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A family of five was flying from Cancún International Airport (CUN) to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and onto New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA). The first leg was fine, but when the family arrived at the gate to board, they were denied. Apparently, they got there less than 10 minutes before departure time and the gate agents were not going to close the flight late. A passenger in front of them boarded and then the door was shut. Instead of admitting that they were late, the man filming the video alleges that they were treated differently because they were Jewish.
American like most airlines closes the boarding door 10 to 15 minutes in advance of departure time. Gate agents are held accountable for on-time departures and generally push hard to make sure the flights are kept on schedule. It appears that American’s Automated Reaccommodation Tool (AURA) rebooked them because it calculated that they would not make the connection. Some commenters on the X post suggest that the woman ahead of the family was likely a cleared standby passenger and that the flight attendants had their count and closed the flight. Monitors at the gate show the flight as closed and nowhere in the video are their any comments made about the family’s religion being the reason for their rebooking. The incident occurred on April 21st and the video has been circulating recently.
Anthony’s Take: Claiming antisemitism is pretty serious and it appears to be completely unfounded here. The gate agents could have been more accommodating and definitely could have explained the denial better, but the family got there late and they had to follow the schedule.
(Featured Image Credit: @AnimalsAddicts via X.)
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7 comments
This was not poor customer service. The passengers were late. Period.
I think the agents could have been friendlier and explained it better.
@Anthony, it’s true they could have handled it better. However, gate agents have a very stressful job and are among the most poorly paid employees at airlines. There is a reason they blow up on a regular basis. The problem was with the customers not knowing procedure and not checking their text messages, e-mail or the AA app. If they did, they would have known they’ve been “reaccommodated” even before leaving their connecting flight.
Were they on their own or because of their time connecting through customs?
I’m tired of everything being called antisemitism these days. You can’t criticize Israel, you can’t criticize someone who is Jewish, you can’t do anything without backlash. Maybe people need to stop whining all the time.
to many Jews, everything is antisemitic.
even the truth.
https://www.unz.com/article/the-holocaust-of-six-million-jews-in-world-war-i/
It’s truly unfortunate that people make such spurious claims because it destroys the credibility of valid claims. The family was late. Period. American certainly didn’t cover themselves with glory by failing to apologize and clearly explain what was happening and why though.
Antisemitism – and other types of discrimination – must absolutely be called out when it’s clear that discrimination is taking place. That’s not a license to scream discrimination when you break the rules and can’t escape the consequences.