I'm guessing that most of you have heard of this incident by now. I wasn't going to actually blog about it, but I ran across some other blogs that were harping on this woman for the incident.
I will say, yes, this whole thing does sound a little preposterous, but then again, this is the airline industry. Preposterous is actually par for the course sometimes. The basic idea is this woman, Ginger McGuire, was exhausted from traveling, and she zonked out hard on her flight from Detroit to Philly. She claims that when she woke up, it was 3am, and she was alone on a dark airplane. After that, she claimed she didn't call for help since she was panicking. She was found during a routine security sweep by Police and TSA agents.
The first thing I can tell you, is that the flight attendant from this flight will be fired. And, I'll tell you why. The FAA regs state the following:
During the passenger boarding and deplaning phase on each flight, all of the flight attendants required by § 121.391(a) must be on board the airplane. (taken from this page)
This is the reason why a flight attendant can NOT step off the airplane even to assist a passenger on the jetway. They can't even put a carry on bag that doesn't fit in an overhead out on the jetway. If there are passengers on, they can't step one foot off that airplane. If they do, they will be fired. That's a regulation from the feds. Part 121.291(a).
It's an important rule, and I don't have a problem with it. However, I take great issue when some dipshit know-it-all frequent flier tells a flight attendant, "I fly all the time, and I know there is no such regulation." Yes, I have heard that very statement with my own ears. I wanted to slap the dick right out of that guys mouth.
It doesn't matter why this incident happened in terms of actions against the FA. The aircraft was an RJ with 50 seats or less, so it only required one FA. The law states that he/she MUST be on board if there is a single passenger on board. No ifs ands or buts. That's how the feds roll.
Now, to me it sounds like this crew was in a hurry to get off the plane and get to their hotel to get some rest. I'm guessing they had a short overnight scheduled, and the more time you spend dicking around at the airplane, the less time you have to spend relaxing/sleeping at the hotel. Or, if this crew was based at PHL, then they were done with their trip and anxious to get home. Nothing out of the ordinary, that's for sure.
At the end of the night, the passengers got off, and the FA likely just figured everyone was off. He/she might have looked back in the cabin, didn't see anyone, and then gathered their stuff, the pilots powered down the aircraft, everything went dark, and they all took off. Happens 1000s of times a day. This woman was likely slumped down out of view while she was sacked out. So, there are some points that need to be made here.
1.) The FA should have walked through the cabin to verify all passengers were off the plane.
2.) The law states the FA is required to be on board if a single passenger is on board. This FA left the plane with a passenger on board.
3.) Most people wake up on landing, especially MY landings!
4.) You'd have thought that SOME other passenger would have tried to wake her up, or make a comment to the FA on their way out... something. But, maybe this woman was seated further back than anyone else and the flight wasn't full. *shrug*
Playing the devil's advocate, if this woman was "faking" being asleep and stayed on the aircraft on purpose trying to have an excuse to sue an airline, the airline is still liable because she should have not had the opportunity to get away with such a stunt. The crew should have ensured that they left the aircraft secured, with no passengers on board. She was on the plane, and no crew member walked through the cabin to verify it was empty. Unless, you can prove that this women "hid" somewhere, like in an overhead (I'd pay to see someone fit in an ERJ145 overhead...) the crew will be held liable. FAs are cheap and are rarely in short supply. The FA is the most directly responsible, so they will be fired right away.
As far as the other two crew, the Capt will always receive all the credit for anything gone right, yet both the Capt and the FO will take the blame when things are wrong. Sometimes, it's a little heavier on the FO just as a scapegoat tactic. However, in some companies, the FO is mearly a decoration. So in that case, no matter if things end up great or awful, the FO won't be part of it at all. That could also be the case here. I don't know.
If I had been caught in the same situation as a passenger, I don't think I'd be suing the airline. Maybe she was faking it, but you'd have a hell of a time proving that. Bottom line, the crew left her on the plane. Whether she was actually asleep or not, it's simply not acceptable. No matter what the reason. So, she is suing the airline and like it or not, she does have the right to. I'm guessing the airline will settle out of court for it. They really don't have a leg to stand on that I see.
Ginger McGuire is suing on four counts. Negligence, false imprisonment, emotional distress and breech of contract. Likely, these were decided on and filed on her behalf by a lawyer. Negligence? Yes, the crew (hence the company) was negligent in leaving her on the plane when they left. False Imprisonment? Yeah. I'm guessing the cabin door was closed. It can be opened from the inside, but this woman is not trained in how to do that or anything. True, maybe she could have used an emergency exit, but she was left alone in a closed up and dark aircraft. Emotional Distress? Given the situation, that's a tough one to fight for the company. Just about any jury would see this as a very stressful situation. Breech of Contract? I don't know if it says on the back of your ticket in the fine print, "We promise to not leave you on board our aircraft after parking at the gate if you don't wake up." But, I'm pretty sure that's implied somewhere.
So, my predictions, if this does go to trial:
1.) Negligence, guilty as charged.
2.) False Imprisonment, could go either way, but I'm gonna guess guilty as charged.
3.) Emotional Distress, guilty as charged.
4.) Breech of Contract, guilty as charged.
Then again, we can surely take the angle of, if they actually paid flight attendants a respectable wage, they might actually get people that give a flying turd about doing their job to the best of their ability. As an employer, you really can't expect top notch performance out of employees that you barely compensate and treat like garbage. Alas, that's certainly for another blog...
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