Flying on American Airlines while having a rare genetic skin condition

[Puppycow]

American Airlines apologizes to mom, baby kicked off flight for skin condition

American Airlines has apologized to a South Carolina woman who was removed from a recent flight over concerns regarding the rare genetic skin disorder that affects both her and her baby son.

On Feb. 28 – which happens to be Rare Disease Day – Jordan Flake and baby Jackson boarded an American Airlines flight from El Paso, Texas, to Dallas, to visit her military husband before his deployment, Fox Carolina reports.

Soon after, Flake claims that an airline staffer approached her (on behalf of the American Airlines crew) about her "rash" and questioned if she had a letter from a doctor allowing her to fly, as detailed in a now-viral Facebook post.

It's not contagious of course, which is all they needed to know, and she told them, but the flight crew insisted that she needed a note from a doctor to fly.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I can understand the crew believing they needed a physician clearance, but the staff were ignorant when the woman knew her diagnosis and that it wasn't contagious.

 

[GlennB]

I can understand the crew believing they needed a physician clearance, but the staff were ignorant when the woman knew her diagnosis and that it wasn't contagious.

I have some sympathy for the airline here. If a passenger had picked up a contagious condition but was desperate to get home then they might claim "it's genetic".

 

[Cain]

It sucks to be this woman, but I wouldn't take her word for it. Produce evidence. Anybody can say anything, "Believe me, this is my emotional therapy chihuahua." People lie. Or they could've Googled it. Maybe there decision was a bit rash.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I have some sympathy for the airline here. If a passenger had picked up a contagious condition but was desperate to get home then they might claim "it's genetic".

It's not hard to fake a doctor's note either.

People including the stewards can look that diagnosis up on their cell phones.

The problem here is no SOP in the steward's manual about how to manage the situation. I don't blame the staff, I blame the management.

 

[baron]

It's an unfortunate surname, that's for sure.

 

[cullennz]

It's an unfortunate surname, that's for sure.

Was thinking the same thing Lol

At the end of the day the airline is responsible for all passengers.

If someone shows signs of something that might be catching, better safe than sorry.

A persons word doesn't mean diddly squat in these circumstances

They would be butchered if the let someone on with obvious signs of measles, saying they don't have it, but do for eg

Feel sympathy for them though.

 

[mgidm86]

Any baby removed from flight sounds good to me if I'm one of the passengers.

Amazing what makes national news these days. I guess i'd classify it under "people behaving imperfectly"

"Tonights top story: Person A did something that Person B may have been somewhat offended by...please be outraged!!!"


ETA:
Quote from mother via tweet:
"Jackson and I were just discriminated against...big time!"

Now you can just kiss my ass lady. You have a rare condition, and so does your baby and you feel discriminated against because you had problems getting on a plane? You're stupid.

 

[rjh01]

It's not hard to fake a doctor's note either.

People including the stewards can look that diagnosis up on their cell phones.

The problem here is no SOP in the steward's manual about how to manage the situation. I don't blame the staff, I blame the management.

Depending on what the condition was, it may not be simple to diagnose. Remember the crew are not medical experts. If they took a look at it and said "yes it is x" but it turned out they had something else then should they be held accountable?

The article said they could not retrieve their checked baggage. This is so wrong. If a passenger is not on board the plane neither should their baggage. No exceptions. Top terrorist tip. Board a plane with a bomb in your checked baggage. Then get kicked off the plane. Any excuse will do. They leave your checked baggage on board which explodes mid flight.

 

[baron]

Was thinking the same thing Lol

She made a Facebook post about it. Apparently it's gone viral.

The post that is, not the skin condition...

 

[Silly Green Monkey]

Any baby removed from flight sounds good to me if I'm one of the passengers.

Amazing what makes national news these days. I guess i'd classify it under "people behaving imperfectly"

"Tonights top story: Person A did something that Person B may have been somewhat offended by...please be outraged!!!"


ETA:
Quote from mother via tweet:
"Jackson and I were just discriminated against...big time!"

Now you can just kiss my ass lady. You have a rare condition, and so does your baby and you feel discriminated against because you had problems getting on a plane? You're stupid.

She paid money for that seat and they weren't allowed to use that service. That's not 'problems getting on a plane' that's 'not reaching your destination as planned' and possibly 'paying more to arrive late'. This is not trivial despite your attempts to downplay the situation.

If you need an example, imagine the woman was rushing to the bedside of her dying mother to show off her grandson. She booked her flight, got there on time, did everything right, and now her mother will be dead by the time she can get a train or whatever. All so that you can say "ooooOOoOOh suck it lady, how dare you think you should get what you paid for?"

