American Airlines---AGAIN

The news was on in our house this morning. Sort of our version of white noise, though less calming.

An American Airlines story caught our attention. A man was seated in the last row of a plane. His seat didn’t recline. He was disturbed by the passenger in front of him, who had her seat reclining far into his space. He asked her to move her seat up so that he could eat his meal. The woman obliged. When the meal was finished, she resumed her full reclining position. Apparently, the man started to punch the back of her seat. The woman complained to a flight attendant, who apparently sided with the squished man. There is a video, but it’s difficult to see what really happened. The woman is saying that she may sue the airline and that she suffered physical harm from the incident. If you Google it, you can see the video, as well as articles written on several news outlets.

So, who was right and who was wrong? No one escapes culpability here. On the one hand, the woman should have had some consideration for the squished man, and perhaps she could have put her seat back less completely to give him a little more room. The squished man seems a bit brutal if he really punched her seat hard and repeatedly. Bottom line here is that the whole situation is lacking in civility on both sides. And whose fault is that? Well, I don’t think that I’d want either passenger as my friend, or as my fellow flyer. But, ultimately, the fault lies with American Airlines. They’ve been on a mission to add seats and decrease space between seat rows for quite a while. And the consequent discomfort brings out the worst in many people.

What would you do in a situation like this? There aren’t too many options. But I’m pretty sure that I know what I’d do. Feel free to guess.

GREED + INDIFFERENCE TO CUSTOMER COMFORT = CORPORATE DOMINANCE/POOR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 

#AmericanAirlines