American Airlines Flight Nearly Diverted because of Gay Kissers

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/060925ta_talk_collins

American Airlines Flight 45—departing Charles de Gaulle at 10:40 A.M., arriving J.F.K. at one each afternoon—is a tourist’s delight: timed just right to avoid late checkout, leaving time for one last Kir Royale at Les Deux Magots. On August 22nd, the coach cabin was packed with vacationing New Yorkers. Ralph Jackson (21A) and David Leisner (21B) were returning from two weeks in France, while Huffa Frobes-Cross (21F) had stopped over in Paris on his way back from South Africa. Assigned to seats 20A and 20B were George Tsikhiseli, a television journalist, and his writer boyfriend, Stephan Varnier. “We’ve been together only four months,” Tsikhiseli said last week. “So it felt like a honeymoon.”

Twelve days earlier, British police had foiled a terrorist plot to blow up airliners. Heightened security had delayed the flight by about two hours, and passengers, by the time they boarded, were ready to relax. “I had a José Saramago book I was looking forward to reading,” Leisner said. “And then I was going to take some melatonin and have a little nap.”

Shortly after takeoff, Varnier nodded off, leaning his head on Tsikhiseli. A stewardess came over to their row. “The purser wants you to stop that,” she said.

“I opened my eyes and was, like, ‘Stop what?’ ” Varnier recalled the other day.

“The touching and the kissing,” the stewardess said, before walking away.

<snip>

Maybe an hour later, the purser approached Tsikhiseli and said that the captain wanted to talk to him. Tsikhiseli went up to the galley and gave the captain his business card. The captain told Tsikhiseli that if they didn’t stop arguing with the crew he would indeed divert the plane. “I want you to go back to your seat and behave the rest of the flight, and we’ll see you in New York,” he said. Tsikhiseli returned to coach.

[LeftyMom]

1. Fucking unreal

Somebody'd better lose thier job, because all the sensitivity training in the world won't straighten out somebody who thinks two guys snuggling is worth diverting the damn plane over.

[sarcasmo]

29. American Nazi's. This is no longer America. Land of the free my A$$.

[orleans]

124. boycott, boycott, boycott. AA needs to issue an apology to

the couple, to the gay community & to the public at large (because even straight people find aa's behavior/policy or whatever-the-hell-it-was offensive)

[Ken Burch]

128. I know I do.

Shame on you, American Airlines. What the &#%$ were you thinking?

[wicket]

33. Amen to that!

:kick:

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. American Airlines screams about the ABC bullshit

and is willing to be show itself to be homophobic.

Sheesh!

on edit:

Homosexuality is a form of terrorism :sarcasm:

[Kikosexy2]

72. I wonder..

if it's the same stewardess that admonished my friend (well...she was a bit tipsy and high) on our flight to New York...She was blonde, middle aged and had a 60s doo and Texas drawl...We called her 'Flo'--the character from the sitcom "Alice"--a bawdy, loud waitress with a 60s doo and Texas drawl..

[rrasile]

101. 60s chick

Yea that's her. You must have run into her after the two of us stunk up the bathroom. Sorry guys, she was happy when I left her.

[Kikosexy2]

111. This happened a couple...

of years ago...It was group of us flying out to NYC...but before we were to take off...the whole incident started...my friend and her pal started getting a bit too loud..That "Flo" ended up telling her "you're intoxicated...you could be escorted off this flight"...the rest of us were all "uh-oh"...I don't know them...But she ended up behaving the rest of the flight...

[Kurovski]

3. Geez. Just when the hell are people going to grow up?

I mean, it's not like they were givin' each other hummers in public.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. Jeeee-Zus.

Unlike Preznit Bush, I think the "decisive ideological struggle of the twenty-first century" is going to be between people who realize it's the twenty-first century and people who don't.

[Kurovski]

6. Well said.(nt)

[pnorman]

27. I"T'S NOT A PRE 9-11 MINDSET. IT'S A POST 1776 MINDSET"

I really LOVED that slogan, and will be using it as appropriate. But I couldn't seem to find it at that Cafepress website. Can you help?

pnorman

[Warren DeMontague]

69. Cool. Check your PM inbox. nt

[semillama]

82. Post of the day n/t

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

5. This makes me want to fly AA and make out on the flight.

Jesus fucking christ. What bullshit!

[Kurovski]

7. Activism as aphrodisiac!

I love it.:D

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

13. I don't really need much motivation to want to make out.

[samsingh]

76. that's good to know

just let me know which flight you'll be taking

[ComerPerro]

9. Now that's a protest

[Irreverend IX]

23. I doubt the flight crew will try to stop you.

You might cause the plane to crash, though, since the pilot and co-pilot (assuming they're male) will be taking frequent peeks into the cabin.

