Airline Nightmare

Before you read this post, make sure you read the one below this--the good news about the great wedding Corey and Alycia celebrated!


Yesterday (Tuesday) Corey and Alycia were to fly from LAX to Tahiti for their honeymoon on Air Tahiti Nui, leaving at around 4:30 pm. They boarded the plane at around 4:10 and then sat at the gate for almost 6 hours! An airline passenger's worst nightmare. The legroom was the smallest Alycia has ever seen in all her years of traveling the world on some pretty poor airlines. Corey is around 6' 4" so he was pretty cramped. Long story short--no real communication. 1 bag of pretzels and a drink during that 6 hours. Next to them sat another Air Tahitit Nui aircraft that they eventually boarded, 7 hours later, for the 8 hour flight. (I could go into a lot of details about the mis-steps of the airline. Suffice it to say they did very little right in handling their passengers.)

I bring this up not to get sympathy for Al and Corey but to share some stuff I learned about passenger rights during those 6 hours.

We don't have a lot of them but there is an organization working hard to get our congress to pass a bill with certain rights for airline travelers. It's being led by a woman named Kate.

I found her organization on the web. www.flyersrights.com I called their hotline number and was instructed to call Kate if stranded on an airplane. Moments later someone from the hotline called me back. Caller ID can be a good thing. She was going to call Kate immediately to get the media out there. This organization is doing what it can to highlight the abuse of passengers rights. Unfortunately Kate was not at home last night but she and I have been exchanging emails. Air Tahiti Nui did several things wrong, even illegal. The challenge is that, as with Al's and Corey's flight, few if any passengers do anything about it. We simply take it. And so the abuse continues. And trust me, it was a form of abuse. Ever felt like a hostage on a plane before?

Kate's group gives great insight into how to calmly yet confidently get your rights when situations like the above happen.

I recommend you put this number in your cell phone and keep it handy for the time when you are the victim of a delay like this. 707-337-0328.

By the way, with the exception of a bag of pretzels, the passengers received no food. And to my knowledge, nothing to make good on the lack of respect they experienced on the tarmac.

We can lovingly, proactively deal with these situations so that we and others are not taken advantage of. Think of it as a way of seeking justice for the shy ones on the plane who will never speak up for their rights.