Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) said he is considering drafting legislation to protect airline passengers after a bizarre incident between his wife and a United agent.
In a video posted on X, the Texas Republican described how a ticketing agent treated his wife after she attempted to check in with her infant and mother-in-law for their flight to visit him in D.C. After they were told they could not travel with the family’s two small dogs, which according to Crenshaw they’ve done previously with no problem, the agent goes toward the animal carrier and tries to take one of the dogs out.
Why? Crenshaw explains:
“Even though they said they were gonna get a different flight, that they were done, they’re not checking in, it’s over, the United agent wanted to take our dog out of the bag. She wanted to get the dog, photograph him, and report my wife so they could never fly again. It was completely unhinged.”
It's unclear when the incident took place, but Crenshaw said he tried to resolve the matter privately first. It was only when the situation escalated after he had a meeting with the Vice President of Operations that he went public.
In the recorded meeting, the United executive, who defended the agent, told him he deals “with you and people like your wife every day” and at one point told him to “shut up.” He also said he doesn’t “give a—care what you think you can do.”
As critics pointed out, if this is how a lawmaker is treated, imagine how ordinary customers are.
The whole incident turned Crenshaw into a supporter of a passenger bill of rights.
Exactly. We need passenger bill of rights. https://t.co/walkdf7WaA
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 21, 2024
Below is text of the congressman's message along with the video:
This is one of the more aggressive videos I’ve ever had to post. You really need to see it all the way to the end. You’ll see a United agent grab the dog and personal property, and you’ll hear the shocking recording of my conversation with that agent’s supervisor (the VP of Operations) here in Houston.
I fully expect United Airlines will attempt to retaliate against me. They’ve already sent me multiple veiled threats regarding my ability to travel in the future. Because they have a monopoly on the routes I need to DC, I don’t have much choice but to fly them.I honestly did not want to post this. I tried to resolve this privately. I know there are good people at United. But these two individuals need to be called out. And their terrible corporate leadership needs to answer a simple question: do you condone this behavior?
Instead of doing anything to accept responsibility for their bad behavior or try to correct what is clearly inappropriate and problematic behavior, United, through its representative and lawyers, have threatened me personally and taken an irrationally hostile approach to this incident.
Many of you have shared your stories of being mistreated by an airline agent on a power trip. It’s time to start considering legislation that protects passengers. These airlines took tens of billions of dollars from taxpayers. United took $10.9 B and owes us better than this.
Details forthcoming. This isn’t ending anytime soon.
This is one of the more aggressive videos I’ve ever had to post. You really need to see it all the way to the end. You’ll see a United agent grab the dog and personal property, and you’ll hear the shocking recording of my conversation with that agent’s supervisor (the VP of… pic.twitter.com/xhK0v4zQzw
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 21, 2024