[LostinVA]

35. Let me know when you're flying

GIGGLE

[samsingh]

77. me too

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

113. I'm trying to protest something here...

and you just want to get your rocks off. Typical...

[LostinVA]

115. It is typical... I love snogging 20-somethings

Even though that like NEVER happens.

[HughBeaumont]

45. First Dunkin Donuts, now AA . . .

. .. tomorrow, Bed Bath and Beyond, WHEN WILL STRAIGHT PEOPLE GET OVER IT???!?!?

The lesbians in law would be glad to join you in your activism.:)

[Ken Burch]

129. That's it...THAT'S IT...BRILLIANT!

Let's stage the great American Airlines FUCK-IN! Bring camcorders on to record the fun!

Saul Alinsky would be proud.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. You know, American should have been thankful they had 2 passengers

actually having a good time in Coach.

Every time I fly, It's a fucking miserable experience.

[cboy4]

18. LOL!!!!!

:spray:

GOOD ONE!!!!!!

[Kolesar]

26. OK!

I got my morning chuckle . lol

[bleedingheart]

39. ROFL!!!

[samsingh]

78. very good point

[ComerPerro]

10. "ok, we will just take it into the washroom, like everyone else does"

be right back...

[SammyWinstonJack]

41. !

:spray:

[rrasile]

103. washroom

Better think twice about that.

[Kutjara]

11. Unfortunately, for a wide range of reasons...

...that I'm sure a psychologist could explain, the airline industry has become a magnet for authoritarian types. From the kerb, through the checkin desk and security screening, to the plane itself, the traveler has to deal with mini-despots at every turn. Masters of their domain, Top Dogs of their carousels, Emperors of their drinks trollies, there seems to be no end of people whose greatest joy in life is asserting their own authority and pushing people around.

I was on a British Airways flight a couple of years ago. Two men in the row in front of me were of 'Middle Eastern' appearance (I believe they were Yemeni, judging from their dress). The plane had been delayed for hours, while the captain made a series of increasingly lame excuses. Finally, one of the Yemeni men stopped the Purser ('Purser' indeed; when did these trolley-dollys start giving themselves grand titles) and said something light-heartedly sarcastic, like "any chance the plane will be taking off this week?" The Purser immediately stiffened, bent down to the man and said "Is there a problem here sir? If there is, I can have you removed from the plane so we can discuss it. If British Airlines isn't to your liking, perhaps you'd prefer to travel by alternate means." I got the Purser's name from one of the other cabin staff and reported him to BA. The response was a mealey-mouthed letter explaining 'security policy' and the importance of good order on all BA flights. 'Good order' seems to mean 'sit down, shut up and, if we don't like the look of you, you're fucked.'

I'm therefore not surprised these passengers were treated this way. Airlines and airports attract the sorts of people who like to dress up in uniforms and push people around. Such employees are unlikely to be tolerant of alternative lifestyles or points of view. It's surprising AA is so intolerant of homosexuality, though, considering how many of their cabin staff seem to be openly gay.

[Purveyor]

12. Tip to the terrorists. Want to get the cockpit door open?

Make out with your "same sex" accomplice long enough to get the captain of the plane to open the cockpit door and come out to address the issue.

2 birds with one kiss. Cockpit door open, captain no longer at the controls.

Pure fucking stupidity, indeed!

[SammyWinstonJack]

42. No sh*t!

Unbelievable! :banghead:

[samsingh]

79. so why do these pilots hate the country?

[Fridays Child]

14. This reminds me of something Patricia Ireland, said several years ago...

...at the Millennium March for Equality. C-Span broadcast the march and Ireland was one of the speakers. Referring to some right wing nut job's suggestion that homosexuality was a form of terrorism, she said something to the effect that she wanted to walk into the U.N. Security Council and say, "Nobody move! I've got a couple of gay men here and I'm not afraid to use them!"

I fell off my chair, laughing.

[Warren DeMontague]

16. It is a form of terrorism.

Like all other forms of consenting adult sexuality, when expressed joyfully without guilt or shame it causes panic and terror in repressed idiots.

[Fridays Child]

17. Thereby demonstrating that terrorism can, sometimes, be...

...a good thing. ;)

[Johnny Noshoes]

118. Nobody move! I've got a couple of gay men here......

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[donco6]

121. That's a good one!

Evidently there are people scared enough of us to fall for it, though.

[VolcanoJen]

15. What in the living hell?

God, I hate flying. And not because of lovers kissing or being affectionate, that's for damned sure.

[cboy4]

19. Are they positive it was passengers going at it, or a couple of flight

attendants??!!

