# Alaska Airlines kicks woman with cancer off flight from Hawaii to California



## Ken555 (Apr 7, 2015)

Absurd. Alaska staff clearly need better training.



> A California woman with cancer, her husband and two sons were booted from an Alaska Airlines flight shortly before take-off from Lihue, Hawaii, Monday because airline employees decided she needed a note from her doctor before she could fly.



http://www.kirotv.com/news/travel/a...n-cancer-flight-hawaii-c/nkpHX/#__federated=1


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## MuranoJo (Apr 7, 2015)

Still fairly rare to see people wearing surgical masks in the U.S., but at times we have seen this.  Frankly, I wouldn't blame anyone from wearing one on a cramped plane.  What valid reason would Alaska Airlines have to do this?


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## Fern Modena (Apr 8, 2015)

That is absurd. Someone with no knowledge of her situation chose to make a decision/ruling where none was needed. 

Fern


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## LisaRex (Apr 8, 2015)

My mother had to abandon her SW flight returning from Las Vegas because they wouldn't let her board without medical clearance after she fainted in line.  She's on a ton of medications for a chronic medical condition and had gotten dehydrated.  She just needed to sit down and drink a lot of water. 

She ended up booking on Delta because SW wouldn't budge.  Their planes, their call, I guess.


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## am1 (Apr 9, 2015)

If things go south what happens?  It cannot be an easy situation for someone who may be told just to follow orders.  

Medical emergencies in the air are not easy nor cheap.


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## Tia (Apr 9, 2015)

MuranoJo said:


> Still fairly rare to see people wearing surgical masks in the U.S., but at times we have seen this. ..........



Would agree it's rare here in the US, guessing it's probably what raised a flag. The flight crew can't possibly know what the medical story is. Seems they most likely acted to protect the other passengers, ? contagious,  since they didn't and couldn't know what the real problem was?


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## dougp26364 (Apr 9, 2015)

am1 said:


> If things go south what happens?  It cannot be an easy situation for someone who may be told just to follow orders.
> 
> Medical emergencies in the air are not easy nor cheap.



To some extent I agree with this statement, but with some qualifiers. 

1. When a passenger faints while standing in line to board a flight maybe the crew has a good reason to not allow them to board. At that point there's no telling what might be going on. Just because the passenger says they're dehydrated doesn't mean they're healthy enough to fly. I want some sort of verification flying wasn't dangerous for this person from someone trained to discern what's serious and what's minor. 

2. Someone concerned about germs who has a compromised immune system shouldn't be a worry for the flight crew. I know healthy hospital workers who are germaphobes who wear masks. I've know on several people treated for cancer who I'd advise to wear a mask on a plane. Renal failure patients should wear a mask on a plane just because their immune system is compromised. Being concerned about germs and having and underlying medical condition the affects the immune system should not be a criteria for not allowing a person to fly. In this case, I feel the crew at Alaska Airlines over reacted and owes this family an apology. They may need to redefine their policy on who can be denied boarding and/or retrain this particular flight crew. It may not be systemic with Alaska Air and could just be one crews misinterpretation of the airlines policy.


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## geekette (Apr 9, 2015)

Or, EVERYONE needs to have a note from doc clearing them to fly.  LIke the sneezing coughing dude in row 25, where's his note??  

The lady that fainted in line = what is the possibility of finding a doctor to clear her before the flight?  Pretty much none, right?  Seriously, someone that flies more than I do, tell me where you would find that doctor before the flight you really need to be on.

I get the "my plane, my rules", but probably they should drop pretending concern for a person's health and make it clear it's about expense of possible diversion.  And if it is that, then force Everyone to prove Fit To Fly. 

I'm guessing that most diversions are for people they would not have requested a note from.  Or, airline staff are suddenly amazingly good at identifying who is going to have a heart attack or begin to vomit violently.

Maybe I'm flying to visit a newborn and while I feel fine, I don't want to pick up someone else's Yuck to take to a baby.  If I'm wearing a mask, it doesn't mean I'm Sick.


