Just when you thought this instance of a passenger being kicked off a flight because of a Tweet was an isolated incident, comes this story. Someone made a comment about the sobriety of a JetBlue pilot. This made the airline delay the flight to check the sobriety of the pilot and here’s what happened next according to News.com:
The reason for the sobriety test was allegedly a joke made by a passenger while boarding: “I hope there is a fully stocked bar onboard.” The pilot, however, took the comment as an accusation that he was intoxicated, JetBlue told WCVB-TV.
It’s unclear who made the joke. However, [Lisa] Carter-Knight began tweeting about the incident. Her first tweet, sent yesterday evening, read: “#JetBlue Major debacle on flight 760 in Philly — pilot accuses passengers of accusing him of being intoxicated demands all passengers back.”
The passengers were kept at the gate, while the pilot was tested. Carter-Knight kept tweeting: “Philly Boston flight 760 grounded due to unruly pilot — false accusations by pilot that his sobriety was questioned by passengers.” Another tweet described the pilot as “angry.”
Then, it was Carter-Knight’s turn to get angry, as a later tweet revealed: “Jet Blue just denied me to board the aircraft due to my social media coverage of tonight’s events. The pilot and staff denied service to me.”
That seems to be an ill advised move on the part of JetBlue. Though they don’t think so:
In a statement to CNET, a spokeswoman said its not the airline’s policy to remove customers from flights for criticizing JetBlue: “It is not our practice to remove a customer for expressing criticism of their experience in any medium…In this instance, the customer received a refund and chose to fly on another carrier.”
The JetBlue spokeswoman added: “We will remove a customer if they are disruptive and the crew evaluates that there is a risk of escalation which could lead to an unsafe environment. The decision to remove a customer from a flight is not taken lightly. If we feel a customer is not complying with safety instructions, exhibits objectionable behavior or causes conflict at the gate or on the aircraft, the customer will be asked to deplane or will be denied boarding especially if the crew feels the situation runs the risk of accelerating in the air.”
If a Tweet could lead to a “risk of escalation which could lead to an unsafe environment”, then I’m clearly out of touch with reality. To me, this appears to be a gross overreaction by JetBlue .
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This entry was posted on October 8, 2014 at 4:04 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Passenger Kicked Off JetBlue Flight Because Of Tweet
Just when you thought this instance of a passenger being kicked off a flight because of a Tweet was an isolated incident, comes this story. Someone made a comment about the sobriety of a JetBlue pilot. This made the airline delay the flight to check the sobriety of the pilot and here’s what happened next according to News.com:
The reason for the sobriety test was allegedly a joke made by a passenger while boarding: “I hope there is a fully stocked bar onboard.” The pilot, however, took the comment as an accusation that he was intoxicated, JetBlue told WCVB-TV.
It’s unclear who made the joke. However, [Lisa] Carter-Knight began tweeting about the incident. Her first tweet, sent yesterday evening, read: “#JetBlue Major debacle on flight 760 in Philly — pilot accuses passengers of accusing him of being intoxicated demands all passengers back.”
The passengers were kept at the gate, while the pilot was tested. Carter-Knight kept tweeting: “Philly Boston flight 760 grounded due to unruly pilot — false accusations by pilot that his sobriety was questioned by passengers.” Another tweet described the pilot as “angry.”
Then, it was Carter-Knight’s turn to get angry, as a later tweet revealed: “Jet Blue just denied me to board the aircraft due to my social media coverage of tonight’s events. The pilot and staff denied service to me.”
That seems to be an ill advised move on the part of JetBlue. Though they don’t think so:
In a statement to CNET, a spokeswoman said its not the airline’s policy to remove customers from flights for criticizing JetBlue: “It is not our practice to remove a customer for expressing criticism of their experience in any medium…In this instance, the customer received a refund and chose to fly on another carrier.”
The JetBlue spokeswoman added: “We will remove a customer if they are disruptive and the crew evaluates that there is a risk of escalation which could lead to an unsafe environment. The decision to remove a customer from a flight is not taken lightly. If we feel a customer is not complying with safety instructions, exhibits objectionable behavior or causes conflict at the gate or on the aircraft, the customer will be asked to deplane or will be denied boarding especially if the crew feels the situation runs the risk of accelerating in the air.”
If a Tweet could lead to a “risk of escalation which could lead to an unsafe environment”, then I’m clearly out of touch with reality. To me, this appears to be a gross overreaction by JetBlue .
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This entry was posted on October 8, 2014 at 4:04 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.