[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

Phx,
I omitted them because they didn't change the meaning or context of the quoted words.. All of your sceanrio is an assumption because ilissajh didn't provide any detail whatsoever.

But I think it's important to note that ultimately the decision to remove a passenger from a plane, and return to the gate if it is necessary to do so, is the captain's. By quoting me out of contact it was as if I said the flight attendant had that authority.

I am a Guardian reader, so the tabloids are far from beloved by me. In fact, tabloid journalists are less trusted in the UK than lawyers or politicians, which is saying something! Anyway, I think the invention of the scenario to fit your preconceived notion of what happened is a tabloid trick, don't you think?

When I said "yours" I didn't mean yours personally. It just seems to me that the "Tabs" in the UK are quite popular.

As for my pre-conceived notion about what happened, it is perfectly OK to use one's cellphone or PDA whilst the boarding door is open. Once the door is shut and the flight is ready to depart all electronic devices must be shut off. I am going under the assumption here that the OP wasn't told to turn off her Blackberry prior to the closure of the boarding door as it wouldn't be an issue at that point.

Lets see if we can encourage ilissajh to give us a bit more detail before we jump to conclusions...afterall, airline employee's drunk on power are not completely unknown are they? For example, chucking infants off the plane for chattering...and that was your beloved Continental.

We'll see if we get any more details but, as is the case with many posts here, this may be a "1 Post Wonder!"

As for my "beloved Continental" I must say this in their defense. The incident you speak of was on a Continental Express flight operated by ExpressJet. Even though it operates with a Continental flight number and the aircraft is painted in a Continental-like livery, the flight attendant in question was an employee of ExpressJet and was trained by ExpressJet. Of course as a contractor for Continental certain standards are expected and the level of customer service should be consistent with that of the mainline carrier but that is not always the case.

I fly Delta quite a bit as well and besides knowing I'm on a smaller aircraft there is a marked difference in the level of customer service from the employees of their regional carriers Atlantic Southeast Airlines and Comair.