Passengers

Category Archives for Passengers.

Passenger Videotapes Himself Being Denied Boarding For Refusing To Wear A Mask

by Gary Leff on June 4, 2020

Jun 04 2020

A Ryanair passenger tried to fly from Dublin to London Gatwick without a face mask. He had flown before the face mask requirement went into effect, and claims not to have known he needed one – and if it was required, Ryanair should’ve provided it, the airline shouldn’t be able to keep his money and not transport him.

The passenger claims that Ryanair threatened him with a lifetime ban if he shared this video. And he further argues that if underwear were made a requirement of flying after he purchased the ticket then it’s an ex post facto change and shouldn’t be enforced.

NFL Player Sues United Over Inflight Sexual Harassment and Assault

by Gary Leff on May 20, 2020

May 20 2020

Usually onboard harassment involves a creepy guy and alcohol. This time onboard harassment involved alcohol and a creepy girl. Maybe that only happens, or at least happens most often, when the victim plays in the NFL.

Man Flies To Germany, Tries To Sneak In To See His Girlfriend

by Gary Leff on May 15, 2020

May 15 2020

Coronavirus has been a strain on relationships, from the hotel that markets itself as a great break from your spouse and monetizes its guest list with a divorce lawyer who offers free consultations to the 85 and 89 year olds who live on opposite sides of the Germany-Denmark border and meet each day for a picnic, staying on their own side of the border and social distancing.

To one 20 year old, no coronavirus border restriction was going to keep him from his love. Then he ran into the German Federal Police.

With Business Travel Cratered, Extra Money Faking Expense Reports Dries Up Too

by Gary Leff on May 11, 2020

May 11 2020

Not only has business travel ground to a halt, but as a result employee expense reimbursements have too.

In normal times expense reimbursements are one of the primary areas of fraud that companies face. Employees fake receipts. They change amounts on receipts. They mis-describe personal purchases as being for business and submit those. They submit the same item more than once. Employees know which supervisors don’t look closely, and learn which companies don’t use sophisticated software to catch these tricks.

Will Masks Be The Next Thing People Get In Onboard Fights Over, With Flights Diverting?

by Gary Leff on May 11, 2020

May 11 2020

Right now people are fighting on board over lack of social distancing, although sometimes they’re just freaking out on social media about it.

People are getting pretty political over mask wearing and nearly every U.S. airline will begin requiring them. If folks want to boycott Costco, imagine once they are on board trapped inside a metal tube…?

Here’s The Next Big ‘Passengers Behaving Badly’ Conflict We’re About To See

by Gary Leff on May 4, 2020

May 04 2020

With airlines beginning to require passengers to wear face masks on board, we’re about to see a new conflict, because people are just as awful as they used to be. It’s just that there are fewer of them flying.

When American Airlines debated internally whether to require passengers to wear masks, or merely encourage them to (including by providing the masks), the argument that ultimately gave way to a mandate was that cabin crew would be in a position of having to enforce the new rules. And there are always going to be exceptions, which creates grey areas and opportunities for conflict.

Italy May Be Off Limits For Travel Until April 2021

by Gary Leff on April 19, 2020

Apr 19 2020

Plans to re-open the economy in phases are still speculative, and still just plans. They haven’t yet hit the reality of local politics (sustaining closures in the face of a struggling economy) or European politics (and pressure, perhaps coming from Germany and in exchange for economic aid, to follow a more unified approach). Thus pronouncements about re-opening Spain ‘at the end of the year’ and Italy ‘after March 2021’ are at this point merely suggestive of the challenges that international travel will face, rather than something to be taken at face value.

Even During A Global Pandemic Airline Passengers Are Awful

by Gary Leff on April 19, 2020

Apr 19 2020

Before we were all grounded, air travel had become incredibly small-d democratic, with people of all walks of life, cultures, and belief systems mixing in a small metal tube. It had become far more affordable over the past 40 years, no longer something you dress up for but also a place where behaviors clash and people come into conflict with one another. (This was the worst passenger of 2019.)

Now with only the most pressing or somber of occasions leading people to travel by air, you’d expect the level of bad behavior on planes to lessen.

Woman Sues Aer Lingus For Yanking Her Out Of The Lavatory As Plane Took Off

by Gary Leff on April 6, 2020

Apr 06 2020

An Aer Lingus passenger is suing because she says flight attendants yanked out of the lavatory as the plane prepared to go into its takeoff roll.

The passenger says she was “dragged back to her seat while her pants were still below her knees, exposing her buttocks and genitalia to other passengers.”

For Those Who Truly Must Travel, Flying Is A Special Gift Right Now

by Gary Leff on April 4, 2020

Apr 04 2020

One woman had to fly last minute from DC to Boston to see her mother who was close to dying. She was the only passenger on board her American flight. She filmed the flight attendant making her safety announcement, “My name is Jessica and I will be your flight attendant, and we have Sheryl as our passenger today, living it up in first class. Everybody shout out to Sheryl, the only passenger on the plane.”

The experiences traveling today are some of the most human, as each person’s stories can no longer get lost in the millions of passenger hordes stampeding through airports the way they once did.