I'm just saying.

[zonkers]

20. I've sat next to a couple sucking face hardcore for a two hour flight and

it fucking sucked. They were squirmy and rolling around and it wasn't cool for others in the immediate vicinity. Just saying.

[Bluebear]

21. Yeah but these guys weren't sucking face for two hours

It all sounds pretty innocuous. Just saying.

[lindisfarne]

24. Additionally, I doubt if any male/female couple would be approached

if they were doing what the couple here were doing (one resting his head on the other and brief kisses).

This is discrimination and I hope AA gets boycotted as a result.

The article is well worth reading - there's a lot more to the story than a few paragraphs tell you.

"Half an hour later, the purser returned, this time saying that some passengers had complained about Tsikhiseli and Varnier’s behavior earlier. The men asked more questions. Who had complained? (She couldn’t say.) Could they have the stewardess’s name, or employee number? (No.) Would the purser arrange for an American Airlines representative to meet them upon landing at J.F.K.? (Not possible.) Finally, the purser said that if they didn’t drop the matter the flight would be diverted. After that, Leisner said, “everyone shut up for a while.”

Maybe an hour later, the purser approached Tsikhiseli and said that the captain wanted to talk to him. Tsikhiseli went up to the galley and gave the captain his business card. The captain told Tsikhiseli that if they didn’t stop arguing with the crew he would indeed divert the plane. “I want you to go back to your seat and behave the rest of the flight, and we’ll see you in New York,” he said. Tsikhiseli returned to coach.

Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American, said that the stewardess’s injunction to the men was reasonable, and would have been made whether the couple was gay or straight. “Our passengers need to recognize that they are in an environment with all ages, backgrounds, creeds, and races. We have an obligation to make as many of them feel as comfortable as possible,” he said. (He added, “Our understanding is that the level of affection was more than a quick peck on the cheek.”) But a customer-service representative named Terri, reached last week on the telephone, offered the opinion that kissing on airplanes is indeed permissible. “Oh, yeah! Sure. I’ve seen couples who are on honeymoons,” she said. “They just don’t want you to go into the bathroom together.”

[LostinVA]

37. So, if an interracial couple was holding hands and smooching

And some racist jerk was made "uncomfortable" by that, the purser and captain would threaten them? Oh ho -- I soooooooo think not...

[U4ikLefty]

142. EXCELLENT POINT!!! n/t

[TygrBright]

59. Pure horse puckey...

>>Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American, said that the stewardess’s injunction to the men was reasonable, and would have been made whether the couple was gay or straight.<<

booshwah!!

I know, because I am a "bad flyer" and have pronounced anxiety reactions while flying, especially during landing and takeoff. When my husband flies with me he frequently puts an arm around me and cuddles and/or kisses me to comfort me. And not infrequently we'll smooch a little during the flight, too, if one of us is feeling sleepy.

Not once, not EVER, has ANY crew member ever said anything negative. We've gotten smiles and winks. We've gotten enquiries about whether we're on a honeymoon (we've been married some years,) we've gotten a chuckle or two, and maybe once or twice an eye-roll. And that's it. Period.

And yes, we've flown on AA, when it was best option for the route we needed. They lie through their teeth with this crap. I hope they get called on it. Again and again.

Flying is a miserable enough experience without snotty flight crew trying to enforce a virtual in-seat lockdown on every frickin' passenger. I have definitely noticed a steep decline in cabin service quality in the last ten years, and I don't mean the mingy refreshments. I mean plain and simple bad attitudes on the part of cabin crew. Not all of them, certainly. There are still many professionals among them, especially on Southwest. But far too many of them seem to regard themselves more as overseers or wranglers of passengers rather than customer service-oriented safety personnel, which is what they are supposed to be.

Yes, there are many assholes in seats. But they tend to be a relatively small percentage of the flying population. And yet an increasing number of cabin personnel seem to regard ALL passengers as potential assholes who have to be impressed firmly with the crew's determination to keep them under control. This not unnaturally brings out the asshole in more and more passengers. It appears that airlines, in their attempts to "control costs," have decided to omit a large chunk of cabin crew training that focuses on basic human relations, psychology, and customer service orientation. They're getting safety training and equipment operations training and that's it, apparently.

We only fly when we have to for work or emergencies anymore. Or overseas travel. If we can't drive there, we're not going. Maybe take the train, if it's one of the good routes and we have the extra cash to spend. And when we DO fly, we definitely make our airline choice decision based on our past flying experience-- who makes it least painful? That's worth a premium of up to $100 on a round-trip fare. Southwest wins out 99% of the time if they go where we're going. I'll fricking WALK rather than fly Northworst. Looks like AA is making that list, too.

