暴力赶客、放跑汤姆丁的美联航,又双叒叕闹出丑闻了... 而这一次的主角,又是亚裔。
Photo: Twitter
美联航这家航空公司,如今很多人即使没有乘坐过他们的航班,也能记住这个名字 -- 毕竟,近几个月来,已经曝出好几次大规模的负面新闻了。
Photo: Graphic Designer @perfume_chick on Twitter
虽然已经拥有了较高的“知名度”,但是近日,美联航由于工作人员失误,一名两岁多的小乘客只能与母亲挤在同一个座位上度过了三个半小时的航程。此举在网络上被曝光后,再次引发了新一轮的“抵制美联航” (#BoycottUnitedAirlines) 网络抗议活动。
据《华盛顿邮报》(The Washington Post)当地时间7月5日报道:
Screenshot: KITV
United Airlines has apologized to a passenger who was forced to give up her 2-year-old son’s seat and hold the child on a flight — until her leg and arm went numb.
一位乘客在乘坐美联航航班时,被迫放弃了自己两岁儿子的座位,全程抱着孩子,直至手臂和腿都麻木了。美联航为此向这名乘客道歉。
Shirley Yamauchi, a middle school teacher from Hawaii, was bound for a teacher’s conference in Boston last week, she told Hawaii News Now. Her traveling companion was 27-month-old Taizo, whose ticket she said cost as much as hers — nearly $1,000.
据《夏威夷实时新闻》报道,内山雪莉(Shirley Yamauchi)是一位来自夏威夷的中学老师,上周她前往波士顿参加一次教师会议。与她一同出行的是两岁零三个月(27个月)大的儿子Taizo,据雪莉称,儿子的机票价格与她相同,均为近一千美元。
The first leg of Thursday’s trip — Hawaii to Houston — went fine.
周四的前半段旅程,从夏威夷到休斯顿,比较顺利。
So did the layover.
中途停留期间也比较顺利。
But as Yamauchi and her son sat waiting for takeoff to Boston, a man walked up with the same seat number as Taizo, the mother told ABC affiliate KITV.
但是,雪莉向ABC新闻旗下的KITV电视台表示,当她们母子坐在飞机上等待前往波士顿时,一名男子走了过来,而这名男子持有与雪莉的儿子Taizo座位号相同的登机牌。
“I told him, I bought both of these seats,” she told the station. “The flight attendant came by, shrugs and says, ‘flight’s full.’”
雪莉告诉电视台,“我告诉那名男子,我买了这两个座位的机票。空乘人员来了,耸耸肩说‘飞机满员了’。”
Photo: Shirley Yamauchi on Facebook
(▲Via The Washington Post 《华盛顿邮报》)
花费将近一千美元买机票的人没有位置坐,原因是航空公司又把这个座位以75美元的价格卖给了另一位候补乘客。这种“操作”已经很令人费解了,然而更加不靠谱的是,空乘人员得知此事后竟没有帮忙解决,于是飞机就这么起飞了。
A United spokesman told The Washington Post that Taizo’s boarding pass had been improperly scanned and that because the toddler wasn’t logged in to the system, his seat was released to a standby passenger.
一名美联航发言人向《华盛顿邮报》表示,由于Taizo的登机牌没有被正确扫描,所以孩子的信息没有被录入系统,于是,他的座位就开放给候补乘客了。
The airline said it is trying to compensate the family for its mistake.
航空公司称,正在尝试通过为这家人提供赔偿的方式弥补过失。
But at the time, Yamauchi said, she had only bad options.
但是雪莉表示,当时她只有一些很糟糕的选择。
Screenshot: KITV
“I was told if we refund you anything right now, we’re going to have to cancel the rest of your flight arrangements to Hawaii,” she told KITV.
雪莉告诉KITV,“当时他们(美联航)告诉我,可以现在给我全额退款,但是我去夏威夷的所有航班安排也会被取消。”
She told Hawaii News Now that she considered protesting, but was scared to make a scene. “I started remembering all those incidents with United on the news. The violence. Teeth being knocked out,” she said.
她还对《夏威夷实时新闻》表示,她曾经考虑过抗议,但是联想到一个场景,就感到害怕了。“我开始回想起新闻报道过的美联航“事迹”。暴力、牙齿都打掉了什么的…”
(▲Via The Washington Post 《华盛顿邮报》)
一位母亲独自带着年幼的孩子出行,遇事选择息事宁人的做法,也是人之常情。不过,报道中的这位母亲似乎考虑的更多的是她们母子的亚裔面孔。
这时就凸显出美联航的“声名远扬”了:
In April, a passenger named David Dao refused to give up his seat on a United flight. He was dragged, battered and bloody, down the plane aisle by police — an incident that scandalized the airline for weeks, until it settled the passenger’s lawsuit.
4月时,一位名叫陶大卫的乘客在乘坐美联航航班时不愿放弃自己的座位,于是他被警察殴打、拖下飞机,场面血腥可怕。这次事件使得航空公司在长达几周的时间里名誉扫地,直到那位乘客的诉讼得到妥善处理。
Photo: Twitter
Dao’s experience was among the worst in a long string of passenger horror stories on multiple airlines.
陶大卫的经历可以说是多家航空公司的乘客遭受的恐怖乘机体验中最糟糕的一次了。
In the last few months alone, a pilot’s rant before takeoff caused her passengers to flee the plane; a man in a wheelchair was forced to crawl up a staircase using his hands; and a beloved giant rabbit apparently died in midair.
