Thought I'd run this up the flagpole, from the Elliott travel blog

[UPNAWAY]

The Dr. does turn me off by asking but in my mind the crew dropped the ball on this one.
They should have gotten all his contact info and gotten a hold of someone. At the very least could have had them upgraded as a nice suprise on their return flight and that would have been the end of it.

 

[HP2USFA]

I do so love how he put that dig in on the crew about allowing this woman to drink. As if we have a handle on what 200+ people are ingesting at any given moment on a 8+ hour flight.

 

[flyJOE]

Because to me it's offensive. Without getting into a theological debate here. I just think that calling attention to something you did out of compassion and then expecting compensation is at minimum bad form.

I agree with you this Bob. A couple of years ago, we were coming back from a mission trip in Haiti and between PAP and MIA, a pax got really sick and the call for help went out. A person in our group who is a firefighter/EMT got involved. This happened within a week of a pax dying inflight between PAP and JFK (although we didn't know about it). We had started to descend to for a med. emergency in Cuba & my friend got her stabilized enough to continue to MIA. He filled out the paperwork and we continued on our way to CLT.

His thoughts were he had to help and that was that. Several weeks later, he got a voucher from AA for two tickets within the US. He wasn't looking for anything and appreciated the gesture.

Now US could have offered a little more than a $175 voucher and all of the costs of a diversion, would the crew have timed out, some missed connections out of Rome, as well as many more on the return flight back to PHL are worth more than $175. It's just not cool to expect free tickets to Israel for a good deed.

 

[US1YFARE]

The Dr. does turn me off by asking but in my mind the crew dropped the ball on this one.
They should have gotten all his contact info and gotten a hold of someone. At the very least could have had them upgraded as a nice suprise on their return flight and that would have been the end of it.

I can't blame the crew without knowing more, BUT, explain this...why wouldn't Tempe be informed of what happened on the flight? Is that entirely the crew's fault? Paperwork didn't need to be completed? Didn't the Dr. need to sign something? His name could be matched with the manifest and his seat number? When they called the "ground physician", who does that person work for? Doesn't he fill out paperwork? Isn't that paperwork sent to the airline? Are you saying that Tempe had no idea this ever happened and was a total surprise when they received his letter?

And as far as the two tickets to TLV--it costs them nothing. How many nonrevs are on a typical TLV flight? Or, how many FF seats are allotted to a TLV flight?

 

[USFlyer]

My two cents, I think the doctor is being tacky. The offer of champagne was a nice touch by the crew for someone who did the right thing by helping the passenger.

US should have offered something more, like some system-wide upgrades, enough miles for a free ticket, etc., but to ask the way he did seems petty ... especially for two tickets to a very specific destination.

 

[nycbusdriver]

Interesting article, but IMHO the answer is right there in the doctor's own words:

"...I volunteered to help."

Volunteer means just that. No one owes the kind doctor anything, and I think Tempe's offer of the vouchers is sufficient "Thank You" for someone who volunteered.

An upgrade for the return flight would have been nice, but who knows if there were Envoy seats available to do that?

If the story is accurate, I am puzzled that the flight did not divert, despite the good doctor's efforts. If the physician on the ground thinks the flight should divert, it really should. Those doctors are paid a lot to take responsibility for these decisions, and they seem to be in favor of continuing unless there is clear-cut evidence not to. If they say divert, in my opinion it means just that.

His innuendo about the flight crew serving this woman alcohol is totally off base. How could the flight attendants know this woman had taken other medication? It took at least 6 hours in the air for that flight to get over the British Isles. Five cocktails in 6 hours does not necessarily seem excessive to the typical air traveler who imbibes frequently anyway. (Knowledgeable folks know each cocktail has the effect of two at typical cabin altitudes.)

Finally, the doctor tended to the passenger, not the airline. If he wants compensation, he should bill the woman who caused the ruckus.

 

[US1YFARE]

Finally, the doctor tended to the passenger, not the airline. If he wants compensation, he should bill the woman who caused the ruckus.

Blame Tempe. They never reached out to him with a personal thank you or, in fact, any gratitude whatsoever. If they had done the right thing from the start by acknowledging what this man did when he returned from his vacation, this would be a very different debate. People talk about tacky--I think it is tacky to villainize the doctor while minimizing what impact Tempe's handling of the situation had on the doctor's request.

 

[trvlr64]

Why? Why is it offensive? He could have elected to not get involved, but for whatever reason he did. He deserves to be fairly compensated due to the fact that he ruined the start of his lovely vacation getaway by helping the woman with the medical issue, and also saving US and US's customers from inconvenience and expense. I'll bet you this because I've seen it many times--if he committed malpractice, the same people involved, without blinking an eye, would be pointing at the good doctor. Good for him. If you don't speak up for yourself, no one else will. US continues to show its true colors.



I bet it costs more than a crappy US club membership or the two TLV tickets he asked for.

OH US1YFARE don't get me started over here like I did on FLYERTALK.