/rant

irritatedly,
Bright

[KurtNYC]

67. I don't think AA has any policy to discriminate against gays

The key part of the exchange IMHO is here:

Tsikhiseli then asked if the stewardess would have made the request if the kissers had been a man and a woman. Suddenly, Leisner said, the purser “became very rigid.”

They in effect began to threatened legal action against AA and the crew. Crews don't respond well to threats; even the smallest ones. I once asked for the last name of an attendant who had spilled water on me while passing it improperly over my head. She wanted to write me up and have me questioned upon landing but she was out of the forms they use to do so. All because I asked for her full name (she had mine). She immediately assumed I was going to write a letter (true) and said, "I can write letters too...I'm going to write you up."

If there really was some widespread discrimination or harrassment going on it would have surfaced more broadly. More likely, this was a small matter that escalated. After my own encounter which could have been much worse if she had the paperwork to make it so, I recommend not trying to address the offending parties while in flight. Just take names and notes and deal with once you are off the plane.

[phillinweird247]

48. I've always thought public displays of affection.....

like making out is not very tactful. not to mention it does suck when you have to sit next to or near the couple for a couple of hours.

allright I'm just jealous OK! I want to make out with someone now damn it!

BTW how come when I was showing affection for myself on a plane I got arrested.

[zonkers]

64. I think that still technically quallifies you for the mile high club.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mom cat]

25. I have NEVER seen them stop hets from practically making out!

[FuzzyDicePHL]

75. Me either

Practically OR actually.

[mom cat]

122. LOL!. You got that right.

[6000eliot]

28. I've seen straight people doing way more than kissing

on airplanes and on buses. How disgusting to see such hatred.

[FoxOnTheRun]

31. and where is the rest of your story?

[Warren DeMontague]

68. I could tell you a story or two about the back row of seats on a Greyhound

Ah, college.

[rrasile]

104. College

College and middle aged women. Man those were the days.

[FoxOnTheRun]

30. You know that mixing fluids is dangerous

But they are not in Guantanamo, Uzbekistan or Egypt, so everything is fine

[karlrschneider]

32. I would have told the captain "Go ahead and divert, asshole...

and explain to manangement just why you wasted a couple hundred thousand dollars for nothing."

(Anyway, where the hell would he 'divert' to?...back to Paris? Iceland?...call their goddamn bluff I say)
:grr:

[DemoTex]

36. The captain still might have to do some 'splainin' to chief pilot.

The adverse publicity notwithstanding (and the airlines hate this kind of shit), the captain's departure from the flight deck to deal with a passenger problem automatically generated a shit-load of paperwork. Perhaps the captain thought he could cover his flight deck absence with a trip to the lavatory. Too bad, bub. The publicity will ensure that the reports are filed. Since there was no safety, security, or legitimate passenger comfort issue here, the captain will probably - at the least - get a letter in his personnel file.

[karlrschneider]

40. Yeah, no kidding. If the details as recounted in the story are accurate,

it was a horrible lapse in judgment from the crew - could have been handled much more diplomatically.
Sheesh.

[sui generis]

56. oh well, I guess interracial couples shouldn't kiss either

might excite the KKK passengers.

[rrasile]

105. interracial couples

So whats the problem, I'd love to see the tapes from Air Force One and see what kind of magic Conny has.

[Tesha]

52. That, of course, is a necessary first step to stopping this.

> I would have told the captain "Go ahead and divert, asshole...

That, of course, is a necessary first step to stopping this.

This stuff only stops when BRAVE PEOPLE are willing to temporarily
suffer the consequences and then take LEGAL ACTION.

Tesha

[Warren DeMontague]

71. Only problem is, next he would have some hyper-amped air marshal's

boot on his neck for the rest of the diverted flight.

[redqueen]

80. Yep, great idea!

Call the bigot's bluff and get the whole sordid mess all the attention AA doesn't want.

[druidity33]

34. where's flyarm?

I'd like to know her take on this... by all accounts a topgun FA. The whole situation just seems really wrong. I hope they have witnesses that would testify on their behalf.

[marmar]

38. So that's the next thing to be banned from being taken on-board....

a same-sex partner. :) I would imagine the Europeans on the plane were thinking, "What the fuck is wrong with you Americans? Sacre bleu!"

[emald]

43. unfuckingbelievable

Is this the truth? really? Can we find the names of the crew? This needs some exposure on the airwaves. Homophobia is not security. It appears that for some emotionally stunted americans gay people are terrorists. What a fucked up country the "uniter" or "decider" has brought to us.

