United Airlines fired a flight attendant who confronted a passenger in one of their lounges at the Houston airport.
Crewmember Virginia “Ginny” McDavid a union activist, and she recorded herself verbally accosting Houston schools superintendent Mike Miles inside the United Club. McDavid told him,
Thanks a lot for ruining our school district… You need to get the hell out of town. Go back to Colorado.
She shared the video herself online at the time, but she says the a schools administrator used their district email to file a complaint with the airline after the incident.
it’s depressing times in TX public ed with vouchers in the Lege and the TEA takeover of HISD. I had an opportunity to give Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles and his companion a piece of my mind today at IAH! sorry the audio isn’t great! @HoustonCVPE @RepPennyMShaw pic.twitter.com/p9sO2ovLxZ
— Ginny Mack (@ginnysmcdavid) April 10, 2025
Within weeks of the April confrontation she was fired, although she’s just now talking to media about the dismissal. (I had heard about the termination at the time, but United would not confirm it.) The school district confirmed the confrontation.
While traveling on United Airlines and waiting for his flight in a United lounge, Superintendent Miles was verbally accosted by a United Airlines employee who used vulgar and aggressive language, which she later posted to social media and shared with the press.
Any personnel decision made by United Airlines regarding the conduct of its employees is a matter between United Airlines and that employee.
United Airlines In Houston
Flight attendants union AFA-CWA is reportedly appealing the adverse action.
Schools superintendant Mike Miles worked previously as superintendant in Dallas. He was appointed in Houston after the Texas Education Agency took over the school district citing failing schools and ethics violations among leadership. Miles has courted controversy in the past tying teacher and principal pay to gains in student achievement. Current district school ratings show large improvements, including no longer any district schools with F ratings.
Flight attendant Virginia “Ginny” Stogner McDavid served as county president for the AFL‑CIO Labor Assembly, Houston government affairs chair of the United flight attendants union, and legislative and political coordinator for the parent organization of the flight attendants union covering Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas. She ran as the Democratic candidate for Texas House District 138 in 2008.
At the 2024 Democratic National Convetion she strongly opposed the Party’s support for Israel. She wants Hamas de-listed as a terrorist organization (and traffics in Jews/money tropes and reposts material describing “Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Yemen” as the “axis of resistance.”
United’s Working Together / Social Media guidelines apply to employees off‑duty and explicitly spell out discipline, including termination, for harming the airline brand.
She says she was off duty and out of uniform and didn’t identify herself as a flight attendant when attacking the customer. The case seems simple enough:
- A United employee went after a customer
- This happened at the airport, in the airline’s lounge – not at a school board meeting
- This occurred while the customer was in the lounge as a United passenger
I’m really not sure where United can possibly be criticized for the termination of employment.
School administrators are total clowns. I’m with the UNITED FA on this.
United FAs keep me safe and hydrated and fed onboard a flight.
School admins are total leeches who often don’t know squat about their own profession. Tell me – what is the difference between a 2- and 3-parameter model in item response theory? What are fixed and random effects in the context of hierarchical regression models? They don’t know these things even though they’re central to educational measurement.
In any case, we all know schools don’t matter, right? It’s the kids and parents who do. High quality empirical literature has shown this.
Good schools are good because the students’ parents care about education. The teachers and staff are immaterial. this is also why increased funding for poor performing schools does jack squat.
Let’s start by reminding each other that misbehavior is the problem, not the backgrounds of the individuals; for instance, most crew members and passengers do not berate each other; they focus on safety, comfort, and getting to where they are going, day in, day out.
NUT JOB.
We in the US have lost all our civility.
United did the right thing to fire this person that cannot keep within her own hoolahoop. Just do the job.
Ginny got what she deserved. Fired.
Also noteworthy is the name for a female donkey is: Jenny
@PENILE — Great teachers still matter, a lot.
(By the way, I’m honestly shocked that William and Chuck didn’t remove your stuff over at DoC, yet. Maybe you were onto something; like, they each think, individually, that they have the higher percentage of that 175. Clever, clever…)
(P.P.S., you aren’t @Other Just Saying, are you? He and I were recently ‘shooting the shit’ in different post. If so, again, wow, you sly dog. If not, you keep doing you.)
“She says she was off duty and out of uniform and didn’t identify herself as a flight attendant.” If true, then this really is no different than any of us confronting anyone else at an airport over anything. Should that mean you get fired?
Seems unrelated to the job. It’s not like she was literally a crew member accosting a passenger during the flight. Well, if it were merely an ‘at-will’ employment relationship, then, no need for any discussion, because those employers (usually for worse, not for better), can fire anyone on a whim. However, this is not that situation. United’s crew members are represented by their union, and the union is seeking to protect its member. Seems like normal. Regardless of the members’ personal views, even if abhorrent, this is the type of protection organized labor provides.
You shouldn’t lose your livelihood because of your deeply held personal views, including political speech outside of work. Let’s say Ginny were instead an evangelical-Christian activist, promoting her wish to restrict all forms of abortion, and as an off-duty, out-of-uniform, member of the traveling public, she confronted a Democratic lawmaker on that topic, in an airport lounge; then, the airline fired her; I’d suspect the union would fight that, too. Try the mental exercise of switching the ‘hat’ of the person; it might do you some good.
At the 2024 Democratic National Convetion she strongly opposed the Party’s support for Israel. She wants Hamas de-listed as a terrorist organization (and traffics in Jews/money tropes and reposts material describing “Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Yemen” as the “axis of resistance.”
