Bulgaria News
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
United Airlines is facing backlash over its handling of an incident in which a 25-year-old woman said she was made to return to her seat next to a man she had reported for masturbating during a flight.
The woman was traveling from Rochester, New York, to Newark Liberty International Airport on Sept. 3 when she noticed the man seated beside her masturbating; she told NBC News. The early-morning flight departed around 6 a.m., and the woman described the man, whom she estimated was between 35 and 40, as “pretty normal looking” and “unassuming.”
“I just got the sense [he] had done it before,” she disclosed to NBC. “People don’t just do those things at 6 a.m.”
The woman, a pediatric crisis therapist, said she immediately notified United staff and was allowed to stand away from her seat for roughly an hour. But as the plane prepared to land, she was allegedly told she needed to return to her seat because no others were available — despite repeatedly telling staff she was uncomfortable sitting beside the man.
She said she was initially told she would only have to remain in her seat for about five minutes as the plane landed. Instead, because the pair were seated near the back of the aircraft, she remained beside him as passengers ahead of them deplaned. The man was then able to leave the plane without being stopped.
When she subsequently approached a United employee at the gate about the incident, she was allegedly told, “What am I supposed to do about it?”
The woman later filed complaints with United and the FAA and contacted the FBI. She also criticized the airline’s response after a United representative wrote in an email, “I can imagine how upsetting and uncomfortable it must have been to experience behavior from another passenger that caused you concern, particularly while seated in a location where you felt concerned.”
“I DID remove myself and ask for help,” the woman stressed to NBC. “Additionally, framing public masturbation as ‘behavior that caused me concern’ implies that what occurred could somehow be perceived as acceptable.”
“It is the first time I’ve been purposely trapped by people who were supposed to be helping me,” she concluded.
United ultimately gave her a $100 flight credit, she said, despite the trip costing roughly $400. The airline has said it is investigating the incident.
The internet had a lot to say, with the story quickly drawing major outrage. Read a sample of reactions below:
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The post ‘WTF?!’ United Airlines Dragged After Woman Says She Was ‘Trapped’ Next to Masturbating Passenger first appeared on Mediaite.
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