A passenger on Frontier Airlines flight 1449 from Atlanta to Denver Friday evening says they were bumped from the aircraft after they had already boarded in order to make room for staff. She says she was “threatened with arrest” if she didn’t give up her seat, and she missed the wedding she was headed to. The flight wound up taking off without her.
[G]ate staff then essentially just laughed at her and refused to re-book her at all on any flight that would arrive before the wedding, they also refused to provide any hotels or compensation. Frontier’s chat support was also less than useless as usual.
The medical student rebooked herself on a Saturday morning Delta flight, but with Delta’s current operational mess she missed the wedding.
Frontier Airlines kicked a soon-to-be doctor (medical student) off of an aircraft after they’d already boarded, in order to accommodate their own crew that they needed to work another later flight. Where have I heard this story before?
- Frontier reportedly downgauged the aircraft. They used a smaller plane, so they didn’t have as many seats. When this happens they do not owe involuntary denied boarding compensation.
- However, while Frontier can bump a confirmed passenger from the flight (refunding their ticket or rebooking them, at the passenger’s discretion) they cannot do this to passengers who have already boarded.
Once a passenger has been accepted for boarding or has already boarded the flight, airlines are not permitted to require that passenger deplane, unless the removal of the passenger is required by safety, security, or health reasons, or the removal is due to the passenger’s unlawful behavior.
- Passengers report that this wasn’t a situation of an oversell, with more passengers than seats. Instead, deadheading crew reportedly took the seat. So it was for the airline’s operational convenience, so they could send crew to work another flight. That is exactly the situation in which David Dao was being kicked off of United where police wound up dragging and beating him. Here the passenger got off voluntarily, rather than being beaten by airport police.
Frontier, by the way, can provide passengers with assistance, but they are the only carrier not to commit to providing hotel and ground transportation when they cancel a flight for reasons that are their own fault.
@DaveS, the issue is not that they bumped the passenger. Most airlines have a clause in their conditions of carriage that allows them to do things “operational needs/requirements” The problem is F9 didn’t offer involuntarily denied boarding compensation, which may be tricky to calculate because the passenger was on a frequent flier awards. The key thing here is don’t travel on must need to travel on a cheap fare or award. You will be the first/second/third person to be denied boarding based on your low fare.
@Luis – Frontier has A320s with both 180 and 186 seats. They have A321s with 230 seats and A321neos with 240 seats.
Frontier canceled my flight at the last minute from Norfolk, VA to Denver. The only other flight available that day within 1000 miles from Norfolk was in Washington DC 8 hours later. The Frontier app and personnel would not allow me to rebook on the DCA flight. I had to book and pay for myself (same day much higher rate) and pay for transportation to Washington from Norfolk that cost $200. Frontier, after multiple calls and emails said they had no obligation to do anything for me when they canceled a flight they admit was due to mechanical error. This airline is absolutely the worst, the employees from flight attendants, gate attendants and phone “support” don’t care one bit about their customers. I filed a complaint with the FAA but will I ever hear anything? Isn’t an airline supposed to book you on a flight they canceled due to mechanical error? They did, on the app, offer an option to fly to one airport 8 hours later and then a connecting flight to Denver 18 hours later. I would have to pay for lodging etc. But not an offer to fly from Washington the same day to Denver?
Why is it relevant to put on the headline that the passenger was a medical student? Do med students get priority over every other revenue passenger?
This is what happens when you fly a hobo airline.
Frontier, Spirit, Delta.
That, plus many more reasons, is why you don’t fly Frontier. The worst airline in the sky.
For my brother’s wedding this year, I flew out Wednesday night for a Saturday wedding. Why? Cause anything can happen. Leaving Friday for a Saturday wedding? PPP
People ask why I don’t fly Frontier or Spirit. This is why. Everyone I know who has flown either one had a bad experience on their first or second flight. So they don’t fly them either.
You get what you pay for. I am not victim shaming because this was 100% on the airline. The passenger did 0% wrong here except select a gutter airline. Perhaps the “med student” did not have time to do research to be an informed consumer. Maybe they have $200k in student loans and couldn’t afford another $20 to fly a reputable airline or take an earlier flight. Maybe they had class and had to rush to the airport to make this flight.
But putting aside the horrific airline treatment, anyone with an ounce of common sense (hopefully this includes aspiring doctors) knows you cannot take the last flight of the day if you absolutely positively have to be somewhere like a wedding. And if it is that important you also need to fly a reputable airline where you might at least have a shot at rebooking if your flight goes fubar (putting aside the ongoing DL fiasco).
Seriously America wake up and stop flying Frontier and Spirit unless you are broke and don’t care about when you arrive at your destination.
She needs to hire a lawyer and file a $10-million dollar suit against FRONTIER for various Federal violations and damages. They will settle because they are deathly afraid of any litigation.