Straight Talk

United Airlines leaves Richmond teen stranded in Connecticut

by Charlie Smith on August 1st, 2017 at 8:37 PM
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      United Airlines is once again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

      CTV News Vancouver has reported that the U.S. air carrier left a 15-year-old from Richmond, Victor Shmulevich, stuck in an airport for 10 hours on the other side of North America.

      According to CTV, United Airlines told him that minors cannot travel unattended.

      As a result, Shmulevich couldn't return home from an airport near Hartford, Connecticut, after attending a summer program at Yale University.

      He eventually reached an Air Canada agent, who offered assistance. CTV reported that Shmulevich's father, Dmitry, then arranged for him to fly on Air Canada to Toronto and then to Vancouver. The teen arrived 20 hours after he wasn't permitted on the United Airlines flight.

      In April, United Airlines enraged many people around the world when security officers beat and then dragged Dr. David Dao off an airplane even though he had a ticket. That prompted a grovelling apology from the CEO, Oscar Munoz.

      Watch what United Airlines said to passenger Dr. David Dao in April before he was assaulted.
      Watch CNN's report on Dr. David Dao.

      That wasn't United's first bit of bad publicity. In 2009, the airline was ridiculed in a song called "United Breaks Guitars", which went viral on YouTube.

      This came after United Airlines damaged a $3,500 guitar and refused to offer any compensation for nine months.

      Dave Carroll wrote "United Breaks Guitars" following his miserable experience with the U.S. air carrier.

      All of this controversy hasn't hurt the stock price. It closed today at US$67.86, up from US$44.40 a year ago today.

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