[karlrschneider]

47. I'm sure the information could be gotten by someone with just a little

inside track to AA. I used to know people who could track it down easily but they're all retired now.
The flight number is legit, that much is for sure.
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL45

[LynneSin]

44. Just when I thought Americans was doing good with pulling ads from ABC

they do shit like this. Let's hope this was an isolated incident of a few homophobic employees that need reprimanded and NOT the policy of American.

Personally, I have no problem with people kissing and being affectionate on the plane. However, if it was heavy groping stuff, regardless of sex, take it to the damn bathroom. I think all people should have a bit of public decorum on the plane when it comes to PDA, regardless of their sexual preference

[peacetalksforall]

46. We don't always hear both sides of the story in articles. There

are other things to consider such as American being a Texas corporation and may have a lot of TX fundamentalists working for them, but they also have homosexuals working for them. As a corporation, they probably stay neutral.

In a story like this we are always missing the tone and body language element. Meaning it is difficult to take sides.

The bottom line is that within the tight environment of an aircraft it is too easy to observe behaviors and a different crew might have handled the situation much better.

[skypilot]

49. missing the tone and body language element

I'm a gay man, so obviously I don't intend to defend the AA employees but I do have to wonder if what you mention did come into play at some point. The thing that jumped out at me in the report was how the purser initially seemed sympathetic to the couple and even rolled her eyes when she realized who the offending flight attendent was. The attendant was obviously someone the purser didn't care much for. Yet suddenly the purser "stiffens" when asked if a straight couple would have been confronted and it was all downhill from there. I can't help but wonder if something is missing in this part of the narrative.

[JackBeck]

50. The fact that now she realized there could be a discrimination

lawsuit?

[skypilot]

57. Why would that...

...cause her to stiffen. It was the other attendent--with the "Texas hair"--who was the problem. And the purser even acknowledged that the woman was a problem ("Oh,say no more. I know."). I just feel as though there is a significant gap in the story. I'm not defending AA or trying to play devil's advocate. It just bugs me when I sense that something is being left out. I guess it comes from listening to five years of Bush administration bullshit.

[Occulus]

89. It was a legal threat

that was what caused the purser to stiffen. It's the same effect one would have if one asked their boss, who lost a lawsuit a few years back, if he'd like you to take matters up with (insert_name), that person being the lawyer who sued him.

I'll bet the view from the witness box flashed through the purser's head- enough to make just about anyone working for them clam the hell up.

[skypilot]

90. That's was the sense that I got...

...although I think the threat--if that's what it was--should have been directed at the other flight attendant rather than the more sympathetic one.

[skypilot]

91. That's kinda the sense that I got...

...although I think that the threat--if that's what it was--should have been directed at the other flight attendant and not at the more sympathetic one. But ultimately, even that attendant and AA handled the situation very poorly to say the least.

[Nikki Stone 1]

53. Having read the article, I agree there is something missing

One of the men pointed out the stewardess—a woman with, as Jackson put it, “Texas hair, like from the nineteen-sixties.” According to Leisner, the purser rolled her eyes and said, “Oh, say no more. I know.”

The purser asked the men to describe what they’d been doing, and she acknowledged that their behavior had not been inappropriate. Tsikhiseli then asked if the stewardess would have made the request if the kissers had been a man and a woman. Suddenly, Leisner said, the purser “became very rigid.” Contradicting what she’d told them before, she stiffly said, “Kissing is inappropriate behavior on an airplane.” She then said that she was busy with the meal service and promised to come back.

The attitude change was so abrupt.

This being said, the airline was completely wrong in this and I hope this couple wins a nice fat lawsuit. :)

[sui generis]

58. when they threaten to divert for interracial kissing let's talk.

Otherwise, American Airlines needs to fucking get over it.

They have a great non-discrimination policy for their employees. Now if only they'd treat their passengers with the same respect.

I've gotten into a knock down drag out with them for routinely splitting my partner and I up to accommodate "real" families. They always lose, but you have to push back, and those boys should have insisted on the diversion so they wouldn't have to fly with a bunch of bigoted assholes.

[The Wizard]

51. Big victory for bin Laden

If we continue down the fearful road the terrorists win. Those who cede liberty for security end up in chains.
International Russian Jazz musician mugged by airport security in Paris. They broke his arm because he wanted to take his trumpet on board as carry-on luggage. Fascism is on the march. Whatever Bush says is the opposite of the truth. He double talks in Newspeak.
Read the story here.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/16/72849/4595

[B3Nut]

63. That is a heinous crime!

A musician, a bringer of light and joy, one who speaks to souls with music, is so far higher a creature than the authoritarian <can't use word in polite company> who attacked him it isn't even funny. You don't separate a musician from his instrument. That's sacred ground right there, and woe betide the hellish scumbag who desecrates it.

