Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 24 May 2017
Experts: Traveler should have drawn scrutiny before flight

MICHAEL BALSAMO red flag, you may let it go,
Associated Press but if you see three red
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A flags and you let it go, you
man acted strangely long should be let go.”
before he caused a dis- Airline employees may
turbance on a plane that have been worried about
prompted fighter jets to preventing Uskanli from fly-
accompany it to Hawaii, ing because of recent viral
but a lack of communi- videos of flight crews eject-
cation and an airline’s ing passengers and may
hesitancy to be caught on have been more tolerant
video booting a passenger of his behavior because
could have played a role they didn’t know about his
in allowing him to fly, ex- airport arrest, he said.
perts say. During the six-hour flight,
Anil Uskanli, 25, of Turkey, Uskanli had his head
had purchased a ticket swathed in a blanket and
at an airline counter in the passengers said he pound-
middle of the night with no ed on walls after someone
luggage and had been opened the restroom door
arrested after opening a he had left unlocked.
door to a restricted airfield He tried to get to the front
at Los Angeles Internation- of the plane, and a flight
al Airport. attendant used a drink cart
Airport police did not notify to block Uskanli. He placed
the airline, but they said it his laptop on the cart, and
isn’t common practice. In this file photo provided by Donna Basden, a man is escorted off an American Airlines flight after flight attendants feared it
After bizarre behavior on it landed in Honolulu, Friday, May 19, 2017. Associated Press might contain explosives.
board Friday, including try- That prompted the cap-
ing to get to the front of tain to initiate bomb-threat
the jet, he was arrested by ing on aviation security. cated his boarding pass Can you please reissue a procedures, and fighter
FBI agents and charged “Right there, that’s enough and walked him to a pub- boarding pass for me?’” jets escorted the plane to
with interfering with a flight red flags to really look into lic area of the airport. He Uskanli went to a different Honolulu. The secretary of
crew. this guy with curiosity,” Pely got another boarding pass airport terminal, request- Homeland Security was
A federal judge on Mon- said. “He had trouble writ- and went through security ed a wheelchair and was briefed.
day ordered him to under- ten all over him.” again. brought to the gate, Ameri- Police, TSA and the airline
go a mental competency But Uskanli went through a It isn’t uncommon for peo- can Airlines spokesman should have been commu-
evaluation, which Uskanli’s security screening without ple to open doors to re- Ross Feinstein said. nicating more efficiently,
attorney said he request- raising suspicion and only stricted areas, airport po- Flight attendants helped said Richard Bloom, a se-
ed based on conversa- drew the attention when lice spokesman Rob Pedre- Uskanli at the door of the curity expert at Embry-Rid-
tions with his client that he he opened a door leading gon said, and Uskanli said plane, authorities said. dle Aeronautical University.
would not detail. to an airfield ramp around he was looking for food Before takeoff, he sat in first- “The end result was an in-
The first alarm should have 2:45 a.m. when he was stopped by class and had to be asked credible cost.
been Uskanli buying his Airport police said he officers. several times to move to his If you add up the delays
ticket around midnight smelled of alcohol but was “Had it not been serious, economy seat, according and the jet scrambling,
with no bags other than a not intoxicated enough to it would have been comi- to a criminal complaint. etc., a lot of money was
laptop, a phone and items be charged with public cal,” Pely said. “How many “This is a situation where expended on him, a lot of
in his pocket, said Do- drunkenness, so he was giv- times do passengers go red flags were not accu- emotions, a lot of people
ron Pely, a director at TAL en a summons to appear in back to the check-in coun- mulating properly because felt uncomfortable,” Pely
Global, an international se- court and released. ter and say, ‘Police confis- they were not transferred,” said.q
curity consulting firm focus- Police said officers confis- cated my boarding pass. Pely said. “If you see one
Uber admits stiffing NYC drivers by millions of dollars

TOM McELROY experience better from pany will now calculate its ence of nearly 10 percent,” that it has used a fake ver-
NEW YORK (AP) — Uber end to end.” commission based on the Bhairavi Desai, executive sion of its app to thwart au-
on Tuesday admitted to The ride-hailing company net fare, which is in line with director of the New York thorities and accusations of
underpaying its New York said each affected driv- its updated national driver Taxi Workers Alliance. trade theft.
City drivers tens of millions er would get a refund of policy enacted in Novem- “This payout is an attempt In February, a video
of dollars for the past 2 1/2 about $900, which includes ber 2014. by Uber to pull a fast one to emerged of CEO Travis Ka-
years. interest. The union that represents avoid court oversight and lanick arguing with an Uber
“We are committed to Uber did not give an exact Uber drivers welcomed the shortchange drivers in the driver.
paying every driver every figure on how many drivers announcement, but said process,” said Desai, whose It includes yelling and pro-
penny they are owed — it has in the city, but said the company owes its driv- organization has filed sev- fanity and ends with a com-
plus interest — as quickly it was in the tens of thou- ers more than its claiming. eral lawsuits against the bative Kalanick dismissing
as possible,” Uber execu- sands. “Uber is using the differ- San Francisco-based com- the agitated driver’s claims
tive Rachel Holt said in a The company said it had ence in the commission it pany. that sharp reductions in
statement. “We are work- mistakenly continued to wrongly took from drivers, It’s been a tumultuous year fares forced him into bank-
ing hard to regain driver calculate its commission rather than reimburse the for Uber, which has been hit ruptcy.
trust, and that means being based on the gross fare, drivers the full tax and sur- with lawsuits, allegations of Kalanick later conceded
transparent, sticking to our before any taxes and fees charge amounts they are sexual harassment, a feder- he needed leadership
word, and making the Uber were deducted. The com- owned back — a differ- al investigation into claims help.q