Crenshaw Introducing Bill ‘to Protect Passenger Rights’

United Airlines has responded to Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s (R) social media video, where he excoriates the airlines over their customer service practices. In their response, they commented that “they stand by their employee” while arguing that Rep. Crenshaw has not been faithful in discussing the incident involving a United Airlines agent, his wife, his mother-in-law, and his dog, Joey. However, Rep. Crenshaw criticized their response, affirming that he will present “legislation to protect passenger rights.”

As reported yesterday, Rep. Crenshaw’s family was turned away from flying because of his dog. As he described it, along with showing footage of the incident, an “unhinged United agent” attempted “to get the dog, photograph him, and report my wife, so they can never fly again.”

United Airlines is now countering Rep. Crenshaw’s words, but the Texas Republican argues that the response is meaningless because “we brought the receipts.”

In his initial video, Rep. Crenshaw provided footage of the incident and a recording of a conversation between himself and Phillip Griffith, the Vice President of Operations. Rep. Crenshaw took issue with United sidestepping “what actually happened,” which he explains as “them grabbing our pet, and grabbing our property after my wife was trying to get a different flight.”

“I don’t know who is running their PR. This is a case study in how not to do public relations,” Rep. Crenshaw commented.

In response to United Airlines’ statement that they “were upholding United’s policies on in-cabin pets to ensure the safety of his dog,” the Texas Republican assured that “legislation is forthcoming.”

“There should be a passenger bill of rights. People should have rights when agents treat them like this, and you should have recourse. We will be working on this,” he further expressed.

Sharing the news on social media, Rep. Crenshaw called the whole incident a situation of “remarkable incompetence,” adding that he “can’t wait to start introducing legislation to protect passenger rights. Give us some time to get it right, but it’s coming. There is already a number of Congressman and Senators interested in this.”