US Airways discriminates against those with English accents?

The 6 Muslims expelled without valid reason is another example of US
Airways' terrible service. With this kind of service, I would not
imagine what will happen if taking over Delta Airline comes true.

English accents, eh? What part of the UK are you from? I must admit
that I've never had an ear for Cockney, but I do enjoy other English
accents.

People sitting in the exit row need to be able to understand what is
being said without having to have it repeated. They also need to be
alert if something were to happen and their row needed to be used for
emergency purposes. Regardless of who pays attention to the safety
information at the beginning of the flight, the flight attendant needs
to do her job - making sure the emergency exits are accessible in case
of an emergency.

Just an observation, but how did you manage PhD degrees when you write
using sketchy English? Your letter is understandable, but if I were an
English teacher/professor, you would have received a failing grade for
what you wrote. Considering there tends to be a similarity between how
one writes and how one speaks, I imagine your English-speaking
capabilities are not as good as you believe them to be.

....

If I'm on a plane and we need to get out that exit, I'd rather not
have to go through someone who is "too tired" to ANSWER a simple
question.
They did not answer in a timely manner, what's she supposed to do,
wait until they get their naps?

Well, I see this is a pure communication problem. Rule is rule. When
flight attenadnt implementing the rule, this kind of issue can be
avoided by reconfirming their English understanding instead of jumping
into conclusion, especially in NIGHT FLIGHT, though I don't think
flight attendant "discriminated" on purpose. It seems he and his
family are well-educated so that they did not argue with flight
attendant at all. All the letter requested is an apology from US
Airways, which I think is appropriate and this incident can rest. And
I assume for couple with advanced degrees, money is not an issue and
as a matter of fact he did not ask for any compensation.

People criticizing the English of the letter itself are really
rediculous because this is what exactly he was complaining about -
DISCRIMINATION DUE TO NON-PERFECT ENGLISH. For a non-native English
speaker, I think the English writing is excellent already. I can see
his effort on English thru his PhD training in US. I bet those
critizing can never speak/write another language(s).

US is a great country because we have so many highly educated people
from over the world. Unfortunately, uneducated rednecks still exist in
this country. What happened in this incident or the discussion board
is no comparison to a worse story I heard before: a PhD with his 6-yr
old kid were shouted "go back to your country" in front of a
supermarket by local white (not black) in a small Wisconsin town
because that town is full of refugees and locals can not tell
education except skin color, neither can they understand this PhD or
doctor contributed much more tax to US than they did.

People expressing opinions on this issue really should focus on the
issue itself rather than English or PhD or doctor. The writer is
highly educated and does make effort to use English. He is not a guy
shopping Walmart and requiring Spanish assistance. Let's respect his
education and effort at least.

Believe it or not, every issue is not automatically about
discrimination or racial profiling.

As others pointed out, there is a need for passengers seated in the
exit aisle to perform certain duties. Since I usually fly with my
son, I opt not to sit there because I know I will be too
busy/distracted worrying about him to be of any help to the other
passengers.

That does not mean the airline discriminates against me because I am a
parent.

A passenger who had a physical handicap would also not be permitted to
sit in that area if they were unable to prove that they could handle
the physical responsibilites of being seated there.

People DO need a perfect grasp of the English language on a domestic
flight when seated in the exit rows - MOST OF THE PEOPLE ON THAT
FLIGHT WILL PROBABLY BE SPEAKING ENGLISH! And it's neither safe nor
wise to have someone who doesn't appear to even be able to write
coherently in English in charge of helping passengers off a plane that
is in trouble.

A crisis several miles in the air is hardly the time to have to worry
about whether your English is good enough.

Bottom line, the exit row is not intended to give passengers "more leg
room." It is intended for emergency purposes. Your in-laws have no
business sitting there for any other purpose.

If they need "more leg room" try upgrading their flight to First
class.

your letter in and of itself proves that you do not have a firm grasp
of grammar, therefore i find it hard to believe that you have a phd.

I think that statement says it all. If they were to exhausted that
they could not even acknowledge the Attendant then they had absolutely
NO BUSINESS in the exit row. It was nothing personal against your
family, but this is serious. God Forbid that something had happened
at 37,000 ft, and your wife and her parents were "too exhausted" they
could have potentially been injured or killed or caused the injury or
death of another passenger(s). It has nothing to do with the fact
that you are ENGLISH, and everything to do with the fact that they
thought they were too good to acknowledge the flight attendant and
basically did not care about anything but the leg room.

