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There was a bit of controversy for United this past week over a soda can and a beer can.
Apparently, a woman on a flight was denied a can of unopened soda because she could use it as a weapon, but the man next to her was give an unopened can of beer.
Ahmad had been traveling to speak at a conference that was promoting dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian youth in Washington DC.
While on her flight to DC on Friday, she requested an unopened can of diet soda, but was told by a flight attendant that it was against policy to give passengers unopened cans because these could be used as weapons.
The flight attendant then gave the man next to her an unopened can of beer prompting Ahmad’s calls of discrimination.
When Ahmad pointed out the passenger next to her had an unopened can, the flight attendant opened the can of beer.
The flight was operated by Shuttle America who said there was no rule against unopened cans of soda on the flight: “no differentiation in opened or unopened cans, and no policy speculating what may or may not be done with a container.â€
United said the entire incident was a misunderstanding and released a statement here.
But what has shocked me has been people’s reactions after the fact.  There’s a lot of discussion over whether or not cans should be considered weapons. People have cited what they have and haven’t been given by flight attendants.
I’ve been given whole bottles of wine to read the label of while on a flight. Â But forget that. Â I’ve been allowed to bring my duty free bottles on board, and my old ridiculously huge work computer. Â Surely these, more so than any already-on-flight container, are closer to weapons.
Overall, I think this is a complete misunderstanding. Â The fellow passengers on board cited in the article are clearly out of line.
But in the hospitality business, I’ve definitely had to intervene when a member of the waitstaff gave a totally off-the-wall reason for a policy. Â I’ve also found in general, companies are good at explaining rules but aren’t very good at explaining reasons for the rules.
So individuals will start assuming the reasons and then applying it here. Â My guess is the flight attendant was told not to give out whole cans of soda. Â She/He, obviously, is allowed to give out whole cans of beer. Â She/He probably thought through the reasons why she/he wouldn’t be able to give out the cans of soda without tying it back to the beer.
And that’s how these types of situations happen.
Unfortunately for some reason I have found that some flight attendants are in such a hurry they quickly make up a reason or a rule, and since they have the rule of law in the plane to have you removed, it’s best not to argue.
On a series US Air operated flights from PHX to MEX in 2014 I hear a variety of rules about electronics, sometimes it was no electronics while on approach or landing (fine, I’m used to that) all the way to it is illegal to operate a laptop on an airplane in Mexico airspace. Of course the flight is mostly over Mexico, so this ruins my in flight work ethic. My iPad must not have been subject to Mexican airspace anti-laptop laws as it was never requested to be shut down.
Fly enough and you’ll hear every rule applied, ignored, over-applied, and interpreted in more ways than you can imagine.
I want just two rules changed – no credit card pitches when over half the flight is asleep, and let’s shorten up the safety announcement for once.
I agree on your rules, especially the credit card pitches!