Discussion
It should be noted that aviation industry is a quite complex area of business. Multiple cases have occurred when both customers and airline employees have exhibited improper practices. The purpose of this paper is to review a situation that has recently taken place on board of Southwest Airlines.
Reaction of Southwest Airlines
It can be argued that Southwest Airlines have addressed the situation under analysis correctly and adequately. According to the case, the woman claimed that she had an allergy to animals and asked the flight attendants to remove the pets from the board. However, the individual did not provide evidence to prove her health condition, and the employees needed to deplane her (“Passenger is escorted off Southwest flight,” 2017).
Nevertheless, the woman refused to leave the aircraft, and the police officers had to use their physical force to remove her from the plane. The video of this accident reveals a person who is extruded by two strong men, which seems rather radical (CBS North Carolina, 2017). Nonetheless, the decision made by the airline’s workforce was reasonable since they could not jeopardize the health of the woman; therefore, they were forced to deplane her instead of risking her well-being (as well as receiving charges if the woman died of allergy during the flight).
In addition, the policy of Southwest Airline clearly states that “a Customer (without a medical certificate) may be denied boarding if they report a life-threatening allergic reaction and cannot travel safely with an animal onboard” (“Passenger is escorted off Southwest flight,” 2017, para. 4). If they did not meet this guideline, the company would break their corporate policy. Moreover, the woman did not agree to leave the plane; thus, the flight attendants had to invite the police.
It was the responsibility of the woman to leave the plane as requested by the officers. Since the individual did not meet this requirement, the police representatives had to act in accordance with their regulations (Guffey & Loewy, 2015). Apart from that, the woman’s behavior not only disturbed the peace but also could result in increased expenses for other customers. If the officers had not removed her from the plane, the flight might have been delayed causing inconvenience and financial losses to other passengers.
Woman’s Title
The statement made by the woman has hurt her case. First, all passengers should be regarded equally. Therefore, the individual’s academic background did not imply that she should be treated with a greater degree of respect. Moreover, the woman’s title poses a great liability on her. She should have shown the way a respectful and tolerant person with high ethical and moral standards should handle such complex situations (Guffey & Loewy, 2015).
Nonetheless, the woman has shown her disrespect towards other passengers and violated the requirements imposed on all the customers. Therefore, her professional title did not coincide with the exhibited behavior. Apart from that, the airline has apologized for the application of physical force to the woman (“Passenger is escorted off Southwest flight,” 2017). In her turn, the woman did not tender an apology to her fellow passengers for violating their peace. Therefore, it can be assumed that her academic background has served as an aggravating factor. The woman’s claim implied that she should be treated with respect because she is a professor and that her words could be taken for granted, which were wrongful assumptions.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that the case of Southwest Airlines is rather complex. On the one hand, the use of physical force applied to passengers seems improper. On the other hand, the airline, as well as the officers, have acted in accordance with their policy requirements. Moreover, the workforce ensured that they did not put their passenger in danger and did not allow the woman to cause inconvenience to other clients.
References
CBS North Carolina. (2017). VIDEO: Woman dragged off Southwest Airlines flight. Web.
Guffey, M. E., & Loewy, D. (2015). Essentials of business communication (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage.
Passenger is escorted off Southwest flight. (2017). Web.