United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why
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@acrow "Remove from service" "seat broken"
Considering safety protocols on airliners, that would be setting off some serious warning bells for me...
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@dcon I'm pretty sure lavatory seats are not on any aircraft's Minimum Equipment List.
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@dcon said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
"Remove from service" "seat broken"
Considering safety protocols on airliners, that would be setting off some serious warning bells for me...Same.
I'm amazed how dumb this person is. They might as well have went to the police and turned themselves in.
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@dcon that reminded me of this awesome t-shirt:
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@Polygeekery INOP SEE
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@TwelveBaud said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
@dcon I'm pretty sure lavatory seats are not on any aircraft's Minimum Equipment List.
You'd be surprised what they can fly without.
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@HardwareGeek said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
@TwelveBaud said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
@dcon I'm pretty sure lavatory seats are not on any aircraft's Minimum Equipment List.
You'd be surprised what they can fly without.
...and not surprised by how they sometimes screw up the redundancies designed to let them fly with things going out. :(
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@TwelveBaud said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
I'm pretty sure lavatory seats are not on any aircraft's Minimum Equipment List.
For short haul, maybe. It would be a crisis for long haul. It all depends on how long people can "hold it in" with the help of a little basic meditation.
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@dkf I haven't found any information on what type of aircraft this occurred, so I don't know how many lavatories it had, but certainly more than one. It specifically says he led the girls to a first-class lavatory, so it certainly had at least one more back in economy class, and possibly multiple in each section. Therefore, a single lavatory out of service wouldn't be a crisis, even if it meant people might have to pee above or below their station in life.
Filed under: Class warfare
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@HardwareGeek said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
Filed under: Class warfare
Business class business...
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@HardwareGeek said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
he led the girls
That would have been a flag for me. No fucking reason for that.
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@Tsaukpaetra said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
No fucking reason for that.
Well there's an obvious "fucking" reason but uh, yeah...
That would have been a flag for me.
Given the bits from the rest of the story, sadly I can imagine how it could have worked.
A couple of toilets in economy, a long queue, a helpful attendant who spots the right moment to tell a young girl (alone, her parents are seated a bit further and don't really worry that their kid is walking alone to the toilet in a plane!) that she can use the toilet over there in first class if she please just follows him. That toilet is ostensibly closed (so no one else uses it) but the girls are being led there by a flight attendant who tells them it's OK (possibly even with some fib like "it's closed because the seat is broken but that's alright, it works, trust me").
Basically like every scam, if someone is in a position of authority (flight attendant on board a flight), is smart enough to pick the right victims (young naive kids), and quick-thinking enough to smooth over minor discrepancies (answer a couple of questions), they can sadly get away with a lot.
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@remi it is all vaguely similar to the old saying about how "You would be surprised the places you are allowed to go, if you just act like you are supposed to be there". Assumed authority and people's trust and lack of cynicism coupled with a deep aversion to conflict or making waves.
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@Polygeekery said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
@remi it is all vaguely similar to the old saying about how "You would be surprised the places you are allowed to go, if you just act like you are supposed to be there". Assumed authority and people's trust and lack of cynicism coupled with a deep aversion to conflict or making waves.
Yep, the best way to get in somewhere is to dress for it. Either a cleaner or facility service worker works a peach, but requires to get the right names. Otherwise just copy the look of the workers where you're going. Just act and look like you belong and you can tailgate past most door checkpoints.
Though none of that worked at one place I worked that had security classification. Rotating single doors with scanners that made sure that there was just a single person in each door section. And if you were fat, it might kick you back out because it'd think you were two people. There were also some on point security guards on both sides of the first set of rotating doors.
The only way into the secure area was an air bridge between buildings, and the secure building was more or less a concrete bunker with no windows on the first two stories from ground lever up. Under ground there was also no windows, for obvious reasons.
Best gig I ever had, since not even the bean counters were allowed to know what I worked on. Need stuff? They couldn't know why or what, just sign the dotted line for the money.
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@Carnage said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
Best gig I ever had, since not even the bean counters were allowed to know what I worked on. Need stuff? They couldn't know why or what, just sign the dotted line for the money.
That reminds me of stories my father told of his conscription time (). He was working as a scientist (on some tiny corner of nuclear program IIRC, though not on anything actually related to ) and of course his work was secret (confidential, restricted, whatever).
One day he was asked to gather some numbers and write a report with that, and dutifully did so and submitted the report to his superiors, and sent a copy to archives. Then, some time later, he needed the same numbers for another report. So he went to archives and asked for a copy of his previous report.
His request was denied as he didn't have the proper security clearance. To look at the report he had himself compiled and written.
Of course, he then went back to his office, dug into his stash of old papers and fished out a draft copy with all the numbers he needed.
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@Carnage said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
And if you were fat, it might kick you back out because it'd think you were two people.
That's racist discrimination of 'muricans!
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@BernieTheBernie said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
@Carnage said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
And if you were fat, it might kick you back out because it'd think you were two people.
That's racist discrimination of 'muricans!
Yeah, isn't it awesome?
They should have them in airports too!
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@Carnage And instead of 1 person + luggage allowance per ticket, we could have a combined weight allowance!
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@BernieTheBernie said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
@Carnage And instead of 1 person + luggage allowance per ticket, we could have a combined weight allowance!
That would actually make more sense than what we do now. But as soon as it was implemented people would be bitching about how this completely fair and neutral system charged black people more.
One of the dumbest things about our recent trip and flying commercial was when we came back we had one checked bag that was 2-3lbs over the limit but we had other checked bags that were drastically under the limit. You'd think we might be able to get credit for those other bags being well under the limit but no. My wife ended up moving things around between suitcases to avoid whatever the extortionate fee would have been.