在过去的几个月里,(美联航)飞行员在航班起飞前的“咆哮”吓得乘客们纷纷逃离;一名需要乘坐轮椅的男性乘客被迫用双手爬上楼梯;一只主人心爱的巨兔在飞行过程中死亡。
Simon the giant rabbit. File photo: Daily Mail
(▲Via The Washington Post 《华盛顿邮报》)
脑海中浮现出种种可怕的场景之后... 这位母亲选择了放弃抵抗,让出了孩子的座位,尽管这种做法存在极大的安全隐患。
“I didn’t want those things to happen to me,” Yamauchi told Hawaii News Now, referring to Dao’s dragging.
雪莉告诉《夏威夷实时新闻》,一想起陶大卫被拖下飞机那件事,“我不希望这些事情发生在我身上。”
So the man with a standby ticket sat down in Taizo’s seat, and the child crammed in with his mom.
所以后来的那名男子坐在了雪莉儿子Taizo的座位上,而孩子只能跟妈妈挤一个座位。
That was against the safety advice of the Federal Aviation Administration, which strongly urges a separate seat for children; but Yamauchi said she had no better options.
这样做并不符合美国联邦航空管理局强烈要求小孩应该有单独座位的安全建议,但是雪莉表示她没有其他更好的选择了。
Photo: Shirley Yamauchi on Facebook
“He’s 25 pounds; he’s half my height,” she told Hawaii News Now. She sent the station pictures of her son wedged in various positions on her lap, a container of milk balanced on the arm rest above him, somehow managing to sleep.
雪莉告诉《夏威夷实时新闻》,“他已经有25磅(约合11.34千克)重了,身高也有我的一半了。”她拿出了一些照片,照片中她儿子在她的腿上摆出各种姿势,上方的扶手上放着装牛奶的容器,孩子好像在想办法睡觉。
Meanwhile, Yamauchi said, her arm was smashed between the plane wall and her son for most of the three-and-a-half hour flight to Boston.
而且,雪莉还称,她的手臂在飞往波士顿的三个半小时航程中,一直夹在机舱墙面和她的儿子之间。
Photo: Shirley Yamauchi on Facebook
“At the every end, he was standing up between my knees,” she told KITV.
雪莉向KITV表示, “到最后,他都站在我膝盖之间了。”
(▲Via The Washington Post 《华盛顿邮报》)
从雪莉上传的照片来看,她和她儿子乘坐的这趟航班的座位并不是很宽敞,而孩子虽然才两岁多,实际上看起来也不小了。
抛开这样挤在同一个座位上给两个人带来的不适感,让孩子就这样在没有办法固定、系不了安全带的情况下飞完全程,作为一个旁观者都觉得太不安全。三个半小时的飞行时间不算很短了,途中如果遇到气流发生颠簸一类的情况,开始播放“请大家坐稳扶好、保持安全带系紧”的机舱广播时,孩子该怎么办?然而,不管是当时负责的空乘人员,还是事后出面的美联航发言人,都没有给出答案。
A United spokesman told The Post that the airline would compensate Yamauchi “as a goodwill gesture” and will work with employees to avoid a repeat of the mistake.
一名美联航发言人向《华盛顿邮报》表示,公司会“以善意的姿态”对雪莉女士进行赔偿,并且会与员工共同努力,防止再次发生这种失误。
“We deeply apologize to Ms. Yamauchi and her son for this experience,” the spokesman wrote in a statement, although he did not answer questions about why the child was allowed to fly without a seat, and whether it was safe.
美联航发言人在一份声明中表示,“我们为这段经历向雪莉女士以及她的儿子道歉。”不过,他并没有回答关于为什么可以在孩子没有座位的情况下起飞、这样做是否安全等问题。
(▲Via The Washington Post 《华盛顿邮报》)
可以说雪莉母子和美联航都算是非常幸运了,一路上除了过于拥挤以外,没有发生什么意外情况,否则,又是“后果不堪设想”类反面教材。可能也正是因为没有发生意外,这一次美联航并没有被推到舆论的风口浪尖。
这两位“亚裔面孔”乘客即使自己是受害者,也不敢当场维护自己的权益,只能选择事后在网络上曝光。是什么让他们如此害怕?比起事后的声明、道歉、赔偿等,我们更希望的是,下次不要出现“选择性”失误,不要对乘客提出的正当要求“选择性”处理。
来源:《华盛顿邮报》,中国新闻网 / 图片除标注外均来自网络
以下为网友评论:
网友“小呆戆戆”:
这位妈妈,你曾经手握一张巨额中奖彩票,可你弃奖了!你本可得到数百万美元,如今只能拿到几张优惠券!你辜负了幸运女神的好意!
网友“Shenghy”:
发生一次告一次新闻一次,不怕麻烦,告多了就有效了
网友“丝滑纵享”:
居然怕被打?!?!被打一顿有几亿美金拿啊
网友“Keanu35”:
这是美国人的内部实务,我们管不着
网友“尤昂达尔”:
这么好的赚钱机会就这样放弃了,不过就算不为钱也挺好为自己的权益啊,自己花了钱买的票为啥就不能坐,如果换作是我我绝对不会让的!
网友“潇洒xiao哥”:
没挨打就不错了 偷笑去吧 这个女的也是识时务 要不然早就挨打了
网友“java哥”:
自己犯贱!!!
网友“局雪”:
你以为这么多年来,美联航就打过一次人??你信吗??别傻了连自己也骗!!只是那次赔太多了才上新闻才让你看到的。。。
网友“cccccl”:
怕被打还要坐?这是犯贱呢?
网友“老公不姓公老王不姓王”:
美国社会种族歧视引发的仇恨还是相当厉害的。