A travel blogger for the website UPGRD was thrown of a United Airlines flight for taking a picture of his seat on a United Airlines flight to Istanbul last week.
Matthew, the blogger, was upgraded the business class on his direct flight to the Turkish city. It was his first time on that particular reconfigured aircraft, and his first long trip in the Continental BusinessFirst seat. He wanted to write a review, so naturally, he said in his blog, he took out his iPhone and began snapping photos of his seat. A flight attendant spotted him, saying that he couldn't take any photos of the cabin, referencing a section in Hemispheres magazine about the matter.
Matthew didn't say anything, but he said he put his phone away and didn't take any more photos. Another man was also taking photos, at which point the flight attendant told him to stop as well. The passenger had what Matthew called a "lively discussion" with the flight attendant.
Matthew felt bothered by the attendant's warning, and signaled for her to come back and hang his coat. Then he told her, according to the blog, "I want you to understand why I was taking pictures. I hope you didn't think I was a terrorist. Here is my business card [offering her one]. I write about United Airlines on an almost-daily basis and the folks at United in Chicago are even aware of my blog."
She didn't take his business card, and responded, "No, that's OK," followed by "I didn't know that."
Then a Global Service rep got on the plane, asking to speak to Matthew. As he walked up front, he said in the blog, he noticed that the attendant who reprimanded him disappeared into the front galley.
"The captain is not comfortable with you on this flight," the rep told him. "You'll need to gather your things and we'll find another way to get you to Istanbul."
Matthew was confused, thinking at first that they had the wrong passenger -- surely, he thought, they wanted the flyer who argued with the attendant to leave the plane.
The rep stepped into the galley, around the corner, and asked the attendant to verify Matthew was the passenger of concern. He was.
At this, Matthew asked to speak to the captain. The conversation went like this, according to his blog:
Captain: Sir, you are not flying on this flight.
Matthew: Can you tell me why?
Captain: My FA tells me she told you to stop taking pictures and you continued to take pictures.
Matthew: That's a lie, captain. She told me stop taking pictures and I stopped. I did try to explain to her why I was taking pictures-I am a travel writer [He then offered his business card again, but the captain didn't accept it].
Captain: Look, I don't care. You are not flying on this flight. You can make this easy or make this difficult. We'll call the police if we have to.
Matthew: Why are you threatening me? Your FA is lying-I did not disobey any crewmember instruction.
Captain: Look, we're already late. I'd advise you to get off this plane now. Make it easy on yourself. Don't make us bring the police in. Goodbye.
Matthew: Wait. Captain, may I have one of your business cards?
Captain: I don't have any, but United will have no trouble finding me. My name is...[removed].
As Matthew gathered his belongings and prepared to leave, the Global Services rep said he had tried his best to make Matthew's case to the flight crew, but they had "jointly decided" he shouldn't fly. Now, he would miss his connection in Istanbul - and there was no way he could make his connecting flight to Baku on a separate ticket.
He began working on an alternative arrangement - and was ultimately rebooked to fly to Istanbul via Washington and Kuwait City, with his final segment on Turkish Airlines in economy class. Yet he had to buy another $225 ticket to Baku.
But these setbacks weren't the worst of it, Matthew said. He alleged that the flight attendant lied to him, and that was the biggest concern.
"I did nothing wrong and the FA who lied about me should be held to account by United," he wrote in his blog. "Surely, a liar is more of a security threat than a passenger who wants to take a picture of his seat. United has not been contacted yet, but I will send them a copy of this story. I welcome an investigation into this incident and encourage my seatmate or any of those seated around me on the flight to chime in should you come across this story. I have nothing to hide other than my humiliation for being thrown off a flight on the pretense of a mistruth."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
