Doggone it! Air travel is hard enough traveling with a two-month-old baby and a little dog. Add an overly-aggressive airline employee into the mix and there is going to be a problem.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) explaining that a woman named Angela was very abusive to Tara Crenshaw as she, Tara’s mother, two-month-old baby daughter, and the family’s small dog tried to check in for their flight on United Airlines. They were traveling out of Houston and going to D.C. to visit Crenshaw. Angela, it seems, had decided that the Crenshaw group should not be traveling on their flight that day.
Things did not go well.
For whatever reason, the United Airlines employee, Angela, tried to grab the dog in its carrier and insisted she wanted to photograph the dog. In the video, you can see Angela interacting with the family. Tara is trying to keep the baby out of the attack as the agent tries to grab the dog.
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
What I gather from this is that Tara was trying to de-escalate the situation with the unhinged airline employee. It is not clear if Angela knew who Tara was or not. That part is irrelevant to me. No ticket-holder should be treated like that as they try to check in for the flight. Tara said she would change her travel arrangements and get a flight on Southwest Airlines instead of United. Angela has decided that Tara should never fly again and wanted a photo of the dog. What?
The video backs up what Tara said about the incident. That video came from the airport, Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). The question is what happened to set off Angela? Tara’s reputation is a good one, a helpful and loyal political spouse who does not create drama. She’s nice. Maybe Angela saw the last name and connected the dots. Besides Rep.Crenshaw and his wife, apparently, even the dog is a frequent flyer out of IAH. Maybe Angela is a Democrat with a grudge against Crenshaw. We don’t know. Crenshaw doesn’t know, either, because when he arranged a meeting with United, the person he got was the airline’s vice president for airport operations. He is Angela’s supervisor. The vice president, Phillip Griffith, cops an attitude and comes for Crenshaw from the start of their meeting.
Crenshaw recorded their conversation. “I deal with you and people like your wife every day.”
The congressman got a meeting with the airline’s vice president for airport operations and he recorded it, with the United Vice President referring to “customers like you” that he has to deal with “every single day.” The United executive defended the agent, claiming she was calm and kept hands to herself, though video of the incident contradicts this. United doesn’t have a great track record with dogs.
The congressman gets frustrated with United’s Vice President, when video supports his version of events but United continues to dispute it. He drops an f-bomb, and the United VP tells him to “shut up” and grabs the congressman’s laptop. Crenshaw says that United’s lawyers have threatened to ban him from the airline.
Griffith didn’t like the ‘f’ bomb. But, grabbing Crenshaw’s computer was out of line. Needless to say, nothing was resolved during the meeting.
So, Crenshaw is going to do what he can through his position as a congressman. Airline passengers deserve better. As Crenshaw said, “United took $10.9 B and owes us better than this.” Now the vice president in charge of Angela wants to tell Crenshaw to shut up. Not a good look, Phillip.
The incident with United has turned Crenshaw into a supporter of a Passenger Bill of Rights, consumer protections usually associated with Democrats. I’d add that while United looks very bad here, like Mel Brooks said in History of The World, Part I “it’s good to be the king.” When most of us have run-ins with airlines, we don’t get Senate hearings. Most of us can’t easily get access to airport surveillance video, either.
That’s why airlines, which are one of the most heavily regulated and subsidized businesses in the country, are usually far more solicitous of the political classes.
Not smart, United. Crenshaw is garnering some support from Republican colleagues with whom he sometimes does not align.
This 👇 https://t.co/jxsUmzzEGQ
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 21, 2024
Thank you Matt, 👊 https://t.co/rvEaqpb6hB
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 21, 2024
Crenshaw said Phillip hates his guts.
They didn’t target my wife for being my wife, she didn’t even get a chance to check in before they flipped out on her. That’s just how that woman Angela apparently treats everyone!
The guy I met with, Phillip, absolutely knew who I was and clearly hated my guts. https://t.co/Yi2fKNURMC
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 21, 2024
Anyway, appreciate Crenshaw for his service as a SEAL and as a congressman from the great state of Texas, or not, he will use his platform. This will help all airline passengers. Air travel is bad enough with the crazies disrupting flights, TSA allowing illegal aliens to skip the kind of security scrutiny that regular passengers endure, overcrowded flights, and airline personnel who cop an attitude. Unhinged agents at check-in who may or may not have a political agenda against a congressman’s family are not acceptable. Why pick on Tara and the dog when Crenshaw is an even more frequent flier? Couldn’t Angela wait until she interacted with him? Cowardly? Most bullies are.
Crenshaw has a little history with United in his professional capacity. Remember when major corporations were jumping ugly on Georgia for passing election law reforms in 2021? Crenshaw confronted the CEO on social media and called him out as a “pandering hypocrite.” And he told him to shut up. Heh.
“Travelers 18 years of age or older are required to have a valid, current U.S. federal or state-issued photo ID that contains name, date of birth, gender, expiration date and a tamper-resistant feature for travel..”
That’s your policy, United. Pandering hypocrites. Just shut up. https://t.co/m2PIPOIPsi
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) April 5, 2021
We’ll see what happens with this story. Crenshaw could fly Southwest Airlines out of Hobby Airport to D.C. but that is a much longer trip to the airport from his home.