Debra Burlingame
Just now ·
The latest American Airlines video is unfair. The woman brought a double stroller (they are HUGE) for her twins onto the plane and was screaming at the male flight attendant that she wouldn't let him take it. When he did, he accidently hit her with it and she started crying, probably because THEY WEIGH A TON. Passengers are allowed to use them to board, then they get tagged, and put in the belly of the plane. Upon arrival, they are immediately taken out of cargo, and brought up the jetway stairs for the parents to put their baby in...and roll out to the gate area. Easy peasy. But this mother was shouting and screaming no. That part isn't on the video. And an Alpha Male stands up doing a chest bump. Being a flight crew member in the age of smart phone videos would be a nightmare.
IMHO, something was lost in translation here. The mother has a very thick accent so English may not have been her first language. She may have thought the stroller was being taken from her for good, not just checked so she would get it back after she de-boards. (I see this all the time). The way
Cash Me Outside attendant was acting at the point the video started rolling, it sure doesn't sound like he had the people skills or patience to try to explain it to her and probably let it or made it escalate.
Trying to play a bit of empathy here, imagine this mother, who may not speak English well, traveling with what some articles say are 3 small children (two babies who need the stroller), with no one to help her. She is thinking if her stroller is taken away, she is going to land and have to find a way to somehow carry these two babies and her luggage wherever she is going? On top of that who knows what other stresses and it seems she would be scared of an impossible situation confronting her.
This is why flight attendants should be professionals who can work and emphasize with the customer to come up with the best resolution, not escalate the situation.
Sure she was wrong on many levels, but why was she wrong? Most likely initiated by a failure of the airline to correctly advise her at the gate then to later try to resolve her situation where she understood she isn't facing such a daunting situation when she lands.
I've seen cases like this before (strollers, crutches and such taken from passengers) and the attendants were always empathetic and reassuring and did everything they could to ensure the customer felt at ease.
The attendant just seemed to want to be the next
Cash Me Outside girl.
