Top 10 Airline Scandals

They say revenge is best served… in a viral YouTube video. Musician Dave Carroll was traveling with his band from Halifax, Canada to Omaha, Nebraska in 2008, when he noticed his equipment being thrown around carelessly. On getting to his destination, Carroll discovered that his $3500 Taylor guitar had been smashed. For months, he reached out to United Airlines, in hopes of getting compensated, but his complaints all fell on deaf ears. Frustrated, Carroll poured his feelings into a song and created a music video that turned into an instant viral hit. Titled “United Breaks Guitars,” the clip became a PR nightmare for the airline, with some reports claiming it cost them millions in stock value. However, that claim has since been refuted.

It’s pretty important for an ad to be eye-catching, but when it comes to family-friendly companies, more often than not, decency is key. Budget airline Ryanair sure learnt that lesson in 2012 after they ran a national advertising campaign featuring a model decked in only lingerie. The racy ad was met with a huge wave of criticism, especially from flight attendants who noted that it painted them as “glamor models.” The airline claimed that since its staff took the pictures of their own volition, they couldn’t be interpreted as sexist. But that didn’t stop an online petition against the adverts from garnering more than 5,000 signatures. Eventually, the promotion was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The last place you’d expect to be subject to a dress code probably is when boarding a flight. But that wasn’t the case for two teenage girls who, in 2017, were hoping to fly United Airlines from Denver to Minneapolis. The girls, who both donned a pair of leggings, were refused entry onto the plane because they weren’t dressed properly. Another passenger overheard the situation and put out a thread of tweets that quickly went viral. Turns out the young ladies were traveling with free passes available to friends and family members of the airline’s employees. As such, they were required to dress a certain way. Nevertheless, the company received backlash on social media, which was hardly quelled by their explanation of the events.

Disagreements between passengers and airline employees are quite common these days, but it’s always shocking when things turn violent. In 2017, passengers aboard an American Airlines flight going from San Francisco to Dallas were stunned by a physical altercation between a flight attendant and a mother. During the argument, the employee seemed to have struggled with the woman over her baby stroller, before allegedly hitting her with it. A clip of the incident was posted to Facebook by another passenger and received more than a million views in a matter of days. In response, the airline launched an investigation into the encounter and suspended the erring flight attendant.

Brian and Brittany Schear were making a trip from Hawaii to Los Angeles with their two toddlers when they were kicked off their Delta flight in April 2017. The couple reportedly purchased a ticket for their 18-year-old son, but as he had returned home on an earlier flight, they decided to put one of the toddlers in the seat instead. This, apparently, was against the company’s policy. They were then told to either give up the seat to someone else, or risk being booted off the plane and sent to jail. Eventually, the entire family was removed from the flight. After a recording of the confrontation went viral on YouTube, Delta apologized to the Schears, and offered them refunds and additional compensation.

In May 2017, the UK’s flag carrier airline, British Airways, suffered computer crashes that completely crippled their system. As a result, dozens of flights through the Heathrow and Gatwick airports in London were canceled, leaving more than 70,000 people stranded. Although the airline eventually apologized for the disruption and assured passengers that they were dealing with the issue, that didn’t stop the airport terminal from descending into absolute chaos. The delays, which lasted for days, were chalked up to a power outage by a spokesperson for the airline. However, some groups traced the problems to massive layoffs and outsourcing of IT jobs carried out by British Airways the previous year.

Seven passengers were kicked off a Spirit Airlines flight traveling from Los Angeles to Dallas in November 2015, after being accused of being disruptive. The commotion reportedly began when an African-American couple got into an argument with a flight attendant over a double-booked seat. This resulted in the pair getting removed from the plane. Five other passengers, all African-American themselves, were also asked to leave after they had spoken up in the couple’s defense. While none of the affected individuals was charged with a crime, at least one of them claimed that the airline’s actions were motivated by racial discrimination. All passengers were eventually rebooked on another flight the following day.

In December 2016, just at the end of their time in office, the Obama Administration approved a drawn-out permit application for Norwegian Air International. This allowed the Ireland-based subsidiary to operate fully in the United States. The decision generated a polarizing reaction from the aviation industry. On one hand, many travel advocates celebrated the approval, calling it “a welcome repudiation of protectionist, anti-competitive policymaking.” On the other hand, aviation groups in the U.S. deemed the controversial move a threat to American jobs, and sued the Obama administration, in a bid to overturn it. In 2018, the decision was upheld by a federal court.

In recent years, United Airlines has been at the center of multiple controversies, but arguably one of the worst was the 2017 removal of a passenger from an overbooked flight. Dr. David Dao, a physician from Kentucky, was among four passengers who were randomly selected to give up their seats for the airline’s employees. After he refused, Dao was forcibly dragged off the plane, suffering a concussion, and injuries to his teeth and nose in the process. Clips of the incident made it onto the internet and were widely shared around the world, resulting in calls to boycott the airline. In the aftermath, United eventually took full responsibility and came to an amicable settlement with Dao.

With three other mentions on this list so far, it’s no surprise that United Airlines takes our top spot. In 2015, the company’s CEO Jeff Smisek, alongside two senior executives, resigned after being placed under a federal investigation. According to the authorities, Smisek was being probed over claims that he may have taken advantage of his position to try to sway officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The airline, at the behest of Smisek, started flying a route from Newark, New Jersey to Columbia, South Carolina, reportedly to favor the former Port Authority chairman. Although Smisek received no criminal charges, David Samson, the ex-Port Authority head, was arraigned for soliciting a bribe.