Fly the not-so-friendly skies of United Airlines. Or perhaps not, after reading this article on the Website of the CBS Philadelphia affiliate, which notes that “Philadelphia student Matthew Klint loves to travel and has racked up nearly a million airline miles. After settling into a business class seat on a United flight from Newark to Instanbul last month, he did what he normally does for his travel blog: He pulled out his iPhone and took a picture of the empty seat in front of him.”
Hilarity did not ensue:
The next thing Klint knew, a gate agent was escorting him off the plane. But before doing so, Klint was able to speak briefly with the captain. He says, “The captain is quite rude, and he says, essentially, ‘I don’t want to hear you, get off the plane before I call the police.’”
Klint adds, “It was quite embarrassing, just grabbing my bag and just making that walk forward with all eyes on me.”
After exiting the aircraft, Klint was rebooked by gate agents on another flight scheduled for 45 minutes after his original departure. He says the gate agents were very accommodating, but says it wasn’t until days later — after posting his experience on his travel blog — that United management reached out to him. He says he never received an apology from United but was offered some modest compensation for the change in his travel plans.
“It’s really not about me anymore, it’s about making sure this doesn’t happen to any other passenger going forward,” Klint says.
Read the whole thing.
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