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## Ken555 (Apr 9, 2015)

I need to buy a ticket to Portland and though I used to fly Alaska often I'm finding myself reluctant to give them any money this week due to this report. It's not like I'd be losing out on frequent flyer miles or anything remotely important, since Delta is the main option and they offer Alaska miles for their flights, too. I suspect I'm not alone in considering recent news about airlines when making a purchasing decision that in all other respects is the same as the product Alaska offers. 


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## Jimster (Apr 9, 2015)

*Delta v alaska*

Delta and Alaska have almost declared war on each other.  I'd check to see you get full credit on Alaska when flying Delta.


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## PamMo (Apr 9, 2015)

This is what I hate about social media. This story has been all over the news. One side of a story goes viral, and nobody takes the time to listen to or try to understand the other side. 

*Ms. Sedway wasn't removed from the plane just because she was wearing a surgical mask. *As she stated on her FaceBook page: _ “We were at gate 8 ready to depart on Alaska Airlines for San Jose. An airline employee saw me seated in the handicap section of the boarding area. She asked me if I needed anything. The first time. I said no. The second time, I said, well I might need a bit of extra time to board, sometimes I feel weak. Because I said the word weak, the Alaska Airlines employee called a doctor, she claimed was associated with the airlines. After we board the plane. An Alaska representative boarded the plane, and told us I could not fly without a note from a doctor stating that I was cleared to fly..."_

My heart goes out to this woman and her family, who surely were confused, angry, and embarrassed to be asked to deplane. Alaska Airlines has apologized, refunded their tickets, all additional costs, and are examining ways to better handle situations like this. Was the gate agent wrong in asking Ms. Sedway to leave the plane if she (or the doctor she called in) thought it wouldn't be safe for her to fly? It appears they were overly cautious on this call, but I don't think that's something worth demonizing in the media. I've flown a lot, and have been on several planes with medical emergencies. It is unnerving to be over the middle of an ocean, with a passenger on the floor or slumped over in his/her seat, being attended to by crew and volunteers with varying degrees of medical training - knowing time is of the essence. The crew needs to make judgement calls on what is the best course of action for everyone on the plane. I think this incidence is being blown way out of proportion.


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## Ken555 (Apr 9, 2015)

Jimster said:


> Delta and Alaska have almost declared war on each other.  I'd check to see you get full credit on Alaska when flying Delta.




I'll be on Delta Monday (1st! At just $140 more than coach to the east coast) and should earn Alaska miles. 


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## Ken555 (Apr 9, 2015)

PamMo said:


> This is what I hate about social media. This story has been all over the news. One side of a story goes viral, and nobody takes the time to listen to or try to understand the other side.




The original link I posted has the fully story and is not taken from social media. Did you see that article? 

You are much more sympathetic to the airline than I am. I expect them to do their job, but when out of their area of expertise they should do better, as has already been acknowledge by the airline itself. Do you disagree with the airline?


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## ace2000 (Apr 9, 2015)

I know someone with this disease and it is a very debilitating one - very much so.  It is strongly possible that this person really was in no condition to fly.  I'd like to wait for more facts to come out before making a judgement.


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## geekette (Apr 9, 2015)

ace2000 said:


> I know someone with this disease and it is a very debilitating one - very much so.  It is strongly possible that this person really was in no condition to fly.  I'd like to wait for more facts to come out before making a judgement.



Here's a fact:  she was on her way home from a vacation that they had flown to.


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## ace2000 (Apr 9, 2015)

geekette said:


> Here's a fact:  she was on her way home from a vacation that they had flown to.



A couple more facts for you... she was sitting in a handicapped waiting area and she said she felt very "weak" to one of the airline employees.  I'm saying we haven't really heard anything about her actual condition (which can be extremely bad with this particular disease), unless you know something I don't.

It probably was a judgement call by the employee (which turned out to be a bad call).


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## Mr. Vker (Apr 9, 2015)

It was also a transpac flight from Hawaii. Limited diversion opportunities. They were overly cautious for sure. But it our litigious society they were stuck.


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## Mr. Vker (Apr 9, 2015)

There is a thread on FT about this. Post from someone on the flight:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...ff-flight-hawaii-california.html#post24630473

"My husband and I were on this flight.

