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Here's a letter from a dear friend of ours who flew with her disabled husband on business class from New York to Tel Aviv. Her daughter wrote to the President of Delta on June 1, 2011 about the incident and has been completely ignored. Draw your own conclusions about the attitude of Delta's senior management when it learns of outrageous incidents and does nothing to investigate them.


June 1st, 2011

To:
Mr. Edward Bastian
Delta Airlines president
1030 Delta Boulevard
Atlanta, GA 30354-1989

From:
Noa Limone
17 Bialik st.
Tel-Aviv, 63324
Israel

Subject: Serious complaint regarding the misconduct of Delta crew member

Dear Mr. Bastian,

My name is Noa Limone. I am a journalist at “Haaretz” newspaper (an Israeli national paper), and am also studying towards a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Tel-Aviv, Israel.

I wish to bring to your attention an incident that occurred during Delta flight DL268 from NYC-Kennedy to Tel-Aviv, Israel, on May 18, 2011, (a copy of the tickets inclosed) in which a member of your staff (the chief purser) behaved in a degrading, abusive and cruel way, humiliating a 65 year old woman and her disabled husband. The woman is my mother, Gila Limone, a retired nurse, a gentle, kind and respectful woman, who has undergone a great deal of suffering in the last three years. Following a failed medical procedure, my father, Shmuel Limone, a retired colonel in the IDF, had become hemiplegic and had lost the ability to speak. My mother has been his primary caregiver, and her life is now completely dedicated to his care. I am writing this latter on her behalf, since she doesn’t have the mental strength to write this, and because hearing what happened on that flight brought tears to my eyes, and I thought it appropriate to inform you that an unstable, possibly dangerous man was at your service.

My parents were returning to Israel after a long, tiring visit to the U.S. Due to my father’s health problems, traveling had become very difficult, and so in the intention of making things easier, my parents booked business tickets (at the cost of 10,000$). Up to the incident, the flight had been smooth and pleasant. The flight attendants were serving dinner to all passengers, but my mother’s meal failed to arrive. After a while the flight attendant approached my mother and told her that she will be served shortly. About 10-15 minutes later she came back and said that their having problems with the heater, and that her meal will be served the moment they fix it. In both times the flight attendant initiated the conversation, while my mother simply waited patiently for her meal. More time had passed, everyone else had already finished their meal a long time ago, and my mother was wandering if she was ever going to be served. After ringing the bell several times, to no avail, and when noticing her flight attendant standing a little bit further down the isle, she waved her hands and called out, she says quite humorously and smilingly “where is my food?”

At this point I should mention that my mother doesn’t speak English very well, and that she had her headset on, so it was possible that she was unintentionally speaking a little loud. The flight attendant did not respond to her call. My mother sat quietly and waited, when suddenly, out of nowhere, the chief purser appeared from behind her. He positioned himself right above her, standing very close, and in a threatening manner, wavering his finger in front of her face, almost touching her. He lashed out on her as if she was no less than a terrorist. My mother was sitting in an isle sit, with her seatbelt fastened and the tray laid open so she couldn’t move. She leaned towards my father, who was sitting there helplessly, unable to rescue her from this unexpected attack. The chief purser yelled at my mother using very violent language, saying: “I will not have anyone hurting my staff on my plane!” My astonished mother tried to explain that there had been a misunderstanding; all she did was ask about her food.

At this point, she tells me, she thought he might be confusing her with someone else, since she couldn’t see what was it she did that made him so angry. While she was trying to explain herself, the chief purser cut in and threatened her that if she but utters another syllable he will land the plane in Canada and have her arrested. He kept saying “you are finished! You are finished!” My poor mother thought this sounded so ridiculous that he couldn’t possibly be serious. But her little smile just made the chief purser more enraged, and he came even closer to her and in a very threatening way said that the situation was very serious, and if she said one more word he will cuff her and she will be thrown to prison, and that she should know that her situation is very very bad. He repeated this time and time again. At this point my mother realized that the person she was dealing with was not logical, and she was sincerely frightened. I should also add that my mother suffers from SVT (a heart condition) and felt that her heart rate was rising quite dangerously (having an SVT attack requires emergency hospitalization). My mother was sitting there, shrunken in her seat, her head bowed, as if he was hitting her with his violent words and aggressive body language. She was feeling humiliated and frightened.

After what felt like eternity the chief purser left. My mother obviously lost her appetite, and all she wanted at this point was to be left alone. A few moments passes and my mother thought that this nightmarish episode was finally over, but the chief purser was not done with the dangerous misbehaved 65 year old nurse, and so he came back, accompanied now by the flight attendant (the one my mother was trying to get the attention of), and demanded that my mother apologizes her. My mother, who only wanted this whole ordeal to be over, and despite having no reason to apologize, said she was sorry. But the chief purser wasn’t satisfied. He said “no, not like this. Say it to her face (the flight attendant’s)”. So my mother raised her head, which by now was covered in tears, and apologized to the flight attendant. The flight attendant’s name is Isabella, she is a blond woman, in her forties. In response to my mother’s apology, Isabella said very loudly “OK I accept your apology” but then felt the need to further educate my mother, and explained to her, as if she was a misbehaved child, that she disturbed the other passengers on the plane, and that she was very wrong to behave as she did. She kept repeating this rebuke, while my mother had to sit quietly, and take the blame for asking about her food.

I’d like to add that throughout this incident my mother never cursed, or yelled, never spoke inappropriately or in an insulting manner. She is a quiet, pleasant woman, incapable of causing any harm.

My mother never got her dinner. She spent the rest of the flight feeling shocked, humiliated and very upset, with no way to sooth herself. When finally my parents got home and my mother told us the story, she was crying, and was obviously still very upset.

If I were you, I can imagine myself thinking, taking into account the extreme response of the chief purser, that perhaps my mother’s behavior was worse than she is willing to admit. I know that I’m not objective, and I wasn’t there when it happened, but I beg you to trust me when I tell you: You have a very disturbed man amongst your crew, situated in a very sensitive and responsible position. I know my mother, and she is not capable of aggressive behavior even if she wanted to. She is an elderly woman, a truly merciful nurse, who was always kind and compassionate to her patients. But even if you don’t take a daughter’s word, tell me Mr.Bastian, can you imagine any behavior (taking into account my mother’s age and circumstance) that would justify such a violent response out of the crew who is responsible for their passengers safety and well being?

I was shocked and appalled to hear about this incident, from which my mother is still traumatized. In the beginning, I was very concerned about my parents taking this trip considering my father’s dire state, but I never dreamed that the hardest moment on their journey would be due to an abusive flight attendant.

I sincerely hope that you locate the people involved in this incident, and for the benefit of future passengers, submit meaningful disciplinary measures upon them. In my opinion, and in accordance with general moral principles, I believe that the chief purser should be fired immediately. I also think that my mother deserves an appropriate compensation for her suffering. I will appreciate it if you could reply to this latter, and let me know how this story, this nightmare, ends.



Sincerely,
Noa Limone