Alaska Airlines has just lost me as a passenger on any future flights.
I've put up with their poor service, reported maintenance lapses and other bad news, but this story from today's Seattle Times is too much. I refuse to give this carrier any further business, and urge anyone else to take the following story into consideration when making travel plans. My heart goes out to these people.
Thursday, June 22, 2000, 12:00 a.m. Pacific
Burn victim's father couldn't get seat on Alaska flight
by The Associated Press
JUNEAU - Alaska Airlines workers refused to bump passengers off a full flight so a father could follow his badly burned toddler to a Seattle hospital earlier this month. The girl died before he reached her side.
"It was devastating," said Hubert Williams of Klawock, Alaska.
Jack Evans, spokesman for the Seattle-based air carrier, said Alaska erred in not letting Williams on the flight from Ketchikan to Seattle two weeks ago.
"It's our opinion that we made an incredible mistake here," Evans said.
Brooke Williams, 3, was badly burned in an early-morning house fire June 10 in Klawock, a village on Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska. Her mother, Michelle Williams, and a brother escaped the blaze and Brooke was rescued by a neighbor.
Brooke's father, Hubert, was fishing when he found out about the fire. He rushed to the Klawock clinic in time to fly with his wife and daughter to Ketchikan.
Brooke suffered second- and third-degree burns over most of her body, and Ketchikan doctors decided the girl needed to be flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
There was not room for both parents on the medical flight, so Michelle Williams accompanied the little girl. Hubert Williams arranged to follow with his parents on a 1:30 p.m. Alaska Airlines flight, he said.
All three purchased standby tickets and waited, but weren't given seats.
"They said they would announce over their PA (public-address system), so my parents and I could fly down," Williams said. "No announcement. No inquiries. It angered me. I was not happy."
Family friends asked passengers with seats on the flight if they would give up their spots, Williams said, but none did. The next flight, scheduled for 7:55 p.m., was delayed.
Williams reached Harborview too late to be at his daughter's side when she died.
"We got down to Seattle an hour after my daughter had passed away," he said.
Williams said being with his daughter and his wife during such a critical time would have made a world of difference to him.
Evans, the airline spokesman, said the staff in Ketchikan did what they were supposed to do based on strict airline policy. However, he said, they are very upset over what happened in Williams' case.
This time of year, Evans said, Alaska flights are full with passengers concerned about connections to other flights. However, the airline can deny passengers seats to make room for others in an emergency. Next time a similar situation arises, it will be handled differently, he said.
seattletimes.nwsource.com |
