[ecarrazana]

I am flabbergasted with the crew’s behavior and would have never expected this from employees of American Airlines. I was the target of major abusive behavior by this crew and it is my duty to take it as far as I can, given that I am a platinum member and personally and professionally leave a lot of money on AA’s table.

I flew with my 9 pound dog on the above mentioned flight, just as I regularly do since February of this year. I understood her bag was FAA approved, only to find out on this flight that it wasn’t. It had never been called to my attention or mentioned at any time. Also, I always bring my health certificate with me. This specific flight I had accidentally put it inside my suitcase. I had not paid a ticket, since I was told only checked pets had to pay, so I came into the plane as I usually do, with my dog inside her purse and her head sticking out. By all means I am not excusing myself for this, it is what it is, but a series of AA staff members interacted with me since before I got in the plane, and nobody told me anything. If I would have been consciously violating any rules I would have acted differently and for example never let the dog stick her head out of her bag at any time.

The lady that received me at the entrance of the plane gate had an attitude since the beginning. She looked at me in a way that literally made me uncomfortable. I greeted her normally and even told her my pet’s name was Gigi, to which she had no reaction. She was a red headed middle aged woman who worked with the purser on first class.

I was assigned an exit row, given my elite status, and when she saw me taking the seat she yelled at me from across the hall saying I couldn’t sit there with the dog. I said there was no problem, I went and showed her my platinum status ticket and asked her for a good sit, regardless of exit or not. She went outside and got the supervisor, who came up to me and asked me if my dog was for emotional distress in front of the rest of the passengers. Even when I thought it was rude, I laughed jokingly saying that I was in emotional distress over all the commotion that was taking place over this. He then asked me for my health certificate and I looked in the bag, only to notice I had put it inside my suitcase. I literally told him I would pay anything I had to pay, since he was informing me of the $125.00 charge. Also told him that I was willing to get off the plane if it was such an issue, and he amicably said that it wasn’t necessary, just to keep the dog inside its crate. And I did.

You can ask any passenger in this flight (and I exhort you to), if this dog emitted a sound , left its crate or was a threat to any passenger. Still, the crew kept passing by as to check if the dog was in or outside its bag. It felt as pure harassment. Even other passengers noticed and commented about it. When we were about 20 minutes from landing, the purser, Leonel, came up to me with a very rude tone and aggressive manner and asked me for my name. I asked him why. And then he said that I was never going to be allowed to fly with my pet in the cabin again. I told him that was impossible because in AA.com if a dog is less than 20 pounds he/she can fly in the cabin. He kept saying that his manual expressed the contrary. I also told him I didn’t understand where he was coming from because the supervisor in Miami had allowed me to stay inside the plane and that if there was any concern regarding his decision, he should’ve discussed it with the supervisor. But that I thought that it was rude on his behalf, that I deserved some respect and that I didn’t appreciate the humiliation in front of the rest of the passengers. And he ignored me completely. Two of the passengers were stunned to see this kind of behavior and encouraged me to file a complaint with the supervisor at the PR gate.

When I was exiting the plane I informed the captain I was going to file a complaint against the crew. The red headed woman started yelling at me like a mad woman to the point the captain took me aside and asked me what had happened. I noticed his lack of reaction when I told him, thus I proceeded to ask him if he saw the severity in this issue, to which he replied that his only job was to take us safely from A to B, but that I had all the right to file any complaint I wanted.

I went outside and asked the agent, Nuria Duchatellier, to get the supervisor, Joe Del Valle, in order to file the complaint. I want to make a parenthesis and acknowledge the amazing treatment these two amicable AA staff members gave me, for which it is important they’d be recognized as true American Airlines employees. You definitely should make sure ALL your staff behaves as they did.

While explaining my situation to them one of the crew members, a grey haired middle aged man who I never saw on the plane, stormed pass me and told Ms. Duchatellier in an aggressive tone to make sure she put in record I had been smuggling a dog inside a plane for the past six months. I was shocked to hear such defamation from somebody who I had never even seen. I told him that he was accusing me of something illegal without any proof and that I deserved some respect from him, in which he turned around and made a terribly rude hand gesture and shouted some words I didn’t understand. Ms. Duchatellier and Mr. Del Valle were true witnesses to this mistreatment and I am sure they can attest to that.

Immediately after, out came the red haired woman telling the agent she wanted to file a complaint against me with FAA, to which I confronted her asking her that if she thought I wasn’t supposed to stay in that flight why didn’t she do her job properly and speak up to the supervisor or the captain, and above all, her manner was completely unacceptable regardless of any unconscious irregularity on my behalf. She started yelling at me in an offensive tone to which both agent and supervisor were also witnesses, and even ordered me to get out of where I was standing talking to Ms Duchatellier. She became frantic and abusive, to the point I was concerned for my safety with her erratic behavior. Even Mr. Del Valle had to take her aside to talk to her and calm her down. I don’t understand how American Airlines allows a person with such emotional distress and distortion to handle customers.

It is beyond belief the uncomfortable and unfair situation I have experienced thanks to this crew. I definitely will start looking for alternative airlines to fly with and make sure the global company I work for, that invests a lot of money in AA, hears of this situation and acts upon it.

I am personally humiliated, offended and completely torn by this crew’s unethical and abusive behavior.
I can only hope you do the right thing and give this situation the attention it deserves while contributing in making your company one of high standards and excellence when it comes to client service, and above all, that abusive behavior to your passengers will have a zero tolerance policy.