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United Airlines' customer-relations woes continue, this time with a musician attempting to board with her centuries-old violin and being assaulted by a UA employee and having her hand injured.
A professional musician says a United Airlines employee tried to wrestle away her violin after she insisted on carrying the valuable antique onto her flight.
Yennifer Correia wanted to keep the violin, which is hundreds of years old and worth tens of thousands of dollars, with her while flying Sunday from St. Louis to Houston for work, reported KPRC-TV.
Federal law requires airlines to allow musicians to bring their instruments aboard as carry-on luggage, under certain conditions, but Correia said a United supervisor insisted she pay $50 to check in her violin.
"She was rude from the beginning, saying these are the rules — all you can take with you are some personal items on the plane, and the instrument is too big and it's not going to fit," Correia said.
[...] "She proceeded to throw herself on top of my suitcase, so she could take the rest of the sticker from my suitcase," Correia said. "At this point, we're both struggling — pulling the suitcase — and I'm trying to get her not to take the sticker from me."
This comes immediately after an incident where a wheelchair-bound woman was dropped by a UA employee, causing permanent injuries.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday June 09 2017, @04:09PM (2 children)
This summer I will take my first flight since about 2002 or so. But rather than apprehensive, I'm really excited.
On August 21 there will be a total solar eclipse across N. Central Oregon. Every hotel in that region has been booked solid for quite some time. When I was figuring this out and contemplating sleeping in my car, it struck me - small plane charter. I found one other person to fill the third seat and so the morning of the eclipse, my wife and I along with my friend will fly down to Oregon in a four seat Cesna, land on a little strip about half an hour before the eclipse, tumble out of the plane to watch it and munch on whatever breakfast we bring, then fly back. Low altitude views of the Puget Sound and Cascades there and back, a total eclipse in between, and no bullshit. I'm pretty excited.
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Friday June 09 2017, @04:41PM (1 child)
Yes, if you can avoid commercial flying, it's still totally fun.
I'm kind of waiting for them to drop the other shoe here, but inasmuch as private aircraft tend to be part of the playground of the rich, perhaps that won't happen.
I'm lucky enough to be very near the eclipse footprint, so it's just a (relatively) short (and very scenic) drive for me, less than a day. Waiting on the weather to see if it's worth the candle. The SO and I love little jaunts like this. We'll probably arrange to do some rock-hunting, too, if we go. Lots of great sites out here.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday June 09 2017, @09:36PM
For me, the idea of driving north from Oly through Everett on a weekday post eclipse, sounds like an apocalypse.
The charter itself wasn't what I'd call super cheap -- about $1300 total (or $433 for each passenger) for the round trip, but it also isn't millionaire territory either. I figured it is probably the last time an eclipse is going to happen so close to me in my lifetime and I can just cut out something else frivolous for a while.
Actually though, I checked commercial flights. A round trip low price is $231. Except I'd have to go the day before, so add $100 for a hotel, $50 for dinner, and whatever it costs to rent a car and pay for fuel from Portland and back. For two of us that would 712 before the rental car and probably at least 800 with it. Plus all the sitting around and waiting in line. The charter looks like a great deal actually.