I obviously can't speak towards the medical situation I'm not a doctor, however I do think they could have handled it better. Especially since there was quite a bit of back and forth on whether or not they would let her fly. 

They had already told her no in the boarding area. Then changed their minds and let her board. As she came in and was greeted and ine of the FAs said something along the lines of "hope your ok" to which she responded "no I'm not - I have cancer and they almost wouldn't let me fly" she was in tears. She had already cried in the boarding area as well. 

Although she was wearing a surgical mask and in a wheelchair she boarded without any assistance. 

After she was seated there was more back and forth and then they deplaned her and her family right before we closed the door. The captain said to each one of the kids, the husband and to the wife that "everything would be ok". He seemed quite sympathetic. I don't know who made the call on whether she could fly or not. 

After they closed the door the captain addressed the cabin facing us - saying this was a difficult situation and that there were procedures, etc. he mentioned something called "med-link" which supposedly is an authority of deciding if people are fit to fly or not. 

It seemed part of his speech was to reassure everyone and pet to cover the airlines --- 

At the end of his speech many passengers applauded. We did not as we thought that was highly inappropriate. At this stage we felt very sad for the lady and her family and were not about to take anybody's side. The stupid thing is she obviously flew over to Kauai in the same condition - I'm assuming on Alaska. 

The discrimination thing is BS. They ground crew in no way seemed disrespectful.

If she hadn't put the mask on and hadn't mentioned her illness to the ground crew then she most likely would have flown home without incident"


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## gnorth16 (Apr 9, 2015)

Mr. Vker said:


> It was also a transpac flight from Hawaii. Limited diversion opportunities. They were overly cautious for sure. But it our litigious society they were stuck.



Medical emergencies are very expensive, often having to dump fuel, bring in new crews (cause they are over their hours) and pay for meals, hotels and whatever else.  

If you are 1/3 the way between Hawaii and San Fran, where do you go for an emergency?  Back to Hawaii... Then it costs a bundle as the crew would not be able to fly again that day, a new crew would have to be brought from the mainland or wait a day before departing again, etc...etc...etc


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## DeniseM (Apr 9, 2015)

My heart goes out to this lady, but it sounds like she undermined herself with her demeanor and responses to the airline staff.  If she wanted to fly, she should have put on a brave face, and acted like she was OK.  Maybe, emotionally, she wasn't able to do that, but that would have been the most effective thing to do.


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## Mr. Vker (Apr 9, 2015)

gnorth16 said:


> Medical emergencies are very expensive, often having to dump fuel, bring in new crews (cause they are over their hours) and pay for meals, hotels and whatever else.
> 
> If you are 1/3 the way between Hawaii and San Fran, where do you go for an emergency?  Back to Hawaii... Then it costs a bundle as the crew would not be able to fly again that day, a new crew would have to be brought from the mainland or wait a day before departing again, etc...etc...etc



This......

Or land over weight damaging the aircraft. This cannot be avoided sometimes as safety and health of the passengers is paramount. However, if a passenger is known to be ill, the airline is doing the right thing to mitigate their risks and make sure the passenger is safe.


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## Luanne (Apr 9, 2015)

When my daughter flew home to SFO from Bangkok she needed wheelchair assistance as she'd injured her hamstring and couldn't walk for long distances.  She almost wasn't able to board her plane.  They did require a doctor's note saying she was cleared to travel.  I had been told when making the arrangements for the wheelchair that she might/would be asked for the note.  We took the chance that she wouldn't, and we were wrong.  Luckily she was able to get ahold of the doctor who had treated her and they faxed a note to the airline (Cathay Pacific).


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## BocaBoy (Apr 9, 2015)

I am sorry, but in this case, I find the defenses being offered for the airline to be utterly preposterous.


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## BevL (Apr 9, 2015)

Greg's used a wheelchair for the last several years, well, five at least, right down to the door of the plane, and then he can board on his own steam.

Never been asked for a note.  We do have a note authorizing needles and so forth in our carry on, which I guess would give an indication to the TSA folks.  I guess a letter like that would indicate his doctor knows he's flying, but again, we've never had to produce anything at the gate and have only received the most courteous and helpful assistance when we've flown.  And, I might add, we are diehard AS flyers.


