American Airlines Passenger Threatened With Arrest: No Room For Mom’s Ashes In The Overhead Bin
One of the most frustrating moments in travel is when you go to board a flight with your carry on bag, perfectly within the allowable size, and you’re told that there’s no more room on the plane. You’re going to have to check it. So you give up your bag.
It has important things in it that you don’t want lost, and now you’re going to have to wait for it at baggage claim. You board the flight and see there’s plenty of overhead bin space. The inconvenience turned out to be pointless. That’s one of the more frequent complaints about airlines that I see day in and day out in social media.
The announcement that overhead bins were full, and everyone still remaining to board would have to gate check their carry on bags, came at the worst possible moment for one American Airlines passenger. She was carrying her mother’s ashes.
When she explained that to the gate agent, she says she was told to “take them out of the bag and hold them.” She doesn’t share whether her own reaction to this was intemperate, but says that she was “yelled at” and threated with arrest.
@AmericanAir after 3 flight delays and offering to check my carry ons except 1 containing my mothers ashes I asked politely if anyone would consider checking their carry on so I could stay with my mothers ashes I was yelled at, told to take them out of the bag and hold them.
— Coffee Table (@escapedbot7) January 10, 2024
@AmericanAir is it common practice to scream at a customer begging to carry her mothers ashes on the plane, then be yelled at by 3 employees, threatened to arrest me in front of my family. Irene at DFW gate 22, you are inhumane.
— Coffee Table (@escapedbot7) January 10, 2024
The passenger decided to film how this was unfolding. The gate agent declared that “for security purposes” passengers aren’t allowed to film at the gate. That’s not accurate. The passenger was told that if they continued to film they would not be permitted to fly. A police officer approached, got between the passenger and gate agent, and ordered the woman to put down her phone. Law enforcement instructing her not to film, too, seems improper.
@BenBergquam as the border remains wide open I was denied carrying my mothers ashes on an American Air flight out of Texas, threaten to be arrested & yelled at by @AmericanAir employees. In front of my son. Despicable people. pic.twitter.com/htLgnmZTkl
— Coffee Table (@escapedbot7) January 10, 2024
I’d bet that the passenger wasn’t calm and reasonable throughout the interaction. She was… carrying her mother’s ashes.
American’s corporate motto is “caring for passengers on life’s journey.” They didn’t seem to care about this passenger on her mother’s last journey.
Airlines hate gate checking bags at the last moment because that can lead to delays of a few extra minutes. Those delays can mean missed connections, and they can add up throughout the day too. So they put a lot of pressure on gate agents to start forcing passengers to check their bags early – avoiding a situation where people spend time looking for bin space, find there isn’t any, and then return to the front of the aircraft to check their bags.
It’s this fear of having to check bags at the last moment – and indeed, being criticized for it by management – that leads gate agents to require passengers to check bags even when there’s still plenty of bin space on the aircraft. When a United Airlines gate agent told me I had to check my bag last year I just ignored her, went on board with my bag, and found plenty of space. Many of you told me I was wrong for doing so.
If you have important items you’re traveling with, it’s important to be in the gate area when your flight begins boarding, and to get on board as soon as possible. At the very least, it’s important not to board among the last passengers on the plane. That’s because even with airlines installing bigger overhead bins, on every U.S. airline other than Southwest your compatriots are doing their best Noah’s Ark impression carrying on two of every item they own in order to avoid checked bag fees.
Southwest offers two free checked bags per passenger, so passengers check more of their belongings, and there’s usually less of a rush for bin space – and fewer passengers being told that their items have to be checked right as they’re about to board the plane.
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