I'm confused.

You're a Ph. D.

You are writing a letter about discrimination against your family
members due to poor English skills.

Your letter makes it painfully obvious that YOU do not speak English
well.

If your wife and in- laws cannot communicate well with others on the
plane, they should not be in the exit row. It is made fairly clear
during the safety presentation that those in the exit rows must, in
the event of an emergency, be able to perform certain functions.
Communication between passengers is KEY in that situation.

The lack of attention to the safety talk by those in an exit row is
disconcerting, to say the least. They potentially have the safety of
other passengers in their hands.

Furthermore, if they were too tired to pay attention to the safety
talk, they were not physically fit to sit in an exit row.

It sounds like the flight attendant made absolutely the right
decision. I am glad to see that she was so mindful of the safety of
her airline's passengers.

If they were that exhausted that they couldn't answer the flight
attendant -they shouldn't be at the exit row. The exit row is not
for leg room - it's a row used in case of emergency

I used to be a flight attendant. From the regulations on exit row
seating by the FAA....


(a)(1) Each certificate holder shall determine, to the extent
necessary to perform the applicable functions of paragraph (d) of this
section, the suitability of each person it permits to occupy an exit
seat, in accordance with this section. For the purpose of this section
--
(3) The person lacks the ability to read and understand instructions
required by this section and related to emergency evacuation provided
by the certificate holder in printed or graphic form or the ability to
understand oral crew commands.


In order to determine if the person sitting in the exit row "had the
ability to read and understand instructions required by this section",
we would ask a question. If the passenger didn't respond, we could
only assume that they didn't have the ability to understand
instructions in English. Your parents didn't respond. The flight
attendant acted appropriately.

I don't think so, buddy. You are making this whole thing up. Cell
phones are not allowed on flights anymore. Your wife's phone would
have been confiscated along with her lipstick and hand lotion. By the
way, it annoys me when people talk without using "the". That is not
good English. And ignoring the flight attendant is a BAD idea. That
way lies maddness.

So they discriminate against the British? How odd!


I guess you meant that they discriminate against those who speak
english with an accent.

I don't think that was the case here. You said yourself, they didn't
pay attention to the flight attendant.

"while my wife was talking to me on the phone prior to departure, the
flight attendant asked my parents-in-law if it is all right for them
to sit at the exit. Since they were exhausted after daytime activity,
they did not pay attention to what flight attendant asked"

That is the problem right there. IF you don't listen when the flight
attendant speaks to you and you are sitting in the emergency exit row,
then they have every right to move you to another row.

Also, if your inlaws were so exhausted that they couldn't even pay
attention to the flight attendant, then how on earth would they be
able to find the energy to actually do what is required of them if an
emergency arises?

I find this hard to believe since you claim your wife had a cell
phone. After the terririst attacks are cell phones even allowed on
planes. I heard that cell phones were not allowed on the plane, and
if this were prior to take off then the phone on the plane would not
be working, they don't work until you are in the air.

If your wife and parents were exhausted then they should not be
sitting near the emergancy exit. They need someone that is strong and
can react quickly. When I went to BC I had that emergancy exit and
they asked how old i was. I was 12 and that was the age you had to be
to sit on the emergancy exit seat. It is not discrimation it is their
policy.

Being merged with American West, the old good US Airways is gone.
Don't expect too much from US Airways. Use United or American
Airline, etc. instead.

FAA has special website
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/DiscrimComplaintsContacts.htm for this
sort of issue. Why don't you write them?

this has absolutely nothing to do with color, race, or language. You
cannot under any circumstances ignore a flight attendents direct
question and then expect to be trusted with the lives of every
passenger on that plane by being in those seats. I myself had to move
because my son is deaf from those seats because as the flight crew
told me "this is the most important area of the plane and we can't
take chances with 137 lives"
I was not offended, in fact I was relieved that they were so concerned
about everyone on the plane, not just trying to not offend me and my
handicapped child.

You should be grateful they were concerned, not offended.

Ok. I think everyone is being a bit harsh on the the whole english and
grammer thing. This is no where NEAR the worst letter we have seen.
And in fact, while it is obvious that it is written by someone whose
first language isnt English it is probably the best written letter of
that sort.

