Audio By Carbonatix
Man, American Airlines is getting the worst kind of PR imaginable today, as the Tale of Teresa Olaya spreads far and wide. And, look, the first part was bad enough: Miguel Olaya said he sent his wife’s corpse from Brooklyn to her native Ecuador for burial after she died in March of cancer at the age of 57. Only, a paperwork snafu led to American’s shipping the body to Guatemala instead. Same thing has happened to my luggage on more than one occasion. But the story from the Daily News details the part that most likely led to Miguel Olaya’s lawsuit against the Fort Worth-based carrier:
After the mistake was discovered, the airline even wanted to charge an extra $321 to ship Teresa’s body to the right place, said the director of DeRiso Funeral Home in Bay Ridge, which made the arrangements. “I said, ‘This is adding insult to injury,'” said Cathy DeRiso.
Our pal Tim Wagner, I’m gonna guess, may have an official American statement he’d be happy to post in the comments. Something to do with “first checked bag” and “added fees,” no doubt. –Robert Wilonsky
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