{"id":2176,"date":"2009-01-02T11:59:58","date_gmt":"2009-01-02T16:59:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/?p=2176"},"modified":"2009-01-02T17:42:04","modified_gmt":"2009-01-02T22:42:04","slug":"another-reason-to-avoid-airtran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2009\/01\/02\/another-reason-to-avoid-airtran\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Reason to Avoid AirTran"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve held a deep dislike for AirTran since it was named ValuJet and dumping people into the Everglades<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 Every contact I’ve ever had with the airline reinforces my notion that it is run by the cheapest and most incompetent labor force it can scrounge up.\u00c2\u00a0 Which leads to incredibly stupid things like this<\/a> scene that unfolded at National yesterday:<\/p>\n

A Muslim family removed from an airliner Thursday after passengers became concerned about their conversation say AirTran officials refused to rebook them, even after FBI investigators cleared them of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

Atif Irfan said federal authorities removed eight members of his extended family and a friend after passengers heard them discussing the safest place to sit and misconstrued the nature of the conversation.<\/p>\n

Irfan, a U.S. citizen and tax attorney, said he was “impressed with the professionalism” of the FBI agents who questioned him, but said he felt mistreated when the airline refused to book the family for a later flight.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Because an organization can’t be run entirely<\/em> on stupidity, I presume that the issue eventually made its way up to someone with a little sense (if still completely lacking in tact), resulting in the airline issuing a statement<\/a> that concluded with:<\/p>\n

The nine passengers involved were all offered full refunds and may fly with AirTran Airways again after having been released from questioning and cleared by the law enforcement officials.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yeah, probably not.<\/p>\n

Update:<\/strong> Per the comments, they found someone at AirTran who managed to grind out an apology<\/a> on behalf of the airline.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Of course, they try to avoid responsibility and hide behind the usual security excuse:<\/p>\n

“We regret that the issue escalated to the heightened security level it did on New Year’s Day, but we trust everyone understands that the security and the safety of our passengers is paramount and cannot be compromised[.]”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The part that is entirely AirTran’s fault had nothing<\/em> to do with security, and everything to do with AirTran’s utterly ridiculous refusal to let the family rebook for the next flight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve held a deep dislike for AirTran since it was named ValuJet and dumping people into the Everglades.\u00c2\u00a0 Every contact I’ve ever had with the airline reinforces my notion that it is run by the cheapest and most incompetent labor force it can scrounge up.\u00c2\u00a0 Which leads to incredibly stupid things like this scene that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-society","category-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t