Sure feels that way, doesn’t it? It’s already been a bad week for United’s PR department. This story is not going to help:
https://twitter.com/kirsch71/status/550341830123216896
Elit Kirschenbaum is the mother of four children, including 3-year-old Ivy, a stroke survivor with special needs. As she writes in a Tumblr post, Kirschenbaum was on a recent United flight with extended family, where she was confronted by an irate flight attendant:
There were 4 flight attendants on our flight and 3 had walked by us several times without comment. The 4th, however, indicated an issue the moment she stopped in front of our row. She looked at me with my daughter on my lap and immediately said that she needed to be placed in her seat. I informed the woman that Ivy has special needs and is unable to sit independently. She asked for a boarding pass and whether we had purchased a ticket for her. We said that we did have a ticket for her but again, she is unable to sit. We have flown on United several times since she had turned 2 and she had always been on my lap. This flight attendant returned to her co-workers and began to argue with them. She returned to argue with us.
Kirschenbaum’s account only gets worse from there. And as it makes its way across social media, citizens are demanding that United address the issue — and apologize to the family.
.@united this story from one of your passengers is very upsetting.
I hope you will respond. https://t.co/uhdPSAlSoS #UnitedWithIvy
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 31, 2014
United Airlines, do you screen your flight attendants to make sure they're neither psychotic nor disgusting? http://t.co/YwBxqi6CR6
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) December 31, 2014
https://twitter.com/featherchick/status/550401578637996033
@kirsch71 @united I hope you took this flight attendant's name. She should be fired and prevented from ever interacting with passengers!
— Lori Blinder Barr (@lmb120872) December 31, 2014
.@United this is despicable! http://t.co/Oo7GUc9BGB #UnitedWithIvy #SpecialNeeds #ADA
— Anna ??? (@ch00chelo) December 31, 2014
Very disappointing @united
I hope you will respond in kind to this family.https://t.co/9FJPQm9HRf #UnitedWithIvy
— B. Cline (@4clines) December 31, 2014
@kirsch71 @united wow, what an awful thing to happen to your family! I knew the customer service was awful, but this is unacceptable!
— ?Broadway Unicorn? (@joymichelle) December 31, 2014
https://twitter.com/erikashapiro/status/550394493024088064
@kirsch71 @united disgusting. #unitedwithivy
— HoosierLisa (@njhoosierLisa) December 31, 2014
@United, I'm #unitedwithivy and insist that you treat your passengers with special needs with the respect they deserve. @kirsch71
— Jennifer Kasper (@jenkasper212) December 31, 2014
@kirsch71 @united I never fly with United. This is a good reason why.
— Andy Jacobs (@agjacs) December 31, 2014
***
Update:
‘You can do better’: United sends ‘inadequate’ response to mom of humiliated special-needs child
***
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