American Airlines and the woman with the stroller?

from reddit (the video first surfaced on r/Dallas):

"I was on this flight sitting in the first row behind first class. A few rows behind where this video was shot from. Will try to best provide context to what happened from what I have seen. Proof I was on flight: imgur.com/a/GyyGC. It took place in multiple parts of the plane so it is hard to have the complete picture.

The Argentinian lady and her two children were in the mid to back of the plane, she was somehow able to get her stroller on board and back to near her seat. Since I was near the front, I cannot know what happened. If she tried to put the stroller in the overhead bin or what. The flight attendant told her she could not have the stroller on the plane and he needs to take it. She refused to let him take it and was to the near point of shouting. The flight attendant shouted up for security very soon on, escalating the situation more (he should have been working on deescalating)

The flight attendant and the woman started making their way to the front of the plane (I forgot who had the stroller at this point). She had her two kids. She shouted something about being an Argentinian woman and yada yada.

It was this point where things escalated a bit more. The flight attendant and Argentinian woman were at the front of the plane in the crew area / next to the front door of the plane. She was hanging onto the stroller and refusing to let go. The flight attendant was trying to remove it from the plane. Both were at fault here in my opinion. The flight attendant's tone was overly aggressive. The woman was refusing to let it go and made an aggressive move grabbing the flight attendant (which she should not have done) This angered him and he responded by jerking the stroller harder knocking the Argentinian woman in the head and nearly missing her kids. The flight attendant should not have been so aggressive and should have been aware of the kids.

The video you see above, and I have a similar video (wish i recorded earlier in the situation), is the aftermath. A lot of people were upset in how he treated the woman, knocked her, and her having children around. The first class passenger as you saw went off on him and the flight attendant should have ignored him instead of getting hot headed and continue to escalate it.

In the end, the woman was removed from the plane. The flight attendant remained, served me my ginger ale. I was nice to him but you could tell he was worried for his job and could only respond with basic responses.

The woman well knows to not bring a stroller on a plane, she refused to let it go, she was shouting... so she is also at fault as well in my opinion. But don't get me wrong, flight attendant should be way more professional than he was.

I'm surprised the first class passenger was not kicked off for his aggressive threatening of a flight attendant, but yes... flight attendant was kinda a dick and did a lot of things wrong."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSZJJ0SAowU

The woman was unstable crying over a stroller. Has she never flown before? It's common procedure for every stroller to be left at the door to the plane. I calm, normal person would inquire "why do you need my stroller, where is going to go, can you guarantee me it will be on the plane because I will need it when I get off" and then accept the rules. She's standing at the front of the plane, holding up the damn flight sobbing, I would have been like "get off the plane lady, maybe the next one will let you fly with your stroller, you are not sorting this out on my time."

There was a person who had a stroller in the overhead bin on my flight back from Tokyo 10 days ago.

I know this because she got it down and opened it up in the aisle before dealing with her baby and she delayed 3/4 of the people in the plane while she frittered around with her stroller in the aisle.

I have seen a stroller or two on an airplane before, I clearly remember babies being wheeled down the aisle.

I totally get not having them on the plane but I would like to have some compassion for the mother. Travelling alone with 2 small children can be very stressful, I've done it. I didn't have a stroller with me but if something went wrong I might end up crying and feeling overwhelmed.

Yes maybe it was an umbrella stroller. But regardless, if the flight attendant decides that there is not enough room in the overhead or anywhere else, they are justified to take it away and stow it underneath with the baggage. Same as if it were an oversized bag that couldn't fit into the overhead compartment. I have personally had that happen to me. It was annoying since it was my only bag but I complied without any anger or tears. 

The fact that the flight attendant was extremely aggressive over this little incident, he should be fired. They are actually there for our safety. He did the exact opposite to this woman. She looked absolutely distraught. Now if it was fake or real, who knows. In the end, the resulting actions of the flight attendant are inexcusable. 

