United Airlines Allegedly Deboards Nigerian Passenger for Complaining About Inoperative Lavatory

A Nigerian passenger, Taylor Alfred Oladotun was allegedly de-boarded from a flight operated by United States mega carrier, United Airlines on Sunday because he complained about a non-functional lavatory in the aircraft.

The pilot of the flight approved his de-boarding with a threat that he would never be allowed to travel with the airline in future, except if United Airlines management reviews the incident and approved he could travel with the airline again.

Oladotun with seat number 48L and passenger name record (PNR) G5JWCK, said he complained about the aircraft lavatory and expected an apology, but instead of an apology he was allegedly asked to disembark from the aircraft.

“I complained about United Airline Faulty plane. But instead of an apology, I got thrown off the plane. The entire left wing toilet on the plane provided was not functional, which created a natural panic, as there was a crazy queue around the only functional toilets.

“There were no blankets, and there was no decent crewmember to pass on the message of this gross failure decently. I guess throwing passages that complain about terrible services is the only option available to the crewmembers.

“A crew member told me that your ‘fellow passenger’ spoilt the toilet so I should stop complaining about the wait. Sorry. I am not ‘fellow passenger’ to anyone that I have not flown with.

“The choice of word fellow, is ‘profiling’ insulting and generalising. All I needed was a bathroom. He did not also, need to tell me that my Nigeria does not have engineers that can fix his clog toilet upon arrival, hence I have no reason to complain,” Oladotun said.

However, in a letter addressed to Oladokun, United Airlines in reacting to the allegation said, “United Airlines’ number one priority has always been a commitment to safety.

“As much as we value your business, United’s policy, in compliance with our contract of carriage and our legal obligations as a common carrier, is to delay or refuse to carry any passenger whose conduct or condition threatens the safety of our employees or other passengers.

“Based on the nature of the reported incident that occurred during boarding for flight 613 on October 2, 2022 this shall serve as a notice that you are not permitted to fly on United Airlines or any regional carrier operating as United Express until a review of this incident by United’s Passenger Incident Review Committee (PIRC) has occurred.

“Please be advised that no single United employee can change your status. Only the PIRC has the ability to review the incident and consider reinstatement of your ability to fly on United or United Express in the future.

“The PIRC would like to consider your version of what occurred in this incident in making its determination. In order to ensure this information is considered a written report must be submitted within 96 hours of receiving this notice. Please include the following: Your name, address, email and phone contacts, flight number, date, and seat assignment of incident, summary of incident, witness names.”

The airline stated further in the letter: “Please submit your report by responding to this e-mail. Once all information has been received by the PIRC, and the Committee has had the opportunity to investigate this incident, you will be advised of the Committee’s decision.

“Please refrain from booking future travel. If you currently hold travel reservations for a future date, you may request a refund.”

The letter was signed by Passenger Incident Review Committee (PIRC).

Chinedu Eze

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