I hesitated before writing this post, since it was only an isolated incident, as far as I know. But it was nonetheless disturbing.
While checking email on the weekend I heard from a client in Washington who had arranged a meeting. One participant was ill and had to cancel. When I signed into our agency computer, however, I also noticed a message from US Airways about another participant.
In short, the message said she had no-showed the flight, and they had also canceled her return. When I questioned the meeting arranger, she said, “No, she’s here.”
I called US Airways and told them she had flown. The agent said the computer showed she had not.
I didn’t know the story. Had she checked in late or had she tried to standby or had there been another issue? All of these are issues that can result in an airline mistakenly tagging a passenger as a no-show.
Our agency sales desk with supervisors is closed on the weekends, but this seemed like a simple explainable mistake. So I passed along the US Airways phone number and suggested the passenger just call and tell the airline what if anything happened.
End of problem? So I thought.
But when the passenger, an articulate and intelligent woman I have booked tickets for in the past, called the airline, they denied her request to reinstate the booking. She was told she had to go to National Airport, with her boarding pass, to prove she had flown.
Fortunately, she had the boarding pass, albeit torn, in the hotel waste basket and was able to retrieve it. And she was only a short Metro ride from the airport.
Apparently, there were no unusual circumstances.
The passenger checked in, ontime, at the airport, and made no special requests. When I called today to ask the airline if there were any notations in the record, the agent said that she now showed checked in for yesterday and the booking had been reinstated. She said she didn’t see anything else and so couldn’t comment on what had happened.
The only thing the travel arranger and I could think of was traveler’s first name: Naseem.
I can’t help wondering: Would they have done this to a Nancy?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Hmm..a little fear mongering and race baiting this morning.
So how do you make the leap to this was about her name? Software has bugs, there could have been a problem with the check-in transaction being posted to the database and the problem was isolated and therefore wasn’t caught.
My point is that there are a 1001 reasons why this could have happened. What evidence is there that her name was the reason this happened?
I think this was general US Airways screw-ups. Hanlon’s Razor: Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetency.
It’s not as if USAir has crackerjack customer service ordnarily…
SirWired
She was told she had to go to National Airport, with her boarding pass, to prove she had flown.
……..SOUNDS LIKE A COMPANY POLICY. (not profiling)
Note to commenters, thanks all but as a travel agent I have had this happen before, many, many times, where a client shows as a no-show and has actually flown.. Because there are a lot of computer glitches and last minute checkins etc…. And NEVER has an airline made someone go back to the airport to prove they have flown. Usually just a simple call from me or the traveller gets it fixed. Including with US Airways. I would like to think it isn’t profiling, but she has a different name and an obviously accented but very clear and pleasant voice.
And maybe it was just one agent. Or maybe it was random. But this wasn’t business as usual.
Seriously, don’t the writers at Tripso have to have their articles approved by someone before they get posted?
My guess would be that her boarding pass was not properly scanned when she boarded her flight, thus the computer didn’t know she was on the plane.
Truly a weird, and surely frustrating, event, but to jump to a claim of racism or xenophobia is unjustified and, frankly, irresponsible on your part.
I’m on the same page as the others, apparently. Where’s the issue? As long as you’re making up nonsense, why not claim it was because she was female. Or maybe US Airways was just trying to make you look bad.
I had a similar experience, but reversed, while waiting for a flight. The computer/manifest said I was on the flight that was about to depart. But I wasn’t. I showed the person at the counter my ticket and identification. I was boarded. End of story. Or maybe not – perhaps the person had some sort of issue with overly-white males with Irish surnames, and I’m just too dense to figure that out.
I’m glad you wrote and posted this article, Janice. Whether Naseem was profiled or not, we don’t know.
And that’s the problem. We don’t know. Encountering racist acts in a company, regardless of size or field, isn’t unheard of. I can easily see where this could have been one of those acts.
This incident wasn’t business as usual, but having witnessed similar incidents at airports, in malls, and on the street, I say yours is a legitimate question and needs to be asked.
In fairness to US Airlines, I would add that no one business has more racist acts than others. Anthrophobes who have no business dealing with the public slip through the cracks and wind up in customer service jobs.
To the naysayers who think the subject ought not even be raised, or those who poke fun at the possibility of racism in the travel industry, I suggest you walk a mile in these “victims’ ” shoes.
I’m a travel agent as well and like Ms. Hough have had this situation arise many times. I also have never had a client asked to go to the airport to show his/her boarding pass. However, I believe it’s a great leap to suggest that this event was triggered by the lady’s name and /or accent. Why would her physical presence matter and what would it prove if some sort of profiling was going on? I must respectfully disagree with Ms. Hough
I go with the conspiracy theorists. When I had an Arabic-sounding last name I was kicked out of the system for “special handlin” nine times out of ten … and ironically I was an employee of that same airline! No, it would not have happened to a Nancy. You are right. I invite anyone who disagrees with me to try traveling these days with a Muslim friend in the same reservation … and see what happens to YOU!
So, what is the lesson here? Essentially, the recipe is one part paranoia, one part attitude about US Airways, and no parts logic. The first post was incredibly lame, but was topped by the follow-up. Let’s assume the claim about “many, many” instances of people flying unaccounted for. It’s probably not the same person and not the same airline. So the common denominator in this ongoing, rampant problem is, well, YOU, Ms Hough. Kinda interesting… Especially considering the number of articles on this blog that claim the only way to be sure you’re going to have a great vacation and minimum hassles is to use a travel agent.
But even more interesting is the thought process that the agent at the airlines must have used to trigger this gross injustice. They determine that Naseem is a terrorist risk because of her name, so they don’t enter the information to show that she is on the flight. When they compare the head count on the flight with the manifest, they agree to keep quiet about this threat and let the plane leave with inaccurate information about the souls on board. The logic, of course, is that even though she has been profiled and identified as a risk, it will be OK to let her on the first flight. They must have determined that she was most likely heading to Bombs Are Us at her destination, so to keep the flying public safe, they needed to only complicate her return flight.
I guess the biggest benefit to this article is now, since I have a nice white name, I know that all I need to do is call my local airline and tell them I flew from Fiji to Los Angeles, but it now appears my return flight has been cancelled. Since my name isn’t Arabic, they will, of course, simply put me on the flight without requiring any proof of my claims, and I will get a free ride to Fiji.
I could write more about how ludicrous this nonsense is, but I need to go pack my snorkel and swimsuit now…
My name is Nancy and I have had it happen to me. In my case, the AA counter agent completely canceled everything in the reservation, including my Sabre training that I was flying to attend. We had a weather delay and they put me on another flight, but in doing so, he deleted the entire record. Stuff happens and it happens to Nancys, Abduls, Pierres, Roberts, Sadirs……..