What is this all about?

[MCI transplant]

http://www.westernjournalism.com/us-airways-fire-disgraceful-treatment-decorated-soldier/

 

[nycbusdriver]

http://www.westernjournalism.com/us-airways-fire-disgraceful-treatment-decorated-soldier/

 
Well, there is not a policy (as the article suggests) against hanging Army Ranger jackets in First Class.  But I do believe the policy is that the coat closet if for  First Class customers only, and it sounds like the flight attendant was really only enforcing company policy.  WHile most flight attendants would probably slip this Ranger's jacket in the closet without a second thought, we (as probably all airline) do have some martinets among our staff.  I blame the company for this.  Air crews get policy manuals that we are told we have to follow religiously, and the company is oblivious to the "Law of Unintended Consequences."

 

[MCI transplant]

 
Well, there is not a policy (as the article suggests) against hanging Army Ranger jackets in First Class.  But I do believe the policy is that the coat closet if for  First Class customers only, and it sounds like the flight attendant was really only enforcing company policy.  WHile most flight attendants would probably slip this Ranger's jacket in the closet without a second thought, we (as probably all airline) do have some martinets among our staff.  I blame the company for this.  Air crews get policy manuals that we are told we have to follow religiously, and the company is oblivious to the "Law of Unintended Consequences."

Busdriver------ Sorry! I don't buy that! I've spent 40 years in the Airline industry and know a bobble headed stew like this has her head screwed on wrong! You always enforce company policy with a little common sense factored in because there is no way your policy manuals can cover all contingencies! My question would be, what was this soldier doing back in coach to begin with? -------- Since I have posted, I understand that the company has publicly apologized,  and will be looking into this matter further! And yes, all Airlines have a few "marinets", and you're being diplomatic in your description of them!

 

[freedom]

Yes what IS that ?

I'll tell you what it is ...it's a click based news site that will blow ANY THING out of all proportion ...

If the author of the article had done even 15 mintues of research on our company and what we've done for veterans in the past he and his readers wouldn't be so quick to label us as unpatriotic Americans. ..

But showing reality, painting the ENTIRE picture , that doesn't get page views so F us I guess ...

 

[FWAAA]

Yes what IS that ?

I'll tell you what it is ...it's a click based news site that will blow ANY THING out of all proportion ...

If the author of the article had done even 15 mintues of research on our company and what we've done for veterans in the past he and his readers wouldn't be so quick to label us as unpatriotic Americans. ..

But showing reality, painting the ENTIRE picture , that doesn't get page views so F us I guess ...

The OP's news source is irrelevant, as the story has been picked up by mainstream media worldwide. The Flight Attendant was an idiot. Here's the corporate apology from Captain Jim Palmersheim Senior Manager – Veterans and Military Initiatives:

As a veteran, a Captain for American and the senior manager of American Airlines Veterans and Military Initiatives Programs, I would like to offer my sincere apology to the military service member and his fellow passengers who encountered an unfortunate situation earlier this week in which a decorated member of the military was prevented from placing his uniform in the closet, particularly because it is not indicative of the core values of our airline.

<snip>

To be sure, we simply did not get this one right. We will always try to do better and work hard to align our core values – especially as they relate to the commitment we have to our men and women in uniform – with the experience our customers have on our planes every day.

https://www.facebook.com/AmericanAirlines/posts/10152344604556078

Fortunately, a passenger in First Class went back to economy and asked the soldier for his coat and then the passenger hung it up on the bulkhead behind his seat.

If an executive at US says they screwed up, then that's good enough for me. You're just a nobody on the internet blindly defending the stupid FA. Which one has more credibility? Yep, the Captain who apologized, quoted above.

 

[Phoenix]

A military officer (First Sgt, NonCom), of all people, should be quick to support someone following their company policy and should not request/expect/accept any favoritism.  If it happened to me and the company extended an apology on behalf of the FA for not breaking their policy, I would tell them to man up and quit waffling on their policy.  It confuses the hell out of passengers and employees.   Who is special today?  Who gets favoritism tomorrow? Is it the same as last week?  Are you sure?  
 
I would write an open letter to the FA and bemoan the fact that she works for a fickle company that can't seem to decide between cabin passenger policies on the one hand and fawning needlessly over military veterans on the other.  The company is the one who took out all the closets and crammed us all in like sardines.  We get what we pay for.   We understand that.  I am OK with that.  Enough with picking out special people to distract from the reality of the modern product.    
 
