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Post | 11/19/2008 4:00 pm

US Airways 'Loses' 83-year-old Woman

By The Staff at wowOwow.com
© Shutterstock

Talk about taking the scenic route!

Eighty-three-year-old Floridian Elfriede Kuemmel planned on returning to Tampa after a trip to New York, but a US Airways representative sent her off to Puerto Rico, instead.

Kuemmel’s journey began in Newburgh, NY, from where she flew to Philadelphia to make her connecting flight. Unfortunately for her, a US Airways staffer wasn’t paying close enough attention and the wheelchair-bound Kuemmel ended up in Puerto Rico. Kuemmel’s daughter, Vera Kuemmel, planned on meeting her mother at Tampa’s baggage claim, and frantically searched for her until she received a call telling her Kuemmel ended up in San Juan. Kuemmel spent the night on the island before being flown home.

For their part, US Airways paid for Kuemmel’s food, lodging and gave her a first-class seat for the flight back to Florida.

We would hope they would give her a few more first-class flights just for the trouble!

Read more about: Elfriede Kuemmel, Florida, News, Puero Rico, Travel, US Airways, Vera Kuemmel
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12 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Delete This

Now she has her Thanksgiving dinner topic that’ll make Granny a bigger hit with the family…hopefully she’s a sport and there’s a People Mag article and some more goddies forthcoming.

By Delete This on 11/19/2008 4:32 pm
Patty E

As one who spent 13 years working for an airline—THAT ‘extra trip’ is darn near impossible to screw up on! Elfriede Kuemmel should have been given a lot more than first class on the way back to Florida! The employee did not read her ticket, the person collecting and counting boarding passes ‘overlooked’ in the count, the flight attendants overlooked the number people that were SUPPOSED to be on the plane in comparison to the number of sets sold for the flight…just a bunch of hiccups! Gheez—-I should go to that airport and sneak myself on a flight —just to see what happens!

By Patty E on 11/19/2008 7:57 pm
Dab-a- do

Homeland Security in action?

By Dab-a- do on 11/19/2008 8:24 pm
Dab-a- do

Or lack of action?

By Dab-a- do on 11/19/2008 8:25 pm
E .

Exactly Dab.
An airline placing someone who does not have a ticket for that particular flight onto the aircraft and actually putting them in the air with a planeload of other unsuspecting passengers. It may sound like a harmless but idiotic mistake but the ramifications are tremendous. US Airways will likely react quickly by firing one or two members of what I am sure is a poorly trained, understaffed and low wage earning team - which corrects a total of 0% of the problem which is created at the top.

By E . on 11/20/2008 8:37 am
Carol J

Patty, your knowledge and common sense assumes that people think, and/or act responsibly.

It depends. In my experience (as a vision-impaired, and mobility impaired human) the difference between DC and DFW was vast in regards to employee intellect/responsibilities - it was obvious from the moment I landed in DC; “DC” AA even knew I was coming - DFW didn’t know I was there! The same occurred when I flew to Newark for medical care last January - and believe me, that trip was more than expertly planned, or so we thought. Newark AA was like landing in another world - a free world, at that.

By Carol J on 11/20/2008 9:18 am
Patty E

Thank goodness I did not work for AA!! I was in Houston..part of the Continental family…..

By Patty E on 11/20/2008 11:54 am
Carol J

Ahhh, I had a daughter with CA too - out of Hou, then went to open their Honolulu base (that was a nightmare in itself). After she left CA, I missed the Pac Rim trips Gold Class, though. ;-))

By Carol J on 11/20/2008 12:08 pm
beverly linens

When my mother was in her eighties and traveling to NewYork to visit my daughter, we put a tag on her just like a piece of luggage. We’d pin it to her chest with her destination in full view. It saved her more than once when we couldn’t get direct flights.

By beverly linens on 11/19/2008 8:26 pm
Dona Howlett

At her age, the Airlines should give her a few more first class trips……..
I’ll bet she enjoys telling the story anyway………….

I hope they were thoughtful enough to at least give her a Tour of the City before returning her home.

By Dona Howlett on 11/20/2008 2:55 am
C Hardy

And some wonder why I hate to fly….

By C Hardy on 11/20/2008 8:47 am
Carol J

Well, that’s nothing - AA lost me in DFW airport en route to DC last April. An experience I’ll never forget, although they claimed defensively that it was “ground transportation” AA made all of the travel plans. Sheesh. Once in DC, “on the street” I heard people commenting as such “if you have to travel through Texas, don’t go through DFW!” In that regard, I’ll never travel without a cell phone again - had I been able to just dial 911, I’d have been rescued.

By Carol J on 11/20/2008 9:12 am