Damnation upon these people!

Todd in Beerbratistan

[Occulus]

92. ""

Polite company?

:rofl:

[B3Nut]

137. Well, I have to maintain some standard of decency ;-)

As difficult as the regnant regime makes it, I do not wish to offend some sensibilities, as nail-spitting mad as it otherwise makes me.

;)

Todd in Beerbratistan :beer:

[lonestarnot]

54. This is among the stupidest things I have ever heard!

[newportdadde]

55. How long would line to the restroom have been if it was two hot women?

:shrug:

[Annces]

60. What homophobe pilots

Some people think they can take their own fears and project them out on to others anytime they want. You shouldn't have a right to do that. The fault lies with the pilots, but they are such assholes, they just trample on others with their narrow mindedness.

[Deep13]

61. Is "gay kisser" a kind of snake?

I wouldn't want one of them on a mutha-fuckin plane, especially if gay kissers are venomous.

Oh, wait, just read the story. Bit of an overreaction. Navigation system is not regulated by the passengers' 'nads, after all. Still, I think the dudes should get a room.

[Tyo]

62. AA was just protecting everyone's delicate sensibilities

I mean an affectionate kiss between two guys or one guy resting his head on the shoulder of another would obviously be extremely upsetting to other passengers.

I know I'm always shocked and offended when I see straight people flaunting it like that right before my eyes. But as hard as I've tried I've never managed to get the pilot to even consider diverting the flight when that happens. What's up with that anyway?

[swimboy]

134. Tell it!

:thumbsup:

[terrya]

65. I'd say that Stephan Varnier and George Tsikhiseli are owed an apology.

That's inexcusible. It's blatant homophobia, which I'm surprised is coming from what used to be gay friendly American Airlines. AA has been, for several years, a gay friendly business in terms of non-discrimination and employee domestic partnership benefits.

The purser and the captain of that flight should be reprimanded.

Disgraceful.

[6000eliot]

102. I'll never fly American Airlines again unless they get it.

[pitohui]

126. stephan varnier is a former employee per flyertalk

i don't know what kind of "office politics" is going on here, but i hope he and his partner will indeed get a nice apology, this is just ridiculous

[Roon]

66. I know a gay couple who hold hands everywhere they go

They were in the grocery store when this lady said..really loud....NOT IN HERE, GENTLEMEN!! Then she tried to cover her kids' eyes.

[ThomCat]

93. ARGH!

As if holding hands is scandalous. As if kids are going to be traumatized by two people holding hands?
:grr:

[JackBeck]

94. If they weren't before, now they are.

Kids aren't born with hate and discrimination. It's taught to them by adults.

[Roon]

114. I know!

They didn't let it deter them, they still hold hands everywhere and their 2nd annivesery is coming up. So I guess the honeymoon isn't over yet.

[fudge stripe cookays]

132. Where were they?

Just curious.

I would have walked right over to the hateful bitch and told her that it's a free country, and if she didn't want her kid to see it, she could always leave the store.

:eyes:

[keepCAblue]

70. Will being Gay or Lesbian get one's name on the "no fly" list? eom

[Tyo]

73. Hadn't thought of that

Some air marshall who didn't like gays and had a quota to fill could nail both me and my partner just for holding hands or something. Great.

[sui generis]

110. the problem with being ON the no-fly list

is that you have nothing left to lose.

They'd better think twice before they do something that stupid - that's a whole lotta pissed off people. I've actually written some of the sat-com MQ software used by flight ops. Not that I'd fuck with plane safety, but others of us currently working in yield management and CPOS could take it to the HNL for what kinda shit could just randomly happen to dollars and crew staffing.

What I mean to say before this gets deleted is, put gays on the the no-fly list for being gay and we will ground the airlines.

[nealmhughes]

74. So, kissing is now "distracting" and asking why is "arguing" on AA flights

-- but only were 2 men kissing? Well, welcome to the first stage of the most Serene Levitical Republic of America... American Airlines' pilots and other uniformed crew should have bent over backwards to avoid anything even remotely smacking of smacking smacking. This airline is a public carrier, and so often in and out of bankruptcy court that one loses reckoning of the corporation's present status. Whatever the status is, it exists largely through the suffrage of the US Congress and the millions of dollars that subsidize this line.

AA should have the common sense to realize that they have just probably lost a large portion of their trans-Atlantic traffic to KLM, Icelandic Air, BA, and Air France.

Do the staff onboard not know the meaning of diplomacy? Do they not know how to treat a matter with delicacy? Was business class full? Why not move the complainers or the smoochers to there or to First Class if the outrage were so grave?