The "good doctor" could have kept his mouth shut and remained in his seat. He chose to offer assistance. Now he's DEMANDING specific compensation.

Now when was the last time a LAWYER was requested to offer assistance? I think NEVER. But I'm sure you'd offer CPR if you knew how to perform it now wouldn't you without asking to be compensated?

 

[back2CLT]

What this really stems from is a lack of acknowledgement. I've tried to place myself in his position, and I consider myself as some who is willing to put myself out there to help others (I've tended to victims of auto accidents with serious injuries where I have not been involved until medics arrived). While, I feel compelled to help, mainly because I would want someone to do the same for me, it does sting when you make some sort of personal sacrifice and not receive recognition commensurate with that sacrifice.

What he really wanted was someone important at US Airways to acknowledge that he did them and the passenger a great service. Though I think the crews offering was generous considering their resources, he wanted someone with a nifty title saying "Thank you....you really saved our arse". He wanted his ego stroked, and I empathize with that. Was it worth 2 tickets to TLV? Probably not, but the fact that he got home, and there was no letter, no offer of a voucher, etc made him sit and think about it and become agitated, which led to thoughts of "How much money did I really save them?....They owe me X dollars."

Volunteer or not, his efforts should have been recognized in some meaningful way. In a poor parallel, I once referred a friend to a real estate agent that I knew who was both buying and selling a 2 expensive homes during the boom a couple of years ago. It was probably the easiest $12,800 (her share of commissions) that she ever earned. I didn't receive even a thank you note or phone call, even though I had known her for years. I have since switched to another agent, and when she saw my own house listed with a new agent, she THEN called me, acting suprised and offended. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS make someone feel appreciated.

 

[US1YFARE]

Now when was the last time a LAWYER was requested to offer assistance? I think NEVER. But I'm sure you'd offer CPR if you knew how to perform it now wouldn't you without asking to be compensated?

Do you know how many times I get cornered by a F/A or someone at a party who has an aunt who is being taken advantage of by a relative or someone's cousin is going to lose their house in mortgage foreclosure, or, someone doesn't think the lawyer that they are paying is doing a good job and they want your free assistance or a PM asking for legal advice ....please. It's not life or death, but you are still put in a position where you feel like an involuntary volunteer. What people don't realize is that this guy probably gets hit everyday from people asking him, can you just take a look at this mole, or my husband has been coughing, or crap like that--without even a thank you. I applaud him for asking and publicizing it. USAirways looks like the schmucks they are for turning this situation into this type of public debate.

Tempe should have extended some type of gratitude. He doesn't drink and he gets a bottle of cheap champagne. He probably thinks, ok, I'm sure the airline will call me to thank me when I return. Tempe does NOTHING--as usual--and the guy gets ticked off. Like I said before, if this guy had been approached by Tempe when he returned, this would be a different type of discussion.

What this really stems from is a lack of acknowledgement.

BINGO!

 

[N965VJ]

The Dr. does turn me off by asking but in my mind the crew dropped the ball on this one.
They should have gotten all his contact info and gotten a hold of someone. At the very least could have had them upgraded as a nice suprise on their return flight and that would have been the end of it.

Anyone providing medical assistance has to provide all their contact information to the crew, which then has to be filed in a report within 24 hours IIRC. Tempe dropped the ball by not being proactive here. A $500 voucher or a bunch of miles deposited to his account along with a thank you letter would have kept US looking cheap once again in the media.

 

[kobe1]

Check this out. I await the calm , measured response these pages are so famous for.

http://www.elliott.org/blog/you-might-thin...-is-a-bit-bold/

“You might think that this request is a bit boldâ€￾.....

I think the request for for two TLV tickets is over-reaching, but shouldn't he get something?

It's sad that there is no longer a "boy scout" mentality and everyone expects to be compensated. As a f/a, if I saw someone choking to death or needing CPR outside of the airplane, I would certainly do it without hesitation or compensation whether on vacation or not. While US should have sent the thank you letter BEFORE he sent his request, I feel a sincere thank you is enough. Where does a company draw a line with compensation? Airlines probably have dozens of medical requests daily. Like someone else said, all we need is a bidding war among doctors, nurses, and EMT's every time we make that announcement. If a person doesn't have a good enough soul to help, then land the plane. Maybe this doctor or his wife will need help one day on a plane and I'm sure he would be grateful for a volunteer.

 

[4merresrat]

Because to me it's offensive. Without getting into a theological debate here. I just think that calling attention to something you did out of compassion and then expecting compensation is at minimum bad form.

Oh my I must completely agree. Two words come to mind regarding the good doctor; gauche and entitled. We can assume this particular MD hasn't been on any Drs without borders mission trips of late! He totally turned me off.

 

[4merresrat]

And I don't necessarily agree that it makes USairways look cheap, but it certainly makes the Dr. look like a cad! h34r:

 

[john john]

If that is all the people in the desert wanted to give and if the front line employees gave more there could have been problems