Former Jersey Shore star Jenni Farley, who rose to fame when the hit MTV show first aired in 2012, has claimed that United Airlines booted her and her disabled son off a flight after her reservation was accidentally canceled.
Taking to Instagram, the reality television alumni explained that she arrived at the airport early in the morning on Wednesday to fly home from vacation when she discovered that her original flight had been delayed due to a mechanical fault.
United Airlines offered to get Jenni and her eight-year-old son, Greyson, onto an alternative flight, although gate agents initially told Jenni that the pair would have to be seated 15 rows apart.
Thankfully, it appears that United did manage to get Jenni and Greyson seats together on the new flight, but after the pair had already boarded, she says agents had them escorted off the plane because someone had accidentally canceled her reservation and then released the seats to two new passengers.
In an Instagram story, Jenni, visibly upset and struggling to hold back tears, said, “So, United just kicked me and Greyson off the plane.”
Jenni continued: “I have no idea why…” before she was interrupted by an airline employee who suggested her reservation had been canceled. Jenni responded: “No one canceled anything,” before the employee could be heard saying in the background: “Are you sure?”
Rather than waiting it out at the airport, Jenni decided to decamp with Greyson to a local Margaritaville resort before deciding to return to the airport later the same day, at which point the pair managed to get on a flight home.
Jenni’s experience comes just weeks after NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Davis accused United Airlines of calling the police on him after he tapped a flight attendant to request a cup of ice for his son during a flight from Denver to Orange County.
The incident unfolded after the flight attendant apparently missed Davis’ row during the beverage service and quickly escalated when the crew member ‘rushed’ to the front of the plane to call the FBI on Terrell.
United Airlines has already terminated the flight attendant involved in the altercation, although Terrell is threatening legal action against the airline after United accidentally had been placed on its internal ‘No Fly’ list.
Passengers being deplaned against their will is a particularly sensitive subject for United Airlines following the infamous Dr David Dao incident in 2018 when the physician was left bruised, bloodied, and battered as he was forcibly dragged off an oversold United plane.
That incident occurred when United needed to ‘deadhead’ several crew members on what was already a fully booked flight. Dr Dao was already in his seat when United told him that he would have to deplane to make room for one of the crew members.
Dr Dao refused to get off the jet, so United called security guards at Chicago O’Hare to have him forcibly removed. The incident led to sweeping changes in how US carriers deal with overbooking situations, and now airlines are willing to offer customers thousands of dollars to voluntarily swap to a later flight.
