When the plane started to taxi out to the runway at Chicago’s Midway International Airport, Peggy Uhle turned off her phone and prepared for take-off. The plane never took off, however. Instead, it turned back to the gate and a flight attendant told Uhle to get off the plane immediately.
Unexpected Experience
It's not unusual for people to be worried during take off. It is also common for people to be nervous flyers. For most people, however, flying is nothing more than a pleasant experience. Peggy Uhle did not get the time to enjoy or regret her flight that day, however.
Following Instructions
Peggy Uhle knew the protocol at this point. She switched off her phone as the plane taxied toward the runway. Naturally, she fastened her seatbelt, made sure that her seat was upright, all her personal belongings were stowed away and nothing was obstructing the aisle. She did the same things every other passenger did. The plane and everyone in it was ready to take off.
Time Saver
Traveling from Chicago, Illinois to Cleaveland, Ohio by car takes almost six hours as it is almost 350 miles between the two cities. The flight that Uhle was on would cut that time down to a little over an hour. However, the plan didn't even make it to the runway before it was turned back to the gate.
Abrupt Stop
Everyone was confused when the plane stopped at the same place where it started. All the passengers were wondering what was going on. That was when a flight attendant approached Uhle. “I figured I was on the wrong plane,” she told BoardingArea.com in 2015. The attendant told Uhle that she had to leave the plane immediately.
Layover
The Midway Internation Airport was finally completed and opened in 1927 and was the primary airport in the area for 28 years before the O'Hare International Airport was opened. It was here where Uhle found herself on that fateful day.
Stunned
On that fateful day in May 2015, Uhle would not be reacher her destination. At first, she had no idea what was really going on and why she wasn't allowed to fly. In the beginning, she thought she may have been on the wrong plane but it would become clear that there was a much bigger issue at hand.
Not The First
Many other people have also been removed from their flights in Chicago. In April 2017 David Dao Duy Anh, a Vietnamese-American doctor, was forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight. The whole incident had started because no one was willing to offer up four seats for airline staff who needed to get to Louisville.
Two Sides
Because no one offered up their seats, the airline randomly chose four customers to remove from the plane. Three of the selected passengers accepted without any issue. Dao, however, did not want to get off the plane. The airline CEO, Oscar Munoz, sent an email to The New York saying that Dao was “disruptive” and “belligerent.” The other witnesses on the plane had a different version of the story, however.
The Other Side
Dao, a pulmonologist, urgently needed to get to Louisville by the next morning because he had to work. This meant that there was no way that getting off the plane was possible. The other passengers and video footage showed that Dao had been “polite and matter-of-fact.”
The Rough Stuff
Witnesses on that plane in Chicago O’Hare International Airport claimed that airline staff was less than friendly. Then, when security officers arrived to escort Dao from the aircraft, they became aggressive. Cell phone video recorded by passengers shows staff knocking his face against an armrest as he’s yanked out of his seat, only to be pulled by his arms off the plane. Later, Dao agreed on a settlement with the airline for his mistreatment.
Removals
In other cases, meanwhile, passengers have been removed from flights for unacceptable behavior. For instance, in a separate episode on a Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago to Houston in October 2018, one female passenger became difficult after a flight attendant asked her to fold up her table for lift-off.
Getting Aggressive
Witnesses then described the unidentified woman getting cranky at the airline staff member’s request to fold her table. And when she refused to comply with the flight attendant’s instructions, she became verbally abusive.
Escalation
As a result of the female passenger’s tirade, the pilot then taxied the aircraft back to the departure gate before take-off. However, as the woman was escorted from the plane, video footage shows her launching into a racially abusive tirade against airline staff. Nevertheless, passengers didn’t seem to mind being delayed by an hour, and they cheered as she was ejected from the flight.
Official Statement
A statement released by Southwest Airlines and published by the Daily Mail in October 2018 claimed that the passenger had ignored airline staff when instructed to follow safety procedures. It said, “The customer became unruly and verbally abusive toward our flight attendants, and the decision was made to return to the gate to deplane the customer, where she was met by local law enforcement officers.”
More Cases
However, another passenger was removed from a Southwest Airlines aircraft for far less than that. A flight was due to depart from Sacramento, California heading for Austin, Texas, via Los Angeles in May 2019. But, according to KTXL, problems arose when refueling and maintenance issues delayed its scheduled flight by several hours.
Taking Care Of Them
Concerned with keeping their customers hydrated, airline staff started to hand out water to those waiting patiently on board the flight. Perhaps in an effort to make light of the situation, a passenger reportedly suggested that the staff serve vodka instead of water. But the flight attendant didn’t find his quip funny.
Witness Reports
Peter Uzelac, who witnessed the incident, told KTXL in May 2019, “He said something [like], ‘They should be passing out vodka because we’ve been waiting so long.’ [The flight attendant] came by and was like, ‘I don’t think that and I didn’t like your joke.’” The situation then escalated when Uzelac’s wife intervened.
Sudden Change
As Uzelac described, “Then my wife tried to butt in there and say, ‘Look, we’ve been on this plane for hours.’ And [the attendant] says, ‘Well, so have I, so get used to it.’ Then all of a sudden I see her on the telephone up in front.” The plane then returned to the gate and the man was removed by Sacramento County sheriff officers.
Unapologetic
Although Southwest Airlines didn’t apologize for the incident, they did issue a statement. As reported by MSN, it said, “We regret any less-than-positive experience a customer has onboard our aircraft. We welcome over 100 million customers each year and we aim to maintain the comfort of all while delivering Southwest hospitality.”