 

[sadhatter]

It's not hard to fake a doctor's note either.

People including the stewards can look that diagnosis up on their cell phones.

The problem here is no SOP in the steward's manual about how to manage the situation. I don't blame the staff, I blame the management.

But with a fake note you now have proof the person was asked, and lied should there be any issues in the future, and if the note was real you have proof she can fly without harming others.

So by asking for the note they are covering their own ass, and more likely confirming it is safe to let this person fly.

By not asking for the note you ate giving yourself the warm fuzzies by being so super nice to this poor lady.

I know which action benefits more people in more real ways, do you?

 

[sadhatter]

She paid money for that seat and they weren't allowed to use that service. That's not 'problems getting on a plane' that's 'not reaching your destination as planned' and possibly 'paying more to arrive late'. This is not trivial despite your attempts to downplay the situation.

If you need an example, imagine the woman was rushing to the bedside of her dying mother to show off her grandson. She booked her flight, got there on time, did everything right, and now her mother will be dead by the time she can get a train or whatever. All so that you can say "ooooOOoOOh suck it lady, how dare you think you should get what you paid for?"

What if in your fictional scenario she really did have a disease that could spread to others in the plane, but was so desperate to see her mother she didn't see a doctor and just went anyway.

If I'm going to tell someone to "suck it" id rather tell one person to do so than a plane full, and id rather the consequences be emotional than physical.

Then again my option doesn't make me feel like a saint because I'm willing to take the side of whoever seems to represent the smallest percent of the population, so six of one half dozen of the other I guess.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Was thinking the same thing Lol

At the end of the day the airline is responsible for all passengers.

If someone shows signs of something that might be catching, better safe than sorry.

A persons word doesn't mean diddly squat in these circumstances

They would be butchered if the let someone on with obvious signs of measles, saying they don't have it, but do for eg

Feel sympathy for them though.

Then they need better guidelines about which rashes are worrisome and which aren't. It's not that hard. Are they going to kick people off with common psoriasis?

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Depending on what the condition was, it may not be simple to diagnose. Remember the crew are not medical experts. If they took a look at it and said "yes it is x" but it turned out they had something else then should they be held accountable?

The article said they could not retrieve their checked baggage. This is so wrong. If a passenger is not on board the plane neither should their baggage. No exceptions. Top terrorist tip. Board a plane with a bomb in your checked baggage. Then get kicked off the plane. Any excuse will do. They leave your checked baggage on board which explodes mid flight.

This is nonsense. I don't expect people in the forum to know this but good management and written SOP how to manage it and it isn't that hard.

People with measles are contagious before they have symptoms. People with pertussis look like they have a mild cold for the first week. Why are people so afraid of a skin condition just because it is visible?

They don't need to diagnose it. Mom names the condition. They look it up and see that images match the mother's story. How hard is that?

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

But with a fake note you now have proof the person was asked, and lied should there be any issues in the future, and if the note was real you have proof she can fly without harming others.

So by asking for the note they are covering their own ass, and more likely confirming it is safe to let this person fly.

By not asking for the note you ate giving yourself the warm fuzzies by being so super nice to this poor lady.

I know which action benefits more people in more real ways, do you?

This is a twisted rationale.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

What if in your fictional scenario she really did have a disease that could spread to others in the plane, but was so desperate to see her mother she didn't see a doctor and just went anyway.

If I'm going to tell someone to "suck it" id rather tell one person to do so than a plane full, and id rather the consequences be emotional than physical.

Then again my option doesn't make me feel like a saint because I'm willing to take the side of whoever seems to represent the smallest percent of the population, so six of one half dozen of the other I guess.

I answered this above in #15.

You can look and see if the rash matches the mother's statement.

 

[Vixen]

Sounds like a form of eczema. I can't believe how stupid and ignorant people are if they cannot recognise this common complaint in babies and children.

This mother and child should be compensated for the distress caused to them by the moronic airline staff.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Sounds like a form of eczema. I can't believe how stupid and ignorant people are if they cannot recognise this common complaint in babies and children.

This mother and child should be compensated for the distress caused to them by the moronic airline staff.

Sounds like an inherited defective protein in the skin with multiple versions.

Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease.

 

[bruto]

This is nonsense. I don't expect people in the forum to know this but good management and written SOP how to manage it and it isn't that hard.

People with measles are contagious before they have symptoms. People with pertussis look like they have a mild cold for the first week. Why are people so afraid of a skin condition just because it is visible?

They don't need to diagnose it. Mom names the condition. They look it up and see that images match the mother's story. How hard is that?

Agreed, and in fact that seems to be just what the flight attendant did, to no avail.