Video from an American Airlines plane shows the fallout from when a flight attendant allegedly a hit a woman. Her fellow passengers did more than just protest. One man got ready for a fight.
Footage obtained by ABC 7 shows the incident, which happened on a flight out of San Francisco International Airport. Witnesses claim the woman was traveling with her two young children. They say the flight attendant violently grabbed her stroller. This hit her, and almost struck one of the kids. It’s unclear what started this dispute in the first place, but passengers said the mother was from Argentina, and maybe didn’t understand what was going on.
The other passengers immediately intervened. One man, later identified as Dallas-man Tony Fierro, had very choice words.
“You do that to me, and I’ll knock you flat,” he said, half-standing from his seat, jabbing a finger at the attendant.
“You stay out of this,” the attendant said, jabbing his own finger.
The passenger did not stay out of this. He stepped out onto the aisle, and stood face to face with the attendant. A second employee then diffused the situation.
Speaking to ABC 7 after the flight, Fierro explained he lashed out because the attendant almost hit a baby with the stroller.
American Airlines told the outlet they’ve removed the employee from duty while they investigate, and state that his actions “do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care.”
From their statement:
We have seen the video and have already started an investigation to obtain the facts. What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers. We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident. We are making sure all of her family’s needs are being met while she is in our care. After electing to take another flight, we are taking special care of her and her family and upgrading them to first class for the remainder of their international trip.
This incident comes weeks after a Kentucky man was forcibly de-boarded from a United flight because the airline overbooked, and wanted to seat standby crew. Viral video sparked national outrage, dented the company’s value, and caused them to change the deboarding policy.
[Screengrab via ABC 7]
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