On a recent vacation to Virginia my family and I encountered various racists attitudes toward our family for speaking in another language on part of the agents at all counter. While returning home from Newark airport and making a stop at Philadelphia all the agents were aggressive and hostil toward me, my husband and two children.
As we disboarded the plane to grab our carry on luggage this girl who had her id hidden from visible sight was standing at the end of the stairs instructing people to pick up their carry on luggage and walk into the airport. My daughters luggage was taken apart and when my she went over to pick it up the lady simple told her she could not take it because it did not have on a yellow ticket that was suppose to be have been placed on at Newark Airport.
When my daughter came to tell me what was happening my little son not knowing what was going on ran to get the luggage and the lady stop him abrutly with a slap to his stomach. He came back complaining that the black lady had hit him in the stomach and when I went over to see what was going on the lady aggresively yelled at me to go inside and look for the luggage because now she was not going to give it to me.
I simply asked her what her name was because I was going to report this incident because it was obvious that the ticket had fell off in the luggage compartment since all our other carry on baggage had them but she repeatedly approached me in an aggressive street like attitude to go inside and look for it there. I informed her that are connecting flight was leaving soon and that was the reason we had travled carry on but she refused to reason with us. She offered no assistance to solve the problem other than place her hand in my face and tell us to go inside.
I asked her for her name and she deliberatly in front of all the witnesses turned her id around so I could not see it and I simple turned it back around to see it and then she started screaming at me in my face that do not try to grab me. My son started to cry because he had been the one that was grabbed by her and all the other passageners around were shocked by her unprofessional street like attitude. She started screaming incoherently that nobody can touch her and she had all the right to grab my son to stop him from touching the luggage. Once inside she keep on screaming in front of all the passanger that were waiting at the gate and said she was calling the police.
So we just sat down to wait to see if they would arrive and since she saw we were not going any where apparently she had no choice to call them. Once the police arrived they determined that nothing what she said could have possible happen with the witness that were present and since neither she nor her supervisor nor a Mister Micheal Jackson her manager could confirm her version but they had to back her up against the wittness willing to support me and because it had become a she said she said situation the police determined no wrong doing happened. I asked if they had security tapes of the customers disboarding the plane on the floor outside and they allegedly said yes so I asked them to get them to confirm what had happend but they ignored my request and refused.
The police told me it was their call if they did not wish to show the tapes and that what I should do was file a civil complaint against the lady for grabbing my son. Either way, the manager denied me access to my connecting flight expecting that my family was to leave without me and leaving me without any option of returning home. My husband then asked for a full refund since he was not going to leave me behind because I am a heart patient and that we would rather return on any other airline service other than US Airways after the humilliating situation they had put our family through. Not only did they at first deny the refund but after they issued it said we would recieve the check in 48 months.
We not only had to purchse new tickets but also rent a car and spend another night back in New York to get a flight on American Airlines. By the way Amercian Airlines has way better treatment of their customers. All the agents involved in the incident were black and although we are white we speak only spanish which also irritated them since they could not understand us when we would talk to each other. I am the only one that speaks a little bit more English. This was a true example of abuse of paying customers and racisim on part of these employee toward people from different countries and race. I like you to know I have a nephew fighting in Irak right now for freedom and my older son is in the Army Reserves wainting to be deployed and it greatly breaks my heart to think that thier sacrifice is for the freedom of people like those three employess that work at US Airways which do not deserve the right to live in a democracy but seem more like Racist Nazis working at a concentration camp.