After just shy of thirty three years wearing that same uniform, I never hung up my jacket once, and it never wrinkled---the material was too damn thick to wrinkle.   😀

 

[freedom]

Please point out to me where this nobody defended the FA, I'd like to see that .

 

[Phoenix]

Please point out to me where this nobody defended the FA, I'd like to see that .

 
For all we know the Soldier did try to defend the FA.   The article doesn't tell us what he did or what he thought about the whole situation.  
 
The article does tell us that a few first class passengers thought they were in an epic battle in the first class cabin, and they took to Twitter to play war correspondent like Wolf Blitzer.  
 
If the FA was politely enforcing the policy s/he has nothing to worry about.  If s/he was rude then its another story.    

 

[freedom]

Yep I think that's exactly what happened. ..
 
In the old days peoole would have waited till the veterans groups took the lead and set the tone ... (because they usually had the complete picture on the overall treatment of Veterans on average from a specific company)

 

[Phoenix]

“Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: Bread and Circuses and Twitter.”
 
 –Juvenal – Satire (100 A.D.)

 

[nycbusdriver]

Busdriver------ Sorry! I don't buy that! I've spent 40 years in the Airline industry and know a bobble headed stew like this has her head screwed on wrong! You always enforce company policy with a little common sense factored in because there is no way your policy manuals can cover all contingencies! My question would be, what was this soldier doing back in coach to begin with? -------- Since I have posted, I understand that the company has publicly apologized,  and will be looking into this matter further! And yes, all Airlines have a few "marinets", and you're being diplomatic in your description of them!

 
I respect your opinion, but you (I mean, the airline)  are always going to have that contingent that is unwilling, or intellectually unable, to understand "bending" the rules a bit when circumstances dictate.  (They simply are blind to the circumstances.)
 
Maybe the soldier was not in First Class because that cabin was full of customers who paid for a seat in First Class.  Most customer service agents I have seen would happily have upgraded this soldier had there been room.  But no agent is going to bump someone who paid for the seat in order to accommodate a "freebie," miltary or otherwise.  
 
Had you actually paid for a First Class seat on that flight, would you have traded seats with this young man in uniform?  I think not.

 

[jimntx]

 
 
Had you actually paid for a First Class seat on that flight, would you have traded seats with this young man in uniform?  I think not.

Actually, it happens a lot more frequently than one would think--at least on the AA side of the house.  Just last week, I had an Executive Platinum insist that a soldier swap seats with her.  And, he had a middle seat in coach on a completely full flight.
 
I don't think he wanted to  (a lot of the kids are a little afraid of F/C.  They don't know that there is no charge for anything in F/C), but he was even more afraid of her.

 

[FWAAA]

Please point out to me where this nobody defended the FA, I'd like to see that .

You didn't. Please accept my apologies.

I don't know about US (don't fly them) but at AA, I've seen plenty of domestic F passengers offer their seat to uniformed soldiers over the years. Like this guy, they don't always accept.

From everything I've read, this soldier asked politely and when told "no," the soldier accepted the refusal and slinked back to his seat in economy. Problem was, several of the first class passengers overheard what they describe as a rude lead flight attendant (someone named "Ava"). Some of them say she yelled at them when they tried to ask one of her colleagues to overrule her and hang up the jacket.

If a flight attendant is not in the midst of an emergency evacuation, there's no excuse for yelling at passengers.

 

[freedom]

I accept your apology. ...

Here at US Airways we like to do things a bit differently. ..yelling at passengers is strongly encouraged. ..we're trained that it's important to mentally subdue them as quickly as possible to make them more susceptible to our will. ...

Also it's part of our new health initiative to help reduce stress...sometimes I just find a random passenger and just yell at the top of my lungs for about five minutes when I'm having a bad day ...

We are strongly encouraged to give back what they throw at us as well ..many airlines train their agents to just stand there as they get yelled at by passengers, not us ...If somone is yelling at a gate agent they've been trained not to engage them on their own but to call a manager, when that manager arrives they will both commence yelling at the pax because two obviously defeats one ..

 

[nycbusdriver]

...but he was even more afraid of her.

 
Well, with that comment, we need to take the motivation for her "generosity" with a grain of salt.