13 May, 2017
The frustrated ticket agent does seem to suggest, however, that a reason she's calling for the cancellation of Oza's ticket is the videotaping itself. Oza contends that the same bag holding the same contents only cost him $125 in his flight out of SFO to New Orleans, which caused the disagreement.
Oza responded with "obviously", but in his post, he claimed he only drank two beers before his heated exchange with the agent.
"Do you know why I'm taping you?"
"You do not have my permission to videotape", the United Airlines employee says in the video shared to Twitter.
After a moment she can be seen turning to another agent, asking for the man's name and instructing the employee to "cancel the reservation".
The United ordeal prompted a congressional hearing into how airlines may be harming the customer-service experience, which initiated dialogue about the practice of overbooking and a lack of competition in the airline industry.
"Why do you want this deleted?" he asked. Because you guys have awful customer service, ' Oza said.
While the unnamed gate agent repeatedly says she does not give her permission for him to record her, the rules around how and when passengers can photograph or record in airports and on airplanes vary greatly.
The United agent called airport police, and Oza was still recording when an officer arrived - and he agreed that he was within his rights to record video of the encounter in a public space. She also says "Until that [clip] is erased, you're not traveling".
The woman said he had previously refused to pay, which Oza denied in the video. Later, she takes her own cell phone out to record him.
"I want to know why", Oza asked the agent, and she replied: "Because you did not have my permission".
Oza ultimately rebooked his flight on a different airline, he said.
"The video does not reflect the positive customer experience we strive to offer, and for that we apologize", the company told NBC in a statement. "We are reviewing this situation, including talking with Mr. Oza and our employees, to better understand what happened".
This is the latest in a series of public scandals that United Airlines has faced within recent weeks.
Dr David Dao has reached an undisclosed settlement with the airline.
