United Airlines is again on the hot seat, apologizing to one of its passengers, this time to a man whose ticket reservation was canceled by a ticketing agent. The agent canceled the reservation due to the passenger filming their interaction, which she did not like.
According to a report from Fortune, Navang Oza was the passenger who took the video of his exchange with a ticketing agent and posted it on Twitter, which was shared almost 5,000 times. The agent can be heard on the video telling a colleague that wasn't on-screen to cancel Oza's ticket for filming her without permission.
The report said that Oza began recording their conversation because the lady was being rude to him after he questioned about the oversized luggage fee, which he claims is more than twice the amount he paid when he came to New Orleans. He was checking-in for a flight that's bound to San Francisco when the argument with the United Airlines ticket agent took place.
United Airlines said the video showing the incident between Oza and the ticketing agent is not reflective of the "positive customer experience" that the airline is aiming to offer their passengers. They apologized for the incident and said they will be investigating the matter.
Consumerist reports that when airport police arrived on the scene, Oza asked if he should delete the video. The officer told him no and he is open to whatever he wanted to do with it because they are in a public space.
The United Airlines ticketing agent, though, still insisted that Oza won't be getting on the flight until he deletes the video, to which the passenger was shocked. Oza said he didn't know the agent had the power to cancel his flight because of his video.
Travel + Leisure reports that the amount of video and photo that passengers can take in airports vary greatly, as parts of airports are technically public space. The public space varies per airport, though. For example, the airlines own and operate the terminals in the JFK International Airport, making them private property.
The report adds that a lot of airline companies are saying that photos and videos should be taken for personal use only. Southwest Airlines are even encouraging passengers to ask for permission first before they record "personal events."
One thing is for sure though, airlines are always putting the passengers' safety as their top priority. Check out the video posted on Oza's Twitter of the exchange between the passenger and the ticketing agent.
I guess @united harassment isn't limited to the unfriendly skies. #unacceptable #united #lackofcustomerservice pic.twitter.com/A5P6A8XJjC
— Navang Oza (@Navang25) May 8, 2017