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@Polygeekery said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
one checked bag that was 2-3lbs over the limit
That's an American policy. For the rest of the world, the flight ticket just says a luggage allowance in kg, and it does not matter in how many bags you fit your things (unless exceeding 32 kg for a piece - that's too heavy).
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@Polygeekery said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
My wife ended up moving things around between suitcases to avoid whatever the extortionate fee would have been.
I have definitely done this in the past too.
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@BernieTheBernie said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
For the rest of the world, the flight ticket just says a luggage allowance in kg, and it does not matter in how many bags you fit your things
Ryanair would like a word. Plus several other European airlines.
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@loopback0 said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
Ryanair would like a word.
They'd also like to charge you a special fee for that word.
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@dkf said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
They'd also like to charge you a special fee for that word.
You can also pay to upgrade to better words.
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@Polygeekery said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
@BernieTheBernie said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
@Carnage And instead of 1 person + luggage allowance per ticket, we could have a combined weight allowance!
That would actually make more sense than what we do now. But as soon as it was implemented people would be bitching about how this completely fair and neutral system charged black people more.
One of the dumbest things about our recent trip and flying commercial was when we came back we had one checked bag that was 2-3lbs over the limit but we had other checked bags that were drastically under the limit. You'd think we might be able to get credit for those other bags being well under the limit but no. My wife ended up moving things around between suitcases to avoid whatever the extortionate fee would have been.
It makes sense to the people who have to move those bags around. Big difference between one 100lb bag and two 50lb bags.
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@Polygeekery you can also pay to use the toilet. And unless you print your e-boarding pass, you can pay for that too.
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@boomzilla said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
It makes sense to the people who have to move those bags around. Big difference between one 100lb bag and two 50lb bags.
They can take a break from the 53lb bag while throwing our multiple ~35lb bags.
I'm not saying that I should be allowed to stuff my bags with lead.......... okay, bad example. But allow a little leeway when the passengers have multiple other bags that are well under.
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@Arantor said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
@Polygeekery you can also pay to use the toilet. And unless you print your e-boarding pass, you can pay for that too.
The only free thing on RyanAir is the air, but don't give them any ideas.
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@Polygeekery it’s also the name of their cheapest sandwich, the “rye and air”.
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@Polygeekery said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
@boomzilla said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
It makes sense to the people who have to move those bags around. Big difference between one 100lb bag and two 50lb bags.
They can take a break from the 53lb bag while throwing our multiple ~35lb bags.
I'm not saying that I should be allowed to stuff my bags with lead.......... okay, bad example. But allow a little leeway when the passengers have multiple other bags that are well under.
Yeah, sometimes I've had them not care and others I've had them be hard asses like that. Still, it's in the rules so I can't really complain.
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@boomzilla said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
Still, it's in the rules so I can't really complain.
YMBNH
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@HardwareGeek said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
American Airlines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8MLkxKUHH0
A flight attendant (since fired and arrested) allegedly hid his iPhone in a plane lavatory and recorded videos of young girls using the lavatory. The parents of one girl are suing American Airlines. American's defense, blame the victim: "She knew or should have known [the compromised lavatory] contained a visible and illuminated recording device."
Now American is backtracking and blaming that filing on outside counsel hired in conjunction with their insurance company. "The included defense is not representative of our airline..."
American Airlines ended up firing the law firm that raised that defense. That was an expensive pleading for that law firm to file.
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@Polygeekery besides, if the video's title is correct and (one of) the girl was 9, she's quite obviously too young to make adult decisions (whatever the legal term for it is), so I can't see how that defence could have worked.
The most terrifying thing about American lawyers is that you read some shit like that in a book and think "the author is obviously exaggerating but it's still scary that it's close-enough to reality to be believable" and then you realise you weren't reading a fiction book...
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@remi it isn't really that cut-and-dried and there is a bit more nuance to it. Steve Lehto went over it in his usual manner:
Law Firm Fired for Raising the Dumbest Argument EVER – 10:07
— Steve LehtoI am not defending lawyers or this filing, but as always there is more nuance to it. If I am playing Devil's Advocate I can see how the law firm would want to make the best defense for their client and any argument they might want to use in court needs to be in their initial filing and some of those might be thrown away or thrown out along the way so they are incentivized to toss everything they possibly can on the dumpster fire in the beginning.
On the other hand, American Airlines should have probably done more to prevent it from ever getting to court. It is a shitty situation. AA did not really do anything wrong at the beginning of this. They don't condone this behavior and it was one of their employees acting criminally. Where they started getting dragged was when it went to court and the case filings were publicized. Many case filings have pleadings that are this crass and heartless and lots more are even worse, but usually they do not get publicized in such a manner.
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@Polygeekery
Don't forget the fatties that don't want anyone to know that they are fat. (Even though we can fucking see they are.)
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They could change their name to "Thin Air".
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Worldstar!
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@Carnage said in United Airlines: the airline we love to hate, but we can't agree on why:
Yep, the best way to get in somewhere is to dress for it. Either a cleaner or facility service worker works a peach, but requires to get the right names. Otherwise just copy the look of the workers where you're going. Just act and look like you belong and you can tailgate past most door checkpoints.
Ever since Uber, Budbee, et.al., you no longer need to even dress for most places. Just grab a random box from the trash and march right in.
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A Spirit Airlines passenger managed to track down her stolen luggage after it vanished when she arrived at a Florida airport — using one of the stolen items to aid in her desperate search.