United Airlines apologises after woman claims man 'pleasured himself' beside her on plane

The incident occurred during a flight from Heathrow to Chicago
Reuters
Alexandra Richards23 July 2018

United Airlines has apologised after a woman claimed a man masturbated while sitting beside her on a flight from Heathrow to Chicago.

The airline described the man's actions as "inappropriate and offensive" and said the incident was "exceedingly rare."

Photographer Genevieve Pascolla alerted staff to the issue during the flight last month.

“I woke up and saw him touching himself under a blanket,” she wrote in an Instagram post.

Ms Pascolla then reported the man to a flight attendant who moved her and another passenger to new seats.

But she added that flight attendants began to joke about the situation once both women had been moved.

“They then started making jokes about the situation asking ‘what perfume are you wearing’ and excusing him saying ‘he’s had a bit of wine’ no one stopped him,” she said.

She claims that she wrote to United to complain but did not receive a response until six weeks later.

Ms Pascolla shared their response online.

It read: “Unfortunately we are unable to honour your request for a refund from London to Chicago or offer goodwill compensation.”

Ms Pascolla said: “I am appalled at the lack of action taken in this situation in which as a woman, I was terrified. This man is clearly capable of much more,

"Your (United Airlines’) lack of action is disgusting."

However, she later admitted that the airline gave her a voucher for half the price of her ticket.

A spokeswoman for United Airlines said that the incident was 'inappropriate and offensive' and claimed that cases like the one described were “exceedingly rare.”

She said police spoke to the man when the plane landed in Chicago.

"Inappropriate and offensive conduct like this on our aircraft is exceedingly rare, but we have a protocol to ensure our customers’ safety because it is our top priority. That’s why, in this case, our customers were promptly moved to different seats in a different section of the plane and law enforcement officials were summoned in advance to meet the perpetrator when the plane pulled into the gate," the spokeswoman said.

Ms Pascolla also said that after the plane landed staff asked her if she wanted an apology from the man.

“I immediately rejected the request,” she said.

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