The New York Daily News reports that a 73-year old Manhattan woman, Phyllis Gershon, is suing Jetblue for $5.5 million after she was removed from a flight for asking for a large air sickness bag in case she got a case of air sickness.
Gershon charges she was the victim of “hysterical and unjustified actions” while trying to fly home from Burbank, California in October. Jetblue declined to comment on the issue. Gershon claims that she told two airline employees she was feeling queasy, even pulling out a three-day old half-eaten sandwich as proof, and asked for an air sickness bag. She explained she gotten food poisoning from the sandwich.
She felt as if she had been accused of being a terrorist. We do not always defend the airline, but as we see it, whether it was handled tactfully or not…a woman identified herself as potentially ill, and airlines often remove passengers for health related reasons…safety being given as a reason. She was removed for that reason. Not because she was a terrorist, but because she was waiving around a half-eaten sandwich as proof of an illness(which doesn’t seem to us to be a rational move).
If a passenger becomes ill in flight, there is nothing that can be done. But knowing beforehand, an airline may opt to remove them. Her report that she received a rude response to her complaint to Jetblue customer service sounds odd. After all, rarely are written complaints answered with rude letters. We are interested to hear more, but anyone who thinks they deserve over five million for being removed from an aircraft is a bit unrealistic. An apology, some vouchers…and costs of flying home on a different carrier would sound more reasonable.