A woman was thrown off a flight because she was tired.
Mary Montesi, 46, was removed from a United Airlines midnight flight from Las Vegas to Hartford on April 9 because the pilot said she was acting "impaired," The Day reports.
"I could see if I was drunk or belligerent but I didn't do anything," Montesi told The Day. "I don't know why they treat people that way, it was very upsetting."
Montesi was on her way back to Connecticut with her parents. After Montesi was removed from the flight, all three stayed behind. They were put up in a hotel by the airline and were rebooked on a flight the next day.
Montesi said that she was tired and had taken an over-the-counter sleeping pill so she could fall asleep for the flight. The family was seated on the plane but a flight attendant soon told Montesi that the pilot wanted to speak to her. Montesi and her father went up to the cockpit and the captain told Montesi that she couldn't fly because she was acting impaired.
The pilot claimed that he had a legal right to refuse anyone from flying on the plane. The family tried explaining that Montesi hadn't been drinking and that she only took a sleeping pill, but the pilot didn't care.
However there was more to the ordeal. The airline refused to remove the family's luggage from the original flight even though they told the airline that their medication was in the bag. Mary's father, Leonard Montes, has diabetes and takes pills daily. He also lost out a day's pay because he missed work.
Mary's mother, Arlene believes there was a bigger reason for why her daughter was removed. She believes a pilot wanted a seat on their fully booked flight.
Arlene uses a wheelchair and she claims she was told by an airport worker that was pushing her that a pilot needed a seat on the flight. She also said she saw a man walking toward the plane carrying a pilot uniform.
The family wrote complaint letters to United, the Las Vegas airport management and the Federal Aviation Administration about the incident.
United apologized and gave each family member a $400 voucher. Sheri A. Wittman, assistant general manager of United's Las Vegas operations wrote an apology letter to the family.
"The flight crew had made a judgment call that allowed you not to travel on your Flight 284," she wrote. "Your daughter, MaryBeth had taken some sleeping pills before boarding the flight which gave her symptoms of not being able to stay awake which concerned the crew.
"The experience was very embarrassing and demeaning to your family and I apologize for this."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
