United Says It’s Reviewed Its In-Flight Entertainment After Kicking Family Off Flight For Complaining

We told you yesterday about the parents who claim their complaints about the appropriateness of the movie shown on a United flight resulted in their plane being re-routed and them being questioned by authorities. Today, the airline gives a very brief statement of its side of the story.

A rep for the airline confirms to Consumerist that United flight 638 from Denver to Baltimore was indeed diverted to O’Hare airport in Chicago, saying that “the crew reported a disturbance involving a passenger.”

In yesterday’s story, the passengers say they were kicked off the plane — and then questioned by the FBI in Chicago — after they complained to flight attendants about the R-rated Tyler Perry movie “Alex Cross” being shown on screens visible to the entire plane, including the parents’ two young sons. The parents maintained they were never rude or angry with the crew, that no threats were made and “the atmosphere was collegial,” which means that either the airline is choosing to believe its staff over its customers or the passengers misread the situation.

Either way, we doubt the plane needed to be diverted in this case.

“The flight landed without incident and the passengers were removed from the aircraft,” continues the statement from United. “We re-accommodated the customers on the next flight to Baltimore and have since conducted a full review of our in-flight entertainment.”

That’s all well and good, but United may also want to consider reviewing how it responds to minor disagreements with passengers.

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