this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2025
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Summary

United Airlines apologized to Melissa Sotomayor after crew members tried to make her remove her son's ventilator during a March 8 flight from Tampa to Newark.

Sotomayor, whose 2-year-old son relies on a ventilator and tracheostomy tube, said staff demanded the equipment be stowed for takeoff despite prior medical clearance.

A third flight attendant claimed the child would "be OK" without it. The captain called her "difficult" and said the equipment was a safety risk.

Sotomayor expressed feeling humiliated and vowed never to fly United again.

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[–] [email protected] 207 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I love all the medical degrees they give their flight staff.

[–] [email protected] 78 points 1 week ago (1 children)

They give them so many, that they feel comfortable physically dragging passengers with medical degrees off of their flights.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I thought it was to teach them proper dragging techniques.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago

Only RuPaul can do that.

[–] [email protected] 186 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

United said it has contacted Sotomayor "to address her concerns.."

Yes because obviously it was "her concerns" that was the problem!!!

Fucking spin talk, turning everything upside down!
It's disgusting.

[–] [email protected] 58 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Never apologize, always use passive voice. Gross.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That's not passive voice. Passive voice would be "to ensure her concerns will be addressed".

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

"apologized for any frustration she may have experienced."

"May have experienced" is passive voice and the totality of the sentence is not an apology. The passive portion places the weight on the interpretation of her experience rather than explicitly believing her. "May have" helps to express the uncertainty or speculation of the event.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The "concerns" could well be a letter from her lawyers.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Then they wrote her lawyers, not her.
It doesn't change the level of corp speak IMO.

[–] [email protected] 155 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Let’s not forget the time a United flight was overbooked and picked a random guy to take off the plane even though he was already in his seat. He refused and the passenger was beaten unconscious and dragged out on his back https://youtu.be/VrDWY6C1178

[–] [email protected] 70 points 1 week ago

He was a physician seeing patients the next morning, so he was the worst person to try and force to take another flight

[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The people responsible for doing that should be in prison or dead.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Stochastic tyranny. No single piece of the machine is particularly responsible for the horrific result.

  • Your representative (AKA you) allow airlines to overbook.

  • 100% of the passengers make the flight, none take the buyout or bump.

  • Airlines throw someone off at random, calling the cops because it's now legally a criminal trespass.

Every single snowflake in the equation feels they are not responsible for the avalanche.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 week ago (10 children)

Just following orders is not a valid excuse. That was established around eighty years ago.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

In prison, yes
Dead? No.
Let's not get down to their level and lose our ethics

[–] [email protected] 73 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Reading this just after reading about that guy getting pulled out of that lavatory with his dick out by a united pilot lol. Is being a piece of shit a requirement to get hired by united

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

A piece of shit? One could go to prison in my country for doing something like this

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago

Everyone who isn’t a prick chooses work at other airlines.

The number of issues United has is indicative of severe cultural issues within the company. Toxic work culture drives good, compassionate employees away and leaves only the people who thrive in toxic environments.

[–] [email protected] 64 points 1 week ago (4 children)

She was then approached by another flight attendant who told her that their seats might have to be moved if she didn't comply, Sotomayor said.

This stuck out to me.

There's only one place in the passenger compartment of a plane I know has specific rules for sitting there: the wing exit row

Having sat in the exit row before, I know the flight crew is very unforgiving for items that may block transit of passengers should the need to get off the plane present itself. This may be backed up with another statement in the article:

Sotomayor said that before their flight, she obtained documentation so her son could fly to their destination. They did not encounter problems on the first leg — the trip to Tampa.

Were they not in an exit row on that flight, and therefor it wasn't an issue?

It sounds like Sotomayor did everything correctly with her prep before flying. Assuming all the statements in the article are factual and my exit row theory is correct, someone at United screwed up approving an exit row seat for her and her son's return flight, and that dropped the problem in the laps of the United flight crew that has to comply with FAA regulations.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 week ago (2 children)

2 year olds can’t be in an exit row to begin with, regardless of medical equipment

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It could have been a bulkhead seat, too. That's the only other place where there are stricter regulations.