Getting read the riot act onboard is for when a passenger presents a potential danger to the safety of the rest of the passengers, such as a drug or alcohol addled traveler or a ranting angry potentially-physically abusive passenger.

Au revoir American, bon jour Air France! Vive Voltaire!

[Felinity]

86. On a more positive note

Always fly Air France if it is an option. They have great food. I remember arriving in Houston from Paris, quite unsettled, stomach-wise, because I ate way too much food! I couldn't help myself, it was a good or better than most of the meals we had in France. And they fed us 4 or 5 times!! So do exercise some self control, but fly the carrier from the country that invented FOOD!

[savemefromdumbya]

81. I suppose we'll have to start a completely gay airline (and trains)

I wonder what colors we'll pick?

[karlrschneider]

98. I kinda like this one

:D

[savemefromdumbya]

107. I like the pink engines!

[Jimbo S]

135. Looks like a pink torpedo. eom

[keepCAblue]

83. The sequel to "Snakes on a Plane"

The new terror at 30,000 feet is...

"Gays on a Plane"

[dkofos]

84. I would have laughed in her face, flipped her off

and put a lip lock on my partner.

Yes, I would have let them divert the flight (maybe would have waited until 2/3 of the flight was complete).

I can just hear them trying to explain that one

Yes we diverted the flight because we had gays on board kissing.

I know, they will claim that I refused an order givin by the flight crew,
but, a stupid order is a stupid order.

FASCIST ASSHOLES

[AntiFascist]

85. Sounds like the Religious Right terrorists are winning. n/t

[cgrindley]

87. This is one of those (many) times I wish I was gay

Jesus, what the hell is wrong with people? You know what I wish? I wish everyone was gay. It seems like the only elegant solution to the problem of homophobia.

[tblue37]

88. I'm thinking lawsuit. (eom)

[KamaAina]

95. If you kiss your same-sex partner, the terrorists win.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[bleedingheart]

96. Can't any of you see the risks!!!!!

Jesus people!!!

Wake up...

if Gay people kiss on a flight then everyone is so caught up in staring at them and being upset that they aren't getting any nookie that they won't notice the terrorists whipping out their box cutters...

:sarcasm:

[WolverineDG]

97. Go to flyertalk.com

www.flyertalk.com, American Airlines forum, "Queer Eye for the AA guy"

One of the posters in the American Airlines forum, sluggo (about page 4 or 5), knows one of the men involved. He called him & asked what the real story was. Turns out, they DID tell the pilot to divert the plane & then explain why he did it. PR nightmare. The problem started when they asked for the name & employee number of the flight attendant who got the purser involved & were denied that information. How they figured out it was Ms. "Texas Hair" I don't know.

dg

[pitohui]

127. they locked the thread when the homophobes came out

alas, flyertalk mods lock threads on the drop of a hat but it's probably still buried there somewhere

"flo" as they have dubbed "miss 1962" has apparently done her best to make many, many, many frequent flyers feel like shit over the years

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

131. Here's the link to the now-locked thread.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=603472&page=1&pp=15

It starts out intelligent and by the end, you have a homophobe rambling on about pedophelia. :eyes:

[The Animator]

99. I can forsee some serious trouble here.

This in in response to the linked article about the trumpet player. I've only flown 4 times in my entire life. All four flights in one summer vacation 12 years ago. I was very uncomfortable the whole way. Afraid of heights and of putting my life in the hands of a machine I was completely unfamiliar with. That one month in Europe was a very enlightening, and in hindsight, life shaping experience, but I don't think I would have even signed up for the trip if I couldn't bring my sketchpad, pencils and an eraser carry on.

My art supplies follow me pretty much everywhere. Whenever I have more than a few minutes to kill, I sit down and draw. It's part of my everyday extistence. I am completely at a loss whenever I don't have a sketchpad under my arm, a couple blending stumps in my pocket, a gum eraser in hand, and a pencil behind my ear.

Two of the four flights on that vacation were 8 hours a piece. Tampa, FL to Amsterdam, and back again. I did nothing but sketch the entire time. Whenever I draw, I get really focused, as a result, the rest of the world fades away, and time disapears. So, even though I was tens of thousands of feet off the ground, with nothing but a chair, between my ass and the Atlantic ocean, for the better part of a day, it was over before I knew it.

If I had to fly today, and I might have to soon, I don't think I could stand it if I couldn't take my art stuff as carry-on.

It's bad enough, that to an untrained eye, a gum eraser looks like plastic explosive.

And I'll be damned if somebody tries to forcible take my sketchpad, I've usually got a lot really good art in them, as in valuable. And Nobody'd breaking these arms, I don't care how big the stupid motherfuckers are.

