Can you walk into business class?

United Airlines business class. Do not try to go in here without a ticket. Not even to walk through. Picture: The Australian / United Airlines.
Source: Supplied

BILL Pollock wanted to stretch his legs and visit his wife seated on the opposite aisle of a United Airlines flight from Zurich to Washington on January 2. What he did has raised questions about whether those curtains and signs telling economy passengers to stay out of business class are legal.

Mr Pollock asked a flight attendant about the sign telling economy passengers they were prohibited from entering business class . He wanted to use the passageway behind the galley to get to his wife’s seat. It was the fastest route. But it meant ducking past the business class curtain.

When he questioned the flight attendant and said he wanted to ignore the sign, Mr Pollock began to record his conversation. He alleges the flight attendant then took his phone and federal marshals intervened.

In the US, there has been a strong push for airline passengers to record conversations with security staff after numerous incidents with the naked body scanners. So recording the conversation is not as provocative as many Australians may think.

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“Two marshals held me up against the counter, they had my hands behind my back,” Mr Pollock told the New York Times. “I wasn’t violent, I didn’t use four-letter words. All I did was ask this guy about the sign on the curtain and they flipped out.”

Upon landing in Washington the flight was met by security agents. They took a statement from Mr Pollock before releasing him.

So you can’t go into business class on United, not even to walk through.

But the case has now brought questions about whether United’s actions were legal.

United spokesperson Rahsaan Johnson told the Times flight attendants “routinely made an announcement asking customers not to pass through the curtains separating cabins, adding that federal regulations require passengers to comply with lighted signs, placards and crew member instructions.”

But what Federal regulation is a passenger who walks though business class actually breaking?

Veda Shook, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, told the Times she was not aware of any policy limiting where passengers could walk, especially if a cart was blocking an aisle or a family member was seated on the other side of the plane.

“I think it’s generally understood that you hang out in the cabin that you’re in,” she said. “But I’ve never really encountered a situation where someone couldn’t move about the cabin to get from point A to B.”

In 2012, 101 incidents of “unruly passengers” were reported to the US Flight Attendants Association. In the past three years there were 140 to 176 reports each year. These incidents do not include security violations. Those are handled by the Transport Security Administration (TSA).

At the same time customer complaints about airline service and performance have risen. The US Department of Transportation received 7524 complaints in the first nine months of 2012. There were 5231 complaints during the same nine months in 2011. The most complained about airline was United, followed by American Airlines.

In United’s inflight magazine passengers are told there is a rule against photographing or recording aircraft equipment and airline personnel.

So if there is no rule against walking through business class, is this the reason why federal marshalls detained Mr Pollock?

Maybe, but there are no Federal US regulations that actually restrict what airline passengers photograph or videotape.

“It’s just emblematic of what air travel has become,” Mr Pollock told the Times. “If you ask a question on a plane, you’re going to be identified as a problem and you’re going to get whatever response they choose to take – and there’s no recourse.”
 

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Can you walk into business class?