American Airlines employee accused of hitting woman with stroller, narrowly missing baby
A dispute between passengers and an American Airlines employee is bringing another black eye to the airline industry, just weeks after a violent confrontation on a United plane went viral.
The latest incident occurred Friday on an American flight that was getting ready to take off from San Francisco to Dallas.
A video posted to Facebook captured the moments after an employee allegedly took a stroller from a woman and hit her with it, narrowly missing the baby in her arms. The video shows the distraught woman holding her baby and crying, asking flight attendants to give her the stroller back.
A fellow passenger gets up and confronts the flight attendant.
“What’s the guy’s name who did that with the stroller?” the man says. “Is he an American Airlines employee? I want to know his name personally. That’s ridiculous.”
Another passenger can be heard saying “he smacked her in the face with the stroller.”
About a minute later, the employee who apparently wrested the stroller from the woman returns to the cabin, at which point the male passenger who demanded his name confronts him directly.
“Hey, bud? Hey, bud? You do that to me and I’ll knock you flat,” the male passenger says, rising from his seat.
“You stay out of this! You stay out of this!” the employee responds, waving his finger at the passenger. “Try it. Hit me.” The two exchange words before being separated by other crew members.
The video had been viewed over 1.1 million times as of Saturday morning.
American Airlines said it’s aware of the video and is investigating the incident.
“The actions of our team member captured here do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care,” the airline said in a statement to CBS News. “In short, we are disappointed by these actions. The American team member has been removed from duty while we immediately investigate this incident.”
The dispute comes nearly two weeks after a man was violently dragged off a United Airlines flight, sparking an uproar over how he was treated and United’s response.
