The airline called the passengers ‘undisciplined’ and could compromise the safety of the trip
A family of Brazilians from Bahia was removed from an Air France flight at Charles de Gaulle Airport, in Paris. The people were removed after a dispute involving business class seats. Flight AF562 left the French capital towards Salvador.
According to information that one of the passengers sent to G1, Ivan Lopes was traveling with his wife and two daughters, returning to Brazil from Milan, Italy. He was offered an upgrade from premium economy to business class on the Paris-Salvador route. The cost will be 399 euros, with the total paid being 1,596 euros.
The family was informed before boarding, however, that seat 7L would not be available and that the upgrade could not be made. However, when entering the plane, there was a Frenchman, an Air France employee, in the seat.
By questioning the flight crew, the family was exposed to public embarrassment. According to Ivan, the commander was excited and shouted to his wife and daughters. The family claims that they did not receive help or were redirected to another flight after being removed from the aircraft by armed police.
The family then purchased new business class tickets from another company, following legal advice, and the total loss reached 16 thousand euros, according to Ivan, who informed G1. The luggage would have taken more than two hours to be released. The company claimed to Ivan that the passengers caused damage to the company.
In a note sent to the portal by Air France, the company calls the passengers “undisciplined” and could compromise the safety of the flight.
See the full note:
“Air France confirms that the crew of flight AF562, from Paris–Charles de Gaulle to Salvador, Bahia, on January 14, decided to disembark a group of four unruly passengers. The behavior adopted on board, before departure, caused delays, generated dissatisfaction among other passengers and could have compromised the safety of the flight.
In fact, Air France staff at the gate informed one of the four passengers — who originally had Premium Economy tickets — that, due to the inoperability of another Business Class seat, the upgrade to Business Class, purchased on the day of departure, could not be honored. The seat in question was therefore allocated to a customer who had purchased a Business Class ticket at the time of booking.
Considering passengers’ desire to travel together, the Air France team offered seats in the Premium Economy cabin, as originally planned. However, passengers chose to keep three seats in Business Class (upgrade) and one seat in Premium Economy (an upgrade that could not be honored due to the inoperable seat).
Once on board, passengers reacted extremely heatedly and behaved inappropriately towards the cabin crew. Despite the explanations provided and the commander’s repeated appeals to remain calm, the bad behavior persisted.
Faced with this situation, and in accordance with applicable international legislation, the captain decided to disembark the four passengers from the aircraft, in order to guarantee the smooth running of the flight and the tranquility of everyone on board.
Air France reinforces that the safety of its customers and crew is its absolute priority”