Let the record stand that the AFA should completely disassociate themselves from such radical left wing ideology. United was hijacked twice during 9/11 and the AFA does not need its membership hijacked again by an enemy from within with such radical and poisonous views. AFA needs to court people truly interested in the well being of the membership, with a goal towards success of an airline and its employees. Public education is a bureaucratic mess most of us know but much of that is fostered by people like this lady who will have much more time to help out molding the schools into the imagine she wants to create through government. God bless the administrator for helping her find her life path. {;
@1990 – somehow she was identified as a United employee. Likely in the social media account where she posted the encounter. If so she has no cover. She is a representative of UA and, as such, she can be fired for behavior that harms their brand.
You, of all people, should know “freedom of speech” doesn’t apply to private companies and, while most people aren’t jailed for their speech, they can suffer consequences.
In total she sounds like a liberal wacko and glad to see UA drain the swamp
It’s a shame that you chose a video clip that is so much in favour of the FA and not of the superintendent. I can’t imagine feeling comfortable taking a flight and being harassed by someone about my actions on a job. United has a clear policy; I’m glad the FA was fired. Want to work for an airline; keep your views out of social media and the public!
A United employee attacking a United customer in a United lounge. Great way to build brand loyalty. And she challenges her termination? As the saying goes, can’t fix stupid.
@1990 – “You shouldn’t lose your livelihood because of your deeply held personal views, including political speech outside of work”
That’s a great description if she’d expressed herself at a school board meeting and even the supermarket.
But she’s an employee, at her employer’s place of business, accosting them man while he’s a customer – and it’s a clear violation of policy.
@KlimaBXsst — Arguably, there is nuance to her position(s), and it does not rise to the level of intolerance that some on the extreme right are seeking.
So, in the USA at least, when the other ‘team’ is in charge, which will eventually happen, whether you like it or not, would you want them to treat your ‘side’ that way?
In essence, to fire and remove anyone they disagree with from society… No. That’s not good, either. So, let’s not overreach here. You might not want what you think you’re wishing for…
@Retired Gambler — I guess we’ll have to see how her/the union’s appeal goes. I doubt the superintendent is suing the airline for vicarious liability because there’s little damages to collect here (Defamation? Emotional distress? Get real…)
Got what she deserved.
I just love it when narcissistic members of the dumb masses get what they deserve. It doesn’t matter how, but she was identified as an employee of a company. She then decides to berate a customer and then has the stupidity to post it for the world to see. The she wonders why she gets fired! DUH! Let’s see her get a job with another airline when they run a background check and note that she was fired for cause. Me…me…me…pay attention world…MEEEEEE! BUH BYE.
@This comes to mind, @Win Whitmire — Fellas, think if it were your preferred ‘team,’ and I assure you, this is not the precedent you want. Besides, weren’t you guys for ‘free speech’ and against ‘cancelling,’ huh?
@Gary Leff — While I personally would not recommend her behavior, and literally lead with that ‘hot take’ as my first reaction to your post, I think we need to resist the urge to ‘fire’ anyone we deem our ‘perceived enemy.’
I suspect some of the ‘excited’ commenters here would feel very differently if it were a ‘red hat’ employee attacking a Democratic politician. And I know this because you’ve posted stories like that, for instance, when a pilot literally wore that hat… some of the same folks, raced to defend the pilot.
I get it, there’s no law against hypocrisy. Just wish we’d not overreach. It tends to bite us all.
@1990
“Besides, weren’t you guys for ‘free speech’ and against ‘cancelling,’ huh?”
Why are you so damn logical
@1990
“Besides, weren’t you guys for ‘free speech’ and against ‘cancelling,’ huh?”
Why are you so damn logical.
@1990 Both my parents were employed by an airline and we were well aware that even our conduct on board or at the airport as minor, then adult children, could have consequences for one/both of them. She has a privileged position and she clearly crossed the line.
When I was getting my teacher cert years ago there were already people who couldn’t pass the tests, wanting it to b dumbed down. This is almost as old as the hills.
Saddest to me is how we as a society can’t be tolerant of each other. It’s not even a left versus right issue any longer.
You’re on the job. Keep your mouth shut and do your job. Do your activism on personal time. It’s that simple. I don’t anything about this school administrator and whether he’s doing a good job (probably doubtful) or is a total buffoon (more likely) is irrelevant.
But why Colorado? Did he reek of weed stank?
@DovPilotH — So, if a member of the flight crew wore a ‘red hat’ (you know the one), I presume, you’d fire them, too, since it’s not an authorized part of the uniform, eh? Listen, when Gary’s posted about crew members wearing ‘watermelon’ pins, I’ve agreed that those aren’t authorized, either. Should both offenders lose their jobs? No. If it’s a repeat offense, maybe. It depends. But to basically tell all employees to become robots, toeing the company line, in and outside of work, my goodness, that’s no way to live in a free society. Maybe we aren’t ‘free,’ after all.
So, if she had dropped the matter immediatelty after the incident, without advertising her employment by United, this might have disappeared. However, by loudly proclaiming this afterwards, she drew airline’s wrath for dragging them into her diatribe.
My guess is that this will not significantly benefit any causes other than increased name recognition as a politician, and perhaps her self-importance.
Whether this is worth the consequences for her and the union reps who may feel obliged to defend her, i suppose is up to them.
Interesting case. Even though she was not in uniform, it happened in the workplace. This firing could go either way. One important point: how did it happen that she was identified as a United FA?
Good move firing this jackass.
A lot of people lately been learning this lesson.
She harassed a customer AT HER PLACE OF WORK. I don’t care if she was on the clock or not, the airline should be able to keep her off the premises. Just like anyone else who harasses their customers while at their work site. Ban her from airline property and she can’t work.