CHARLOTTE, NC – You can file this story under “not cool.” Yeah, during a recent US Airways flight, a flight attendant stepped in it big time, when she refused to let an Army Ranger hang up his Dress Blues coat during a flight from Portland to Charlotte.
Cliff Autrey, one of the first class passengers, describes what happened by saying this about the flight attendant: “and she got relatively belligerent with him, said it was against company policy. She could not do that. I offered to change seats with him.”
Several other first class passengers apparently did the same, but the Ranger, First Sergant Albert Marle, declined.
US Airways has been making a hit on social media ever since.
#USAirways : I bet that flight witch didn’t even give him the whole can of soda! Seats are smaller & these isle nazis – flying no fun. :(
— Davesays (@fitzallgood) October 13, 2014
When we reached out to them they gave us this statement: “We’re certainly looking into how the situation was handled, and we will be responding internally appropriately. American and US Airways has a long history of supporting our military. We offer pre-checked bags, and we work with several military support organizations.”
Eventually, another first class passenger stepped up to resolve this issue. “I thanked him for his service, and I said, “Can I hang your jacket up?” And he handed me his jacket. I walked back up, and I hung his jacket simply behind my seat. There’s a difference between a policy and doing what’s right,” said Jon Dalhlberg.
At least this story has a happy ending. But you can’t help but wonder how many other soldiers have been treated like this.
