Have airline companies become so fattened within their ivory tower of monopoly rule that CEOs can no longer grasp the meaning of customer service? The latest reaction from Delta’s top brass Ed Bastian regarding the viral story about a rude American Eagle passenger slugging the reclined seat in front of him indicates that may be so.
Earlier this week, a 45-second video clip went viral on social media, showing a man passive-aggressively punching a woman’s reclined seat ahead of him while aboard an American Eagle flight, picking up millions of views and thousands of retweets.
This video has the internet legitimately divided .
Dude is in the last seat on the plane. Seat doesn’t recline.
Hers does. And she reclines.
He’s upset, and is punching her seat incessantly— so she records.
Who is right?!
Who is wrong?!See you at 7p on #FOX5LION@fox5dc pic.twitter.com/jjjTLLwvEc
— Marina Marraco (@MarinaMarraco) February 12, 2020
The clip intensely divided the internet, with some people sympathizing with the man, believing that the woman had acted rudely by reclining her seat in the first place, given that the person behind her was in the final row. Others believed the man mishandled the situation and should have raised his discomfort with the flight attendant instead of acting so aggressively. Weighing in on the situation Friday was none other than Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian, who said that passengers should now learn to ask permission before reclining in their (bought and paid for) seats.
“I think customers have the right to recline,” Bastian said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I think the proper thing to do is if you’re going to recline into somebody that you ask if it’s okay first and then you do it.” – READ MORE
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