocabulary profiling to the list of airline security techniques. And the worst part? Now real terrorists know not to tell their customer service reps that they are angry. Beware of the happy man with a one-way ticket.
Who else got into trouble in the skies?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
Bill Nov 21st 2008 3:22PM
Ask yourself if you want to be in the seat next to this jerk. Insofar as the price of the ticket -- sometimes you bite the bear, sometimes the bear bites you. Stuff happens.
Never Bin Laiden Nov 25th 2008 7:23AM
Is this the first time flying for this bonehead? I don't think I've EVER been on a flight in which two people not flying together have paid the same price. There are so many variables that go into airline ticket pricing and you're never going to find pricing consistency from one seat to the next.
What people really have forgotten is that the airline is taking you from one place to another place REALLY FAR AWAY in only a matter of hours for only a few hundred dollars...and often less than that....trips that used to take our ancestors MONTHS by horse and buggy back in the old days.
Also, before deregulation, ticket prices 40 years ago were MUCH more expensive than they are today. Wake up and smell the coffee dude....and don't take it out on the person at the counter...they're only a pawn in the corporate game.
Guy Nov 25th 2008 12:43PM
The word 'angry' has many conotations of use and meaning. Reading the exchange & circumstances between the customer and the ticket attendant I see it (angry) as more like 'upset'. Angry does not mean that a person will be disruptive or combative, it usually means the person is upset and ticked off about the incident - and will do nothing beyond being 'angry' inside. I believe the airlines have gone too far in this case. It's much like the time (years ago in the news) when two girls were arrested because they were overheard by another passenger saying the word 'bomb'. They were talking about a movie one of them saw and she told her friend, "It was a bomb!", meaning it was a great movie. While it is understandable for the airline to be concerned and have security investigate, it was unreasonable to arrest them and ban them from future flights all because of one word in their many words of their conversation was taken out of context.
steve Nov 25th 2008 1:18PM
Wait with the anger until your taxbucks will be used to bail out them suckers.
Brittany Nov 23rd 2008 8:17PM
Whats the big whoop? Why is this news?
Who cares, sure he may be unhappy with the price...he has that right....but who cares?
paul Nov 25th 2008 10:17AM
I agree with you Brittany. Some people as I know are never pleased or able to shrug things off
(PETTY THINGS) As I know from working Las Vegas for 16 years. And in defense of the airlines, I payed more sometime to fly away from vegas than I do today, and i'm talking 20 years. Their pricing has really not changed enough for me to complain about, now the price of cars---DON'T GET ME STARTED.
rose Nov 23rd 2008 8:29PM
This was a light hearted article...but let's not forget carol gottbaum, the young 110 pound mother from nyc on the way to an addiction recovery center (sept 2007)
Carol had to connect in Phoenix to Scottsdale.
She became upset after one flight was cancelled and she missed another connecting flight.
Carol was surrounded, tackled and handcuffed by a gaggle of security officers, screaming "I am not a terrorist, I am just a sick mom" She was then put in a locked cell and chained to a bench in the cell by the Phoenix police.
Within fifteen minutes, she was dead,
apparently from. trying to free herself from her chains and choking herself instead.
Anger can get lead to ugly consequences with the bullies
you can find in airport security. I know I watch every word and move I make.
LBB Nov 23rd 2008 9:44PM
Wasn't your "young 110 lb mother" actually impaired and out of control? You know, somewhere along the line, we must take responsibility for our own conduct. It's not always entirely the fault of those in authority...
Kim Nov 23rd 2008 11:39PM
Well,
She was out of controll because she was ill (mentally) and, while it was a shame, her family .... any one of them should have taken the time to fly with her. Again, it comes down to responsibility.... in this case, her family for knowing she was very ill and letting her go alone....
rose Nov 23rd 2008 11:51PM
re; carol gottbaum
she wasn't out of control until the airline personnel angered her.
remember this story is how any kind of anger is not tolerated at the airport.
I feel upset when people blame her family.
Remember, her anger was triggered at the airport.
And she did nothing to warrant being chained to a bench!
dr tim Nov 23rd 2008 11:52PM
iT SEEMS TAHT THE united states IS TURNING INTO A MILDER, nazi germany
ProPalin Nov 24th 2008 12:45PM
Carol was not tackled, surrounded, etc. etc. because she was "upset" as you put it. She was abusive, loud, and not cooperating. That is what happens when someone refuses to do what they are told by authorities. I don't understand this refusal to follow rules in a situation like this.Yes sir No Sir Yes Ma'am works so much better! Indeed, poor Carol. After 911 it is not wise to eff with these officers. Or any of us.
lovestofly Nov 25th 2008 6:26AM
Carol Gotbaum's family - if they cared sooooo much (and are now suing for millions)- SHOULD have escorted her to rehab. She was a loose cannon. It is a tragedy that they put her on a flight unattended. She was sick and unable to go from point A to point B alone. Now they have to live with this the rest of her lives. There was absolutely no evidence of abuse by the police in this instance. The restraint was not pretty to watch - but turn on "Cops" TV show and you will see ordinary people make very stupid choices and decide to "fight" the cop handcuffing them.
rob Nov 25th 2008 7:20AM
Maybe she wouldn't have been angry to begin with if the overpaid mallcops would have been courteous to her. They probably were total assholes from the beginning. Either way, they should have watched her so she didn't do anything stupid like choke herself while in their custody. The airline industry is full of disrespectful assholes. A lot of sky waitresses hate their jobs and are very rude to the customers. That's why people like me who used to fly constantly avoid it at all costs. Since we don't fly, the airline loses money and people get laid off. Good riddance!!!
Ron Nov 25th 2008 2:49PM
Is there actually a flight from Phoenix to Scottsdale? You can almost walk from Phoenix to Scottsdale.
rose Nov 25th 2008 7:40PM
RRon, you are very observant. I stand corrected
Carol Gotbaum was trying to get to Tuscan, not Scottsdale.
Yes indeed, Rob...Carol's family has said "if only one airline personnel person was kind to Carol, she would be alive today"
I
Cher Nov 23rd 2008 8:38PM
"Words are like weapons they wound sometimes....."
David427 Nov 23rd 2008 8:45PM
Dude, you think 'angry' is a bad word to mention in an airport try 'terrorist' or 'bomb'. It's a one way trip to the back room with no windows. However if I was chanting 'Allah akbar' at the gate I'm sure no one would bother me, because that just wouldn't be PC.
Too bad the 9/11 terrorists didn't say, 'angry', 'bomb' or 'terrorist', none of it would have happened. Go TSA.
Elizabeth Nov 23rd 2008 8:46PM
It's amazing how airports are so paranoid about passengers, yet their cargo areas are wide open to anyone who wants to stroll in. Ever wonder what could be underneath you on a flight?
Bill Nov 25th 2008 8:20AM
Obviously you have never delt with airline cargo. Cargo is NOT open for just anyone to walk into. If cargo is going on any airplane, it must be kept secured from the time it is picked up to the time it is delivered. The trucks must be kept locked. The freight companies must secure and restrict their warehouses. The airlines do not allow anyone in their cargo areas. And NOTHING is allowed on passenger aircraft unless the shipper is known and checked out by TSA first. Can you say that for passengers? The rules in place for cargo are much stricter than they are for passengers. And at least we know what is being put on the plane, unlike what the passengers are carrying on. Having worked in air cargo for 20 years, I am more afraid of what the person next to me has carried on or checked in his/her luggage than I am about the cargo under me.