re: United Airlines flew woman to 4800km (dunno the conversion) in the wrong direction

"On September 11, 2001, with United States airspace closed due to the terrorist attacks, Gander International played host to 38 airliners, totaling 6,122 passengers and 473 crew, as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon."

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Her niece had to translate for her, so I would assume her language barrier was her issue, I just don't get what the frick was United's issue

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I bet you could tell the difference between a sign that says San Francisco and Paris even if you only spoke French.

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What a dumbass. This is her fault on 90% of this. Read the gate, one direction flies over water the other does not.

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she was at the correct gate printed on her boarding pass. UA changed the gate and didn't notify her or make an announcement in french.

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I mean she doesnt speak English. Give the lady a break.

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I'd normally agree, but the French are dicks about speaking their language in their country, so frick it.

Definitely. I wouldn't white Knight for an American in Paris getting on a flight to Madrid instead of Atlanta and whining about not getting told in English.

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I was on United last week. Weather delayed our arrival into Houston. My connection to Lafayette switch gates (alerted via text) 3, yes THREE, times!
I'm a reasonably smart healthy American, in a Houston airport, and I made my flight with 5 minutes to spare.
So, there she is, without French being spoken, trying to figure wtf to do...I can see her issue in trusting THE frickING PEOPLE WHO DO IT FOR A LIVING.

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So you're telling me that her niece who is allegedly translating for her can't read the sign above the door she's walking through or can't understand the pilot and the flight crew announce multiple times that they're taking everyone to San Francisco? United definitely has some responsibility here but, goddamn, how dumb can you be?

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Dumb enough to be a foreigner and trust professionals and their equipment designed to make sure this never happens...

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Like I said UA certainly has blame here. Their scanner should've alerted the gate attendant, but the sign above the door and the multiple destination announcements while on the plane should be more than sufficient.

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Like I said UA certainly has blame here. Their scanner should've alerted the gate attendant, but the sign above the door and the multi Aple destination announcements while on the plane should be more than sufficient.

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They carry ALL the blame IMO. Makes you wonder why the green light blinks as you are approved to board upon scanning.
I wear headphones, I go to my flight and I board and sit down and buckle.
Not sure of this lady. But lets be clear, she didn't choose to intentionally go the wrong way.
But NONE of this happens if the employees getting paid to read her pass and the equipment that scans the pass...do their fricking job. There is a reason you don't scan yourself, that's because they want someone there reading the pass as well.
And yes, passenger was clueless.
But lets not forget, even after all of this, the problem was almost fixed when someone was in "her" seat AFTER boarding. And what happens? A THIRD United moron looked at her pass and simply sat her somewhere else!

I mean, how many professionals have to see her pass to realize there's an issue, even after seeing the same seat assigned to 2 people.

My God! This is a wake up call to the industry. Seriously...the scanning equipment is bogus

I don't understand. I can see how they wouldn't read the boarding pass carefully, they look at hundreds or thousands a day. However, when you board the plane they always give an update on where you are going, what the weather will be like and how long the flight is. Did she not pay attention? I would start throwing a fit on the plane and make them let me off. They've always done this before taking off, as far as I can remember.