Mom of Child With Special Needs Says Airline 'Humiliated' Family
Mom of Child With Special Needs Says Airline 'Humiliated' Family
A mother on a mission to draw attention to the "humiliating" way she says a United Airlines flight attendant treated her daughter with special needs is catching fire on social media, with users calling out the airline on Twitter.
#UnitedWithIvy is the hashtag Elit Kirschenbaum, a Short Hills, New Jersey, mom of four, including 3-year-old stroke survivor Ivy, wants the public to use to get an apology for her family from the airline. Ivy also has Spastic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy .
Kirschenbaum was traveling on a Dec. 30 flight from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic , to Newark, she told ABC News.
She and her husband had purchased a seat in economy class for Ivy, Kirschenbaum said, because she is aware of the federal safety regulations requiring everyone older than 2 to purchase their own seat. But because of Ivy's challenges, she is not able to sit up on her own.
Ivy, who has flown with her parents several times since she turned 2, her mother said, always sits on one of her parents' laps. "Ivy is 25 pounds, the size of a 1-year-old," Kirschenbaum said.
Kirschenbaum said she was seated in business class next to her 11-year-old-son with Ivy on her lap. She was passed by three flight attendants, she said, who acknowledged the family but did not make any mention of Ivy on her mother's lap.
"Then a fourth attendant approached us and I knew immediately there was a problem. She said, 'she needs to be in a seat.'" Kirschenbaum said she explained that Ivy was not able to sit up on her own.
The series of events that unfolded -- which delayed the flight's takeoff by an hour, she said -- became a "circus, Kirschenbaum said, adding that the resisting attendant was the most senior of the crew though not the lead.
She said she explained over and over again that Ivy was incapable of sitting up on her own. The other flight attendants got involved and, according to Kirschenbaum, were conferring with and "pleading" with the fourth flight attendant to let Ivy sit on her mother's lap, to no avail.
The flight attendants pleading Kirschenbaum's case then found a flight attendant's handbook, Kirschenbaum said, that allowed for an exception to be made if the passenger cannot sit by themselves. But the flight attendant would not budge.
A spokeswoman for United told ABC News, "The parents, who were ticketed in first class, wanted to hold the child in their lap rather than have the child take the seat they'd purchased for her in economy. Federal safety regulations require any child over the age of two to have his or her own seat, and flight attendants are required by law to enforce that safety rule. As we did in this case, we will always try to work with customers on seating arrangements in the event of any special needs."
Kirschenbaum said she understands the rule, but there are significant and obvious and extenuating circumstances here.
Ultimately, Kirschenbaum said, Ivy ended up lying, belted in, across their laps for takeoff and landing. She sat on her mother's lap for the rest of the trip.
"I don't want free flights and I'm not interested in contacting a lawyer as some people have suggested I should, she said. I just want the airline to apologize.
The airline told ABC News it has reached out to Kirschenbaum, who said she was left a message that she returned. So far, she said, there has been no apology.
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This is inexcusable!!!
I expect nothing less from United.
I have never flown United, and after reading this, I will make it a point not to!!
I work for the Feds and on the occasions when I have to go on Temporary Duty, sometimes they assign me a flight on United. I always cancel it and travel on my own dime. I have a huge disdain for United dating back to the 70's - and they have just gotten worse.
I always cancel it and travel on my own dime. WOW...it must be REAL bad!!
Fortunately, the Feds are changing their contract so United is the "last" choice available. Guess they've heard the whispering in the wind.
Good for them!!!
I'm wondering why a mother, who was travelingwith a child incapable of sitting up for herself, would book a seatfor that child in a separate part of the aircraft...alone. I guess she was expecting the strangerssitting around her special needs child to tend to her welfare andsafety.When a seat is purchased for a child 2 and under, they must not only be restrained inan FAA-approvedcar seat, they must be seated next to the parent or guardian with whom they are traveling. That doesn't just apply to children. Any passenger with health circumstances that prevent them from exiting the aircraft on their own during an emergency, must travel with, and sit next to, a companion.
Points to ponder:
If it is proven that the aircraft left the ground, or evenmoved an inch after the jet way retractedwhile the special needs childlaying acrossseveral laps, United Airlines is in deep shit. A passenger can't even hold a bigcarry-on in their lap for take-off andlanding.
' Found a flight-attendant's handbook'? Dog-doo. Every crew member working a flight is required to have their FAA service manual where they can put their hands on it immediately in case of an emergency. In addition, and as required by the FAA, not one single bit of information from that book would have been made known to a passenger. If a flight attendant (or pilot)'misplaces' their manual, it's a $10,000 fine. If a flight-attendant (or pilot)'forgets' their manual, it's a $10,000 fine. If a flight attendant (or pilot) have failed to include FAA updates in their manual, it's a $10,000 fine.
The FAA conducts surprise airport and aircraft safety checks all the time, especiallywith the hostile climate in which we find ourselves today. A friend of mine was fired because he allowed a non-airline employee, with (unbeknownst to him) a fake emergency, to enter the flight attendant's lounge through a door leading to the tarmac. It wasn't Joe Blow with an emergency, it was an FAA inspector. What happened with this lady is just the kind of scenario used by the FAA to get employees to let their guard down, which can result in a huge fine, a grounded aircraft, or a fired employee, or a combination of the three.
She's absolutely right. The 'extenuating circumstances' were that her child needed more care than the average three-year-old, andshe failed, as a mother and as an airline passenger, tomake that known (either while making reservations, or while checking in). The safety of her child was clearly more important to the senior FA than it was to her.
Worth a re-mention, what mother would purchase asolitary seat for her special needs child in an entirely separate section of the aircraft?And for that matter,why didn'ther husband or one of her other childrengo sit in the coachseat?
Finally, if 'some people' have suggested that she contact a lawyer, fine and dandy. It will be a huge waste of time. As a matter of fact, if it can be proven that she deliberately set outto deceiveUnitedAirlines to avoid purchasing a costlier ticket in first class, she could get a knock on her door by FAA investigators and could end up paying a huge fine herself.
All very good and interesting points...thanks!
The classiest part in all of this was the response by United.
Theyafforded Mrs. Kirchenbaum the respect and diplomacy that were clearly absentfrom her verypublic, and now proven to be largely untrue, statements.