An Open Letter to American Trans Air

                                   (Regarding violence on in-flight programming)

On a recent trip home (to Los Angeles) from a vacation in Hawaii my family and I flew with ATA.  The movie they were showing (we realized after it came on) was: "The Bourne Ultimatum” (rated PG-13). My children are 2 and 5.

I try to get the flight attendant's attention; she looks at me with disdain and gets to me about 5 minutes later. Meanwhile, we are watching Matt Damon’s character being hooded and beaten onscreen, then threatened with a gun. When we finally speak, I ask if there is any way we can flip up our screen (the plane is the kind that has small screens every 3 seats), cover it, turn that screen off or change our seats. Whatever it takes so that my kids are not watching the violence. She says there is nothing that can be done, that the folks behind us would be upset. (She never asks them, though.)  She ignores me and moves on.

I ask the next flight attendant who is bringing the drinks if there is a senior flight attendant onboard. He says yes, and that he will get him for me.  I thank him.  The senior flight attendant (“SFA” for now) shows up and I ask him the same question I asked the first flight attendant- “Is there anything that can be done?”  According to the SFA, nothing can be done. He says the same things:  he does not want to inconvenience the people sitting behind us. (He also does not actually ever ask anyone.)  I notice there are 2 right behind us, who are not watching the movie, and 2 behind them, who do look like they are watching. I also notice that from where I'm sitting, I can see 3 different screens just fine. I notice that my kids can only see the one that's right in front of them (they're short, after all!). Which is what the SFA tries to tell me. Nothing can be done, and it really doesn't matter because they are so short they can’t see the screen anyway.  The screen is 3 feet from their faces.  I scrunch down and I can see the screen just fine. I tell him so. After all, this movie is PG-13, and it would be illegal to show that onboard an airplane with children under 13. Case closed. I even tell him that when I get off the flight, I will be contacting my attorney about the airline protocol regarding this.  [After he leaves, I take a picture right from my 2 year old’s point of view- which according to the SFA would have been even harder to see than for the taller 5 year old.] He continues to argue with me.  He is not allowed to inconvenience the passengers. I remind him we are also passengers. I remind him it's a PG-13 movie. He tells me it’s been edited. I guess beating someone practically to death is ok for toddlers to witness?? (I wonder what Dr. Phil would say?  I wonder what Matt Damon- a new father himself- would say?)  I tell him I will consult a lawyer about the airline and my options after the flight. He says, “Go ahead." Now I'm really wondering what the protocol is for this sort of thing.

[I imagine myself standing up and slamming the screen shut. What would happen then? I imagine myself standing up and announcing the situation to ALL the passengers on the plane to see what they would think.  I am certainly ready to be arrested in order to prevent my kids from seeing more.  No question in my mind.  Is this what the airline wants?]

I ask my husband who is sitting across the aisle if he has anything to add. Once the SFA realizes I am not alone and that I have a male representative, he gives in almost immediately. But, instead of just inconveniencing the 2 movie watchers behind us- (who could still see 3 other screens, and also it was not a full flight and there were plenty of other places to sit for the movie if necessary- I mean not all the headphone jacks were working and they somehow worked around that.) No, instead the SFA goes up to the front, turns the movie off and announces that there have been several complaints about the content of the movie and if anyone wants a refund on their headphones they will
gladly give it to them. Also, if they have any complaints about the movie being turned off, they should certainly go to ata.com and voice that opinion. Unbelievable.

It gets better. I ask one of the other flight attendants what the first one’s name is. He apparently reported this back to the SFA. Because the SFA comes back with a napkin with the flight attendants names on it and asks if there is anything else that can be done
for us. I tell him no. I guess when I asked for the crew member’s names, that was time for the SFA to want to file his own report. He asks for my boarding pass. He wants my information for his report. He says I threatened him. Apparently, by threatening to contact my attorney regarding the protocol of the airline it was a threat against a crew member.  Now I wonder if I actually might be arrested when we de-plane? (I am appalled that this is the kind of thing they will take as a threat.  I am frightened that this would be the person we’d depend on if there were a true threat!!)  I tell him I will give him my boarding pass, but that I am not giving him my personal information. He is so rude. After he writes something down, he asks in the most unbelievable way if he can help us with
anything else. Then he stands up and says, “Please let me know if I can help you with anything else.” Here is the protocol I was looking for. He must have to say it because its so clear he doesn't mean it.

ATA- I challenge you to make better decisions on behalf of the families that fly with you.  I know we will not be flying with your airline until that happens, and I know I’ll be very loud about it in the meantime!

Sincerely,

Dana Stangel

Afterward:

As soon as we got home, I went online and did some research.  What I learned is that the FCC does not regulate in-flight entertainment.  I learned this is something kind of new they are trying out- “edited” PG-13 and ‘R’ movies in flight.  Fracture (image of person being shot in the face),  The Last King of Scotland (general bloodshed), etc.  I learned that we are not the first family to have gone through this.  I learned that we were very lucky he turned it off- that they don’t have to.  I learned that one of the airlines defenses actually is: tell your kids to look the other way.  I guess the folks who work there don’t have small children; otherwise they would know that you cannot tell a 2 year old to look the other way for two hours!  And as soon as you tell that to a 5 year old, that’s the only place he wants to look.  (and I have very well-behaved kids, relatively speaking!)

We are not conservative people by any stretch of the imagination.  I do not condone censorship even a little.  But being trapped like that is inexcusable.  Unacceptable.  I will not stop until the law is changed.  I hope you will join me.  Here’s what you can do:

Sign the petition for congress:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/kidsafe/

Tags: airline, movie, travel, violence

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