While the rights of airline customers are typically considered solid once they book their tickets, this is not always the case. In some unique, and often unfortunate, circumstances passengers are not respected the way they should be. At least, that was the case of a woman recently flying Ethiopian Airlines.
While the airline has had a questionable track record and interesting yet shocking headlines in recent years, this situation is not entirely expected. Here is what happened and how a viral video is showcasing the issue of social class and hierarchy.
More On The Ethiopian Airlines Passenger Seat Swap Situation
This frantic situation on an Ethiopian Airlines flight happened on Friday, July 19. The flight from Addis Ababa was headed to Nairobi and the conflict occurred around 11:30 p.m. CNN International Correspondent, Larry Madowo, who has a staggering online audience was apparently on the same flight. His professional and international expertise engages those interested in issues of inequality with global impact on social media. He recorded the situation unfolding and soon the video reached astronomical numbers in viewership and interactions.
What Happened In The Video?
Flight ET308 was overbooked, which was just the beginning of the issues on the plane. What followed the overbooking situation has caused mass confusion and conflict as viewers take sides. In the video, one woman is seen standing up for herself because her seat was given to another person. She was reportedly removed from her seat to make way for a minister.
She was visibly upset by the situation and the caption of Madowo’s video reads, “Ethiopian Airlines kicked out a passenger on my flight because a minister took her seat. They did not apologize and they eventually removed her out of the plane screaming. Disgraceful.”
The woman in the video goes on to exclaim, “Everyone is a taxpayer,” while the flight’s crew seemed to be most concerned about getting her to calm down. Madowo recalls that the next possible flight to Nairobi was the next day and the minister simply observed the woman struggling.
While some were concerned about the lack of expressed concern from the plane’s other passengers, there was much more to be considered. The situation was seemingly more complicated. According to the airline’s statement, three passengers had standby economy boarding passes and were advised to book a later flight. Instead of doing this, they attempted to board the aircraft yet were asked to disembark. According to the statement, there was a misunderstanding amongst the standby passengers that a VIP (the minister) had been given seats over themselves. This response has been heavily refuted online.
