There is First class. Business class. Economy class. Then, there is a toilet...
NEW YORK — A New York City man is suing JetBlue Airways for more than $2 million because he says a pilot made him give up his seat to a flight attendant and sit on the toilet for more than three hours on a flight from California.
Gokhan Mutlu, of Manhattan's Inwood section, says in court papers the pilot told him to "go 'hang out' in the bathroom" about 90 minutes into the San Diego to New York flight because the flight attendant complained that the "jump seat" she was assigned was uncomfortable, the lawsuit said.
Mutlu was traveling on a a "buddy pass," a standby travel voucher that JetBlue employees give to friends, from New York to San Diego on Feb. 16, and returned to New York on Feb. 23, the lawsuit said.
Initially, Mutlu was told a flight attendant had taken the last seat on the plane, but then he was advised she would sit in the employee "jump seat," meaning he could have the last seat, the lawsuit said.
The pilot told him 1½ hours into the five-hour flight that he would have to relinquish the seat to the flight attendant, court papers say. But the pilot said that Mutlu could not sit in the jump seat because only JetBlue employees were permitted to sit there, the lawsuit said.
When Mutlu expressed reluctance to go sit in the bathroom, the pilot, who was not named in the lawsuit, told him that "he was the pilot, that this was his plane, under his command that (Mutlu) should be grateful for being on board," the lawsuit said.
When the aircraft hit turbulence and passengers were directed to return to their seats, but "the plaintiff had no seat to return to, sitting on a toilet stool with no seat belts," court papers say.
Some time later, a male flight attendant knocked on the restroom door and told Mutlu he could return to his original seat, court papers say.
Mutlu's lawsuit, filed Friday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, says JetBlue negligently endangered him by not providing him with a seat with a safety belt or harness, in violation of federal law.
A JetBlue spokesman declined comment on the lawsuit Monday.
usatoday.com
Comments
Gohkan mutlu was travelling on a 'buddy pass' - possibly for free.
It appears that he could probably be from one of the marginalised communities - by the way his name sounds.
However, the Ground crew should not have let him board the flight in the first place if there was no room on the flight for the 'buddy pass' holder and the rear anatomy sensitive flight attendant.
Airlines take too much for granted. The old days of the 'romance' in travelling by air are all over. It is much more fun to travel by trains and buses should one have the time to do so.
Airlines used to overbook and dump passengers before flights take off. With more stringent rules having come up in this regard in the EU and perhaps in the USA - this desultry practise seems not to be much publicised these days. Airlines overbook to lock in higher revenues and also hoping that many passengers would not turn up to take their seats. Morality and compassion are words that have no meaning in this industry. The agony and the torture that a bumped off confirmed ticket passenger goes through can only be expressed by one who has gone through this experience more than once.
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