[Bluebear]

100. You can sketch, just don't kiss your partner.

:(

[Initech]

106. The American Taliban strikes again!

Jesus, when will this bullshit stop? Will it ever?

[savemefromdumbya]

108. You are asking the right guy (Jesus)

[mnhtnbb]

109. The former Governor of NE--Mike Johanns--now Sec'y of AG was

seen with his wife on an airline flight--being all lovey-dovey. It was written up in the Lincoln Journal-Star when we lived in Lincon. How come they weren't asked to stop it?

What a bunch of horse manure. What can you expect from some big hair Texan self-righteous probably belongs to mega-church holy roller?

I'm glad to hear the couple told the Captain to go ahead and divert and then explain the reason why. Called his bluff.

It's just one more reason not to fly AA.

[bamacrat]

112. Which, in the long run is worse than terrorism,

atlest in the eyes of many Ummrkans.

[pitohui]

116. OMG

i am flabbergasted on so many levels i don't know where to begin

northwest seems very gay friendly and they do fly out of charles de gaulle, so maybe try them next time (i don't know if they land in nyc tho)

although they do enforce "don't go to the bathroom together" :-)

reading the article this may be an example of one old tired buzzkill over-asserting her authority

american airlines should apologize and give the flyers some extra frequent flyer miles for putting up w. the nonsense

[BrightBlueDot]

117. When are straight people going to grow the hell up?

This is infuriating!

I pray every day that God will remove any lingering homophobia from my soul. I wish everyone else would do the same.

Divert the freaking plane. Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeez!!! How stupid! How childish!

[Johnny Noshoes]

119. I'll take uptight prigs for a $1000 Alex.

Man sometimes I would just like to be able to beam out of here - take a bunch of great people with me in a nice fast starship and just friggin go. The fundies have their "Rapture" I have mine - I like mine a whole better.


"We've turned into this nation of overfed clowns, riding around in clown cars, eating clown food, watching clown shows. We've become a nation of cringing, craven fuckups."
- James Howard Kunstler, author of "The Long Emergency"

[donco6]

120. Face it folks, we're all trapped.

The airlines and TSA are the worst Nazis on the planet, and they have absolute power to ruin your vacation, business trip - your LIFE! If you don't behave like a meek little sheep from the minute you step into an airport, you just might not get there and back again at all. And there's NOTHING you can do about it. You can write all the letters you want, but they don't have to change a thing.

[purduejake]

123. Since when does a flight attendant...

Refer to somebody as a "stewardess?" Something's weird about this story.

[pitohui]

125. it was an older conservative crew and one of the men a former employee

there may be some "history" there, one of the "kissing" passengers was a former AA employee actually, the flight attendant causing the problems was a 1960s model who apparently had her hairstyle and her mind stuck in that era

could it be she was a little shirty that the young man had found a better job and happiness elsewhere, while she's still stuck playing cocktail waitress in the sky at her age?

[Bluebear]

130. 'cocktail waitress in the sky '

Hey, some respect for hard working flight attendants!

[fudge stripe cookays]

133. Blame The Replacements. They said it first.

She don't wear no pants and she don't wear no tie
Always on the ball, she's always on strike
Struttin' up the aisle, big deal, you get to fly
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky

Paid my fare, don't wanna complain
You get to me, you're always outta champagne
Treat me like a bum, don't wear no tie
'cause you ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky

And the sign says, "Thank you very much for not smoking"
My own sign says, "I'm sorry, I'm smokin'"
Don't treat me special, don't kiss my ass
Treat me like the way they treat 'em up in first class

Sanitation expert and a maintenance engineer
Garbage man, a janitor and you my dear
A real union flight attendant, my oh my
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

140. Flight attendants are not "cocktail waitresses in the sky."

They are required crew per FAA regulations, and their real function is mainly safety: they are trained to deal with sick, disruptive or even dangerous passengers and they must know, among other things, how to evacuate passengers from a crashed, burning airplane or an airplane that has ditched in the ocean. They are also woefully underpaid these days, and they work hard. Give 'em a break. I don't know what the story was with this particular FA, but don't be dissing them as a group.

[noonwitch]

136. Were straight couples told not to kiss, also?

It's discrimination, pure and simple.

[jhrobbins]

138. I was gonna write that nothing makes me sicker than f..gs kissing

until I remembered I was one - nevermind.

:silly:

[FighttheFuture]

139. Surprised Bu$hitCo didn't shoot it out of the sky!

[TankLV]

141. They're lucky I wasn't on that flight!

I'd probably be in a secret prison by now!

But I'm glad to know this happened, because the next time I see ANY affection in breeders, I'm gonna make one badass scene and insist they are treated exactly as gay persons are!