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## Luanne (Apr 9, 2015)

BevL said:


> Greg's used a wheelchair for the last several years, well, five at least, right down to the door of the plane, and then he can board on his own steam.
> 
> Never been asked for a note.  We do have a note authorizing needles and so forth in our carry on, which I guess would give an indication to the TSA folks.  I guess a letter like that would indicate his doctor knows he's flying, but again, we've never had to produce anything at the gate and have only received the most courteous and helpful assistance when we've flown.  And, I might add, we are diehard AS flyers.



I've never had a problem with requesting wheelchair access either.  And dd used wheelchair in Hong Kong and again at SFO.  Maybe because she'd already been "cleared to fly" she didn't have problems with the other legs.  

But when I called to request the wheelchair as they had no way to request online, that is when I was asked why she needed it.  I explained she'd had an injury and wasn't very mobile.  She wasn't sick, or contagious, just couldn't walk for long distances.  The person I spoke to from Cathay Pacific who put the wheelchair request in her record is the one who told me she would probably need a doctor's note.


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## PamMo (Apr 9, 2015)

Ken555 said:


> The original link I posted has the fully story and is not taken from social media. Did you see that article?
> 
> You are much more sympathetic to the airline than I am. I expect them to do their job, but when out of their area of expertise they should do better, as has already been acknowledge by the airline itself. Do you disagree with the airline?
> 
> ...



"Full story?" Yes, I read the article, and I've seen the video she posted on the internet, of leaving the airplane. I just don't think we've heard the whole story. (Am I the only one who misses Paul Harvey?) What was the point of making and posting the video? It seems to be a setup for a lawsuit.

I'm very aware that companies are under HUGE pressure when stories like this go viral - whether their actions were right or wrong. Alaska Airlines was in a no-win situation, and tried to calm things down as soon as the story got out of control. Everyone would be sympathetic to a cancer patient being mistreated by a big bad airline company (who we all dislike - me included). But, I'm not so quick to judge that the gate agent was out of their area of expertise when a passenger acknowledged that she was weak, and was distraught (according to other eye witness accounts). 

So yeah, I will wait to pass judgement until I hear the rest of the story.


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## Quilter (Apr 10, 2015)

Look at it from a Gate Attendant's position. . . 

Here's what the article and video doesn't show--the demeanor of the passenger while sitting in handicapped section and being questioned.   Not the mask, not the wheelchair.   The demeanor.   

I'm not taking sides.   Merely trying to look at what's not said in the article.   

I found one flight from Lihue to San Jose on Monday's.   It's at 2:45 and gets in at 10:54 p.m.  The article says the family is from Granite Hill, CA.   That's another 8 hours from San Jose.   In many cases flying has unexpected delays.   If you were seriously concerned about missing important medical appointments or important meetings at work would/could you blame the airline for cutting the arrival time so close?   

How worn out can a "weak" passenger be or appear to be after packing up a family of 4 to get to the airport an hour before the flight.   Did they have lunch?  Was it relaxed or on the fly?

GA's are trained for various duties, one is to assess passengers by their appearance and demeanor.  If a GA questioned a passenger's capabilities to fly the distance required, naturally, he/she would defer to another GA's opinion or a supervisor before heading straight to MedLink's opinion.   It's a tough call and who, with any compassion, wants to be the meanie who culls the cancer patient out of the boarding line? So the other GA may look and then contact a supervisor.   Then they make a call out to the pilot who can't see the passenger but says to contact MedLink.   All this takes time.   From the moment the passenger said she sometimes feels weak, was questioned by others and boarded the plane she probably sensed there was continued efforts to determine if she would stay on the plane.   To expedite the departure they may have let them board while MedLink made it's determination. 

Let's say the passenger needs to return to Hawaii mid-flight.   All the passengers are now delayed from important meetings and/or doctor appointments.   Can you see the headline?   "Alaska Gate Agent's Clearly Ignore Training to Screen Passengers". 

Was the crew awkward with how they approached the situation?  Yes, it was an awkward situation.   No, we don't know all the details.   Alaska has publicly apologized.   That's the most expedient thing to do at this stage.   Fighting back with their side only keeps the news in the headlines longer.


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