Yes. United's reservation agents screwed up big time. The lady did everything she was supposed to. The crew could have solved this simply by asking for volunteers to exchange seats. Instead, they assumed that they knew more about the kid's'condition than his mother did.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It could have been a bulkhead seat, too. That’s the only other place where there are stricter regulations.

I didn't know that about bulkhead seats. I think you're right then, the article mentions something about that:

" the representative said the flight attendants reported it was a "bulk head seating problem," "

So it does sound like this isn't the flight crew being assholes, but rather the booking approver put then in a place the FAA won't allow them to fly. If Sotomayor her first flight in a bulkhead as well, this is lose-lose for United. They either flouted the FAA rules on the first flight or created a combative situation on the second flight by trying to follow the FAA rules.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The flight crew were still being assholes, though. They could have handled it differently than not believing the woman when she asserted that her son needed the equipment, and produced the proper paperwork.

I fly a lot and know that many planes these days are full, but they absolutely could have reseated them without getting confrontational with the woman. Simply asking for volunteers, and saying "we can't take off until this happens", will get results.

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

Actually, the crew should have taken one look when her kid was pre-boarded with that equipment and politely changed them to seats where it could be used safely, before they got all settled and before boarding the rest of the plane.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Exactly. It shouldn’t have even been an issue, because the crew is supposed to make sure the passengers sitting in the exit rows are able and willing to actually pop the hatches open in the event of an evacuation.

During an evacuation, plane rows are too crowded for attendants to be able to get to the doors and open them. Know how you’re stuck in the plane waiting for everyone to de-board after the flight? Attendants have to deal with that when evacuating. So the passengers need to be the ones to actually pop the hatches and start clearing the plane.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 week ago

I don't think the "edit row" theory is correct as they wouldn't allow a child to sit there regardless of whether they're using a ventilator or not.

[–] [email protected] 58 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Everyone keeps flying on United despite a million stories happening to "other people" but it won't happen to them. Fucking honestly I'm running out of sympathy for people who give their money to profoundly shitty companies and then are shocked when they're treated badly.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I just was posting in a thread about boycotts, and mentioned how most shitty companies that are being called for boycotts are companies I started boycotting long ago, and my example was United.

I've already been boycotting them for years, for destroying guitars, and beating their passengers unconscious, or just offering the highest prices for the worst service, which is the main reason I avoid them. I just want to get to another airport, and Im happy with doing it the cheapeat way, as long as they don't destroy my guitar or beat me senseless.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago (7 children)

Is there an airline we shouldn't be boycotting?

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

Until you start up a "nice" airline and get the infrastructure going, maybe try to maintain a little of that precious sympathy for those of us with no other fucking choice.

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[–] [email protected] 49 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Oh, the airline that kicked out the doctor?

It's already on my no-fly-list

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago

The one that also breaks guitars, yes.

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[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 week ago (1 children)

United and American airlines have the worst corporate policies

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

But they're not the worst airlines overall.

You need to come to ... Canada? Is that right? Apparently so.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 week ago

sounds about like the service I'd expect from a united flight.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 week ago (3 children)

So if she complied and her kid died, that's negligent manslaughter, right? I wonder if she'd sue the flight crew, or the airline.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 week ago (1 children)

A third flight attendant claimed the child would "be OK" without it.

This person was almost certainly practicing medicine without a license

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago

Seeing how it was Florida, they would probably arrest her for infanticide and give a medal to the flight crew for trying to save the kids life or some bullshit.

Seriously, fuck that entire godforsaken state.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

All of the above, and probably the airport, TSA, and anyone else with deep pockets.

She should sue them all anyway.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Why is it always United.

Except for when it's Southwest or Spirit.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago

You can fly out of Florida, but you can't leave the insanity behind.

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