Problem Solver: Passenger kicked off plane after carry-on argument
Evanston woman forced off her JetBlue flight after having words with flight attendant over carry-on bag
Barbara Brotine bought her small Samsonite suitcase in December for flights like the one she took on JetBlue last Sunday.
The bag is big enough to hold a laptop and a change of clothes and small enough to fit under an airplane seat, allowing her to skip checking luggage.
The flight to New York, for treatment following a recent joint replacement, was a breeze, and the suitcase fit perfectly.
Hoping to avoid the jostling that often occurs during boarding, Brotine and her husband, Brent, waited until the flight was mostly full before walking down the gangway.
By then, the plane's overhead bins were full, and JetBlue employees
But as Brotine walked to her seat in row 17, a flight attendant several rows away asked if Brotine could fit her suitcase under her seat.
"I said, 'Yes I can,'" Brotine said. "She said, 'Are you sure?' I said, 'Yes, I put it under the seat on your plane yesterday.'"
As Brotine passed the flight attendant, the woman looked at the suitcase and said, "Oh, it's smaller than I thought it was," Brotine said.
"I said, 'It would be nice if you apologized to me,'" Brotine recalled. "She made a comment under her breath. I made the comment, 'And your attitude could be improved.'"
That, apparently, was the wrong thing to say.
A short time later, the flight attendant came to her seat, Brotine said.
"She says, 'Miss?' and I look up. And she said, 'Miss, I just wanted you to know that my name is Tina so you can tell my supervisors about me,'" Brotine said.
By then Brotine, an internist from Evanston, was miffed.
"I said, 'My (title) is doctor so you can address me as that, and I want an apology."
The apology never came, but a few minutes later a man who identified himself as flight security arrived and asked her to follow him off the plane.
Brotine and her husband walked with him into the gate area, where she was told she was being removed because the pilot had deemed her a security risk.
For starters, she said, her suitcase fit under the seat. In addition, the pilot had never spoken to her or looked into what had transpired. Finally, she had done nothing wrong, she said.
She certainly wasn't a physical threat.
"I'm 5-foot-tall, kind of chubby, 60 years old," she said. "A wonderful description of a terrorist."
Brotine was told JetBlue would rebook her and her husband on the airline's next flight to Chicago — at 6 a.m. the following day, she said.
Brotine said it was imperative she fly that night because she had appointments with patients in the morning.
"I asked, 'I'm a security risk now, but I'm not going to be a security risk tomorrow at 6 a.m.?'" Brotine said.
The security agent stuck to his guns, and the couple's seats were given to two passengers on standby.
Brent Brotine said he immediately got on his smartphone and booked two seats on a Delta Air Lines flight leaving for Chicago that night, at a cost of $517.80.
On the Delta flight, Barbara Brotine was able to carry her bag on without issue, she said.
Her husband emailed What's Your Problem? with the couple's story because he thought they had been unfairly treated — and because JetBlue had not refunded the cost of their flight to Chicago, $192.60.
"I feel dirtied," Barbara Brotine said. "I felt embarrassed being literally walked down the aisle with a security marshal in front of me."
She said she believes she was kicked off the plane simply for telling the flight attendant she was providing bad customer service.
"Maybe the flight attendant was having a bad day or whatever," she said. "But I feel I was targeted and I was picked on."
The Problem Solver called and emailed JetBlue asking for its side of the story.
Within hours, spokeswoman Allison Steinberg emailed to say the airline does not share private customer details, but it would be happy to work directly with the Brotines about their concerns.
"Our experienced crews are responsible for the safety and security of a cabin full of customers. When faced with an individual who is confrontational, unwilling, or unable to cooperate with crewmember instructions, the crew may elect to remove the individual while still on the ground," Steinberg wrote.
"An escalated event during flight in an enclosed cabin risks distracting in-flight crew members from their duties and the personal safety of those around them. Handling the situation on the ground is more prudent than having the flight divert while in the air."
Steinberg said that when a crew member decides to make a customer deplane, the customer is offered seats on the next available flight or a refund.
After reading Steinberg's response, Brent Brotine took exception.
BY Jon Yates'
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