Yep. Sucks. But geez. Have some pity on your scared kids and handle the situation with some strength and awareness of their feelings. Even if you are distraught. Fall apart later. Poor kids. I take the side of the kids. The mom and the flight attendant were both really wrong. From what I can see of course.

I don't know what's going on with the airlines these days. On our flight to Nashville last month, I carried on two small items: my purse and my coat. I put my coat in the overhead bin and shoved it to the back, and put only my purse under the seat in front of me, because I didn't want to try to cram two things under there. As the flight grew more full and people were looking for room for their giant carry-on luggage, the flight attendant looked in our overhead bin and snapped, "Whose coat is this?" I said that it was mine. He said angrily, "Hold it in your lap - nothing but suitcases in the overhead bins," and snatched my coat out of the bin and literally threw it at me.

We were flying on Southwest and checked bags fly free. All the people with their giant suitcases could have checked those bags for no extra cost. I, on the other hand, had paid extra to board in the early group, and felt if I wanted to use a tiny bit of overhead space with my coat, I should get to do that, rather than having my coat ejected for the suitcases of people in later boarding groups. I politely said so. He said, "Ma'am, you can hold your coat - it's only a 90 minute flight," and almost hissed at me while he said it.

When he came around with beverages I told him I didn't care for any and told my kids not to take them, either. Southwest prepares beverages out of your sight, and I didn't trust Mr. Crazypants not to have spit in them.

I have mixed feelings. It definitely got out of hand. I thought the woman was a bit hysterical. But after some consideration, she may have felt overwhelmed traveling with small children. There is a lot going on in Argentina right now and we don't know her personal life.

I don't appreciate how you were treated but I agree with the rule that was being enforced. They announce repeatedly not to put coats overhead until all roller bags are stored. Yes, luggage can be checked but for many southwest frequent travelers, baggage claim can add another 30 min hit to the schedule. If you don't travel much, not a big deal. When you are constantly on the road, you get efficient. Ultimately, you can hold your coat but someone can't hold their luggage. Plus even with roller bags, you can generally squeeze coats in afterwards. 

Coats are supposed to go on top of suitcases in the overhead bin. I understand people are scared to check suitcases, it's a gamble you don't know if it will be lost. But it is annoying that now everyone has a roller suitcase for the plane. You should have been able to squeeze it in after the bin was full.

TMZ story said it was a double stroller and she was asked not to take in onboard. stroller story

Because everyone is so entitled and refuses to follow rules, this flight attendant will probably loose his job.

Something similar happened to me on Southwest out of Nashville.  Billy Currington was the last guy on the plane and wanted everyone to take their computer bags and coats out of the overhead bin so he could put his guitar and suitcase inside.  I told him there was no way.  He and the flight attendant said something.  I stood up and towered about a good foot over both them (I am 6'1") and said "if you can find a seat with more leg room I'll be happy to put my bags in the foot area in front of me.  Until that happens my legs need a place to reside.  I'm sure FAA policy mandates my feet and lower legs are safe before his guitar.

They both left me alone after that.  

I've flown as a business woman, a woman on vacation, and a woman flying with small children.  I was treated differently each time and it was VERY noticeable when a male flight attendant was working my part of the cabin.  One attendant was so rude when I was traveling with my kids that the guy I was sitting next to (who also happened to be a co-worker flying back home, too) told the attendant to back off.  

I've seen a lot of things flying the past 20+ years.  More situations were caused by a stressed out flight crew than the passengers.

What's wrong with the airlines is what's wrong with corporate America. The executives only care about THE BOTtOM LINE! They don't care about the employees serving the public. The don't care how much the push push push their employees. The stress can be overwhelming.

I thought the mom was a bit hysterical. But the more I think about it I just don't know. We don't know if the mother was overwhelmed by traveling with two kids. That can be equally stressful. There is a lot going on in Venezuela right now.

Consumers can be very entitled. But I imagined the airline steward didn't go to work that day intending to be an asshole. Our society has become so handalappy these days. There are two sides to every story. I think I will sit this one out and call it a shitty day for everyone. Even the guy who stood up for her.