Another Report
Just a few weeks before Peggy Uhle’s experience with Southwest Airlines, meanwhile, another passenger claimed they’d had a particularly unpleasant experience. The customer alleged that the company had prevented her from contacting her husband, after she’d received a disturbing message from him.
Desperate
Passenger Karen Momsen-Evers from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, received a message from her husband claiming that he intended to take his own life. She replied back to him before the flight from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Milwaukee departed. Then the distraught wife made a further request to airline staff to make an emergency phone call.
No Help
However, the crew instructed Momsen-Evers to set her phone to flight mode. According to the Daily Mail, once the plane had taken to the air, she asked another crew member for an opportunity to make an urgent call to her husband. And their response allegedly was that there wasn’t anything they could do for her.
Bad Landing
Momsen-Evers then continued her journey home; but when she got there she was greeted by police officers who broke the news that her husband had committed suicide. Southwest Airlines insisted it’s routine for air crew to inform pilots of emergency situations in which passengers or the aircraft are at risk. However, that didn’t happen this time.
Why The Change?
So what happened with Peggy Uhle in 2015 that pilots felt it necessary to turn the plane back to the departure gate? Had she become unruly, like the woman on the flight from Chicago to Houston? Or had she offended airline staff like the man on a delayed flight from Sacramento to Houston? Well, as it turns out, she did neither of these things.
The Reason
Uhle, as we explored earlier, hadn’t requested to make a call herself when she received bad news, unlike Momsen-Evers weeks earlier. Instead, there was an emergency that the Southwest Airlines passenger wasn’t aware of at home. And as we discussed, the diligent passenger had prepared for the flight’s departure by turning her phone off.
No Idea
So, as Uhle sat in her seat waiting to take off, a flight attendant came over with some instructions for her. But the staff member wasn’t directing her to the departure gate; rather, because Uhle’s phone had been turned off, she was unaware that her husband had been desperately trying to contact her.
Alternate Means
Unable to reach Uhle directly, then, her husband was forced to find another way to get in contact with her. A desperate situation had unfolded at home that he needed to make his wife aware of. As a result, he contacted Southwest Airlines directly in the hope that they could pass a message on.
Urgent Action
Realizing the urgency of the situation, airline staff alerted the pilot of the circumstances. The captain then made provisions for Uhle to return to the departure gate. Already taxiing toward the runway, he turned the plane around and headed back to its starting point. And when it got there, gate staff instructed Uhle to call home.
Bad News
When Uhle contacted her husband, he told her some devastating news. Their son had suffered a head injury and was in a coma in Denver. It’s distressing news for any parent; but Uhle was thousands of miles away in Chicago and heading for Columbus. So how would she get to her boy?
Desperation
With Uhle frantic about her son’s life-threatening condition, the stricken mom had the added stress of figuring out how to get back to Denver and how she would pay for it all. Southwestern Airlines, however, were aware of the situation, and they were one step ahead of her.
Already Making Plans
“The gate attendant already knew the situation and had booked me on a direct flight to Denver that was leaving in the next two hours,” Uhle told BoardingArea.com. But Southwestern Airlines’ efforts and hospitality didn’t end there. It seems that staff had thought of everything so that the distraught mom didn’t have to.
Being Helpful
Uhle continued, “[Southwest Airlines] offered a private waiting area, rerouted my luggage, allowed me to board first, and [even] packed a lunch for when I got off the plane in Denver.” The shattered mom, then, didn’t have to do anything, because airline staff had kindly taken care of all her needs.
Special Delivery
Furthermore, Southwest Airlines staff didn’t merely send Uhle on her way and forget about her. As she explained to the Daily Mail, “My luggage was delivered to where I was staying, and I even received a call from Southwest asking how my son was doing.” So how much did the extra service cost Uhle?
No Expenses
No doubt the best part of Uhle’s predicament was that she got to be with her son with little delay. However, that it came at no further cost to the heartbroken mom must have been an added relief; Southwest Airlines provided Uhle’s unexpected travel requirements completely free of charge.
Caring
So it seems that Southwest Airlines’ care commitment extends beyond their employees. As the company’s website states, “The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit.”
Taking Strides
A further statement of intent on Southwest Airlines’ website underlines their level of loyalty. It reads, “We don’t take our commitments lightly. We are dedicated to doing the right thing, we take great strides to ensure [passengers’] safety, and fostering trusting relationships between our employees, our customer[s], our suppliers, and our planet.”
Direct Reflection
Furthermore, in a statement made to MailOnline Travel in May 2015, a spokesperson addressed the Uhle incident. They said, “This example is a direct reflection of the Southwest Airlines culture. Employees are empowered at Southwest to go above and beyond the call of duty…”
Further Statements
The Southwest Airlines statement continued, saying that staff have the freedom to, “follow their hearts to make decisions that positively impact our customers. We’re certainly proud of, but not surprised by, any of the hard work that went into doing the right thing for Ms. Uhle and her family.” The staff’s hospitality, then, is something their employers expect.
Thankful
Nevertheless, the airline’s attentiveness was a move hugely appreciated by Uhle. As she described to BoardingArea.com, “The care that I was shown is second to none. We have always liked Southwest Airlines and now I can’t say enough good things about them.” But what of Uhle’s son? Well, it turns out that despite suffering a head trauma, he was soon on the mend, according to Metaspoon