United Apologizes After Agent Cancels Passenger’s Ticket For Recording Her

Image courtesy of Adam Fagen

Another day, another story of United Airlines being horrible to its customers. Thankfully, this incident doesn’t involve anyone being dragged forcibly off a plane or being flown to the wrong continent. This time, United is apologizing to a passenger whose ticket was canceled after he used his phone to record his interaction with airline employees.

NBC Bay Area reports that United is investigating an incident over the weekend in which a passenger traveling from New Orleans to San Francisco claims a ticket agent canceled his ticket when he began taping a confrontation about his checked bag.

The incident, which occurred around 4 a.m. at New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport, began when the traveler says he was inquiring about why his checked bag would cost $300 when it had cost just $125 on this original flight.

The man says that when the agent became rude, he started to record their conversation.

In the video, the woman can be seen pointing at the man and heard telling him to put down the phone, as he doesn’t have her permission to record the interaction.

After a moment she can be seen turning to another agent, asking for the man’s name and instructing the employee to “cancel the reservation.”

Eventually, the agent called airport police. When asked if he had to delete the video, the officer told the man he could do whatever the wanted, as it was a public space.

Still, the ticket agent said the man wasn’t traveling until the video was deleted.

“I was shocked because I didn’t know she had the right to cancel my flight because I started recording,” the man tells NBC Bay Area.

The man says that he eventually purchased a one-way ticket with a different airline, and would like United to pay for that trip.

A rep for United tells NBC Bay Area that it is now investigating the incident.

“The video does not reflect the positive customer experience we strive to offer, and for that we apologize,” the airline said in a statement. “We are reviewing this situation, including talking with [the passenger] and our employees to better understand what happened.”

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