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Kicked Off a Flight
The Travel Troubleshooter · October 24, 2001

Q: I was recently removed from an AirTran Airways flight because a crewmember accused me of "not apologizing" to her after she claimed that I bumped her with my bag.

The flight I was ejected from wasn't the flight that my alleged offense took place. It was a connecting flight that the same crew happened to transferred to. The flight attendant saw me at the gate. She waited for me to board the plane and stood by my seat. As I approached her, she announced to me - and everyone on the plane - that she was not going to allow me on the flight because I had not apologized.

I pleaded with her. I apologized. I apologized to her supervisor. "What else do you want me to do?" I asked. She said, "Get off my plane."

I am incensed. I was punished not for something I did, but something I did not do. What is AirTran's responsibility? Was the flight attendant allowed to do that?

-- John Kish

A: Passenger ejections are a hot topic in the airline industry these days. No one knows how many travelers are removed from commercial flights every year-I checked with the Federal Aviation Administration, and it doesn't release those statistics - but it's believed that problem is worsening.

Before September 11, flight attendants had already adopted close to a zero-tolerance policy toward unruly fliers. It wasn't just disruptive passengers who were kicked off flights, but passengers who had the potential to become troublemakers. This resulted in some strange decisions, notably the removal of people like Pamela Batch Garza and her family from a Delta Air Lines flight last year.

In 1999, I documented the odd case of Akiko Mitsui, a diminutive charity worker who was shown the door on a Continental flight because she had asked a flight attendant for her name. Apparently, some flight attendants don't like to be asked for their names.

You would think that the terrorist attacks would exacerbate the ejection problem. Perhaps flight attendants would take matters into their own hands and engage in amateur profiling by pushing every passenger who looks remotely Middle Eastern out the jetway. But it is United Airlines' decision to limit carry-on luggage to one item per passenger-and the strong likelihood that other airlines will follow its lead-that will probably force more passenger ejections.

How so?

Well, in almost every case of a passenger being thrown off a plane-yours included-the issue that precipitated the expulsion is luggage. Travelers insist on bringing many carry-on items because they don't trust the airline to handle it. I could dig up the latest statistics on mishandled baggage compiled by the United States Department of Transportation, but instead I'll just quote from United's website. Under "delayed and damaged baggage" the airline cavalierly says, "it happens."

That's just part of the problem. United is allowing passengers to carry a second item, such as a pocketbook or laptop computer, onboard as well. But who's to say when a pocketbook isn't really a pocketbook, but a carry-on? This confusion can easily turn into conflict.

AirTran's obligation is to transport you to your destination safely. If it thinks that you might keep it from fulfilling its contractual obligation, then it's entitled to remove you. If the flight attendant unjustly discriminated against you for other reasons (such as your race or ethnicity) then AirTran may be in violation of the Air Carrier Access Act. A cursory look at the cases brought against airlines for discrimination suggests that you stand an excellent chance of winning such a lawsuit.

But this isn't about some flight attendant who's on a power trip. Nor is it about AirTran's obligation to transport you, or fears of terrorism. This is about carry-on luggage - a problem, it seems, that will get worse before it gets better.

Better pack light next time you travel.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. ChrisCrossings appears weekly on this site.