That being said I am guessing that the problem here lies in the fact
that your wife was busy on the phone with you instead of paying
attention to what was going on. It was because it was more important
to be on the phone than paying attention to what she was supposed to
be doing. And THERE was the problem. With the stress going on in
airports these days they dont really have the time or patience to wait
for everyone to get off their phone so they can talk to them.

While I think it was extreme that they assumed they didnt know English
and could just move them from the seats you had already choosen I am
guessing that just a little attention on your wife's part would have
kept this whole situation from happening.

Hi Pete.

Congrats on you and your wife getting degrees in top universities in
the nation and for staying here for ten plus years. That's quite an
accomplishment and something to really be proud of. Your
parents-in-law must have FREAKED OUT when all that money they spent on
education was wasted on your wife when she could have easily, i'm
guessing, stop talking to you on cell phone from plane and (a big leap
on my part) Speak to the stewardess instead of relaying the
discrimintion based on ethnics and passenger's English.
Oh did I say congratualtions on you and your wife getting degrees in
top universities in the nation and staying here for ten plus years?

A better solution is to book a Ethnic flight... alitalia for italians,
TAP fo Portugese and Brazillians, British Airways for those UK people,
etc etc.. Chances are someone on board would be bilingual AND speak
up.

"Though we have accent, but we do speak good English. Not to mention
both I and my wife got PhD and MS degrees from top universities in the
nation. In addition, taking airplane is popular nowadays."

Well, these two sentences contradict the claims therein.

The flight attendant asked them a question and they didn't respond.
She assumed because of this that they didn't speak English. I would
have made the same assumption. I don't want someone who can't
understand the directions of the flight crew sitting in exit row
seating and then failing to open the door (or opening it when told not
to) simply because they didn't have a firm grasp of the English
language.

I'm a 48yr old woman and I can't sit in exit row seating because I'm
handicapped. I've had multiple surgeries on my legs and don't have
the best strength in them. Although I'd love exit row seating for the
room, I would put others in jeopardy by sitting there.

So what if you and your wife have degrees. What does that have to do
with anything?

With the degress you DO have I would think you would be smart enough
to get someone who can write understandable English to write this for
you.

So they deliberately caused an error in communication despite all your
education and comprehension of the questions asked. It was their
choice to ignore her and PRETEND not to understand.

Let me see if I have this straight:

Your wife was talking to you on a cell phone. On an airplane. Prior
to take-off.

Your wife's parents were asked a question by the flight attendant that
they ignored.

Obviously your wife ignored the flight attendant too.

Why didn't your wife hang up with you and speak to the flight
attendant?

Part of the job of people who sit in the exit row is to be able to
assume certain tasks in the event of an emergency. That's why kids
and pregnant women can't sit there.

Perhaps your wife and in-laws should pay closer attention next time.
Sorry, but it seems to me they brought this whole misadventure on
themselves.

Good Lord, where to I begin? As a 15 year veteran of the travel
industry, I'd like to make a couple of points.

First: The flight attendant asked your in-laws a direct question. They
failed to respond. And since your wife was chatting on the phone, I
assume she didn't respond either, which affected her as well. Because
of this, the flight attendants removed your family from the exit row
and placed them in the rear of the aircraft. Two things come to mind:
1. I would be very surprised if the flight attendant didn't repeat the
question at least once. This leads me to believe that your in-laws and
wife were unresponsive.
2. There had to have been some reason for them to ask. If a person is
cleared for exit row at the counter, there is no reason for the
attendant to ask, unless there was some issue or concern she had.

Second: Why would your wife call YOU from the plane, to advise that
they'd been moved? How, exactly, were *you* supposed to fix this
particular issue, as *they* sat on the plane?

Third: With airline safety being a 'hot button' issue nowadays, your
comment about perfect English not being required (to understand
instructions) is *way* off the mark.

Fourth: Assuming that the airline safety instructions are 'common
sense' is just ludicrous. Since you threw your credentials around
(which have no bearing on this letter), you appear educated and should
realize that common sense is getting more and more rare nowadays.


Fifth and finally: Don't be so quick to pull the 'discrimination'
card. There could have been many factors for your family being moved.
It sounds to me like they ignored the attendants instructions, and
therefore were correctly removed.


In closing, let me just say that I realize it was an inconvenience for
your family to have to move. However, I truly feel that we aren't
hearing the entire story here.

Your relatives weren't moved because they dont speak perfect English.
They were moved because they didnt respond to the flight attendant's
questions. You said so yourself. Why is that so hard to understand?