FLY THE HOSTILE SKIES

Where’s My Daughter?

June 30, 2012

No one from United shows up to meet 10-year-old Phoebe Klebahn when she arrives at O’Hare traveling as an unaccompanied minor. She misses her connecting flight, and her parents locate her only after a series of desperate calls to the company.

July 9, 2012 Heavy Lifting

United reports that a computer breakdown caused a flight to take off 20,000 pounds heavier than pilots believed because erroneous data indicated that the coach section of the plane was empty.

Sept. 3, 2012 Where’s My Dog?

Beatrice, fashion model Maggie Rizer’s golden retriever, leaves Newark aboard a United flight. She dies before reaching San Francisco.

July 14, 2014 No-Fly Zone

A flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong is canceled after security teams are unwilling to reinspect a plane tagged with menacing graffiti on the fuselage. Flight attendants refuse to fly and are later fired.

Late 2014 Baggage Lag

Passengers on United Express flights into Denver over the 2014 holiday season complain that the baggage handling system has all but come to a halt, with bags routinely going missing and the wait at carousels often exceeding two hours.

Oct. 20, 2015 Little Help?

D’Arcee Neal, who has cerebral palsy, crawls off his plane when, after waiting for 30 minutes, there’s still no wheelchair there to carry him to the jetway. A flight attendant reports the incident, and the airline calls him to apologize the next day.