First United Now Delta . . . And Why Am I Not Surprised

Remember a few weeks back the story that came out that a passenger on a United flight was locked in a plane simply because she fell asleep.

Apparently not one of the flight crew noticed her sleeping considering that they are supposed to do a last minute check to make sure everyone is off and nothing major gets left behind.

And I would say that a sleeping person is a major think - too major to overlook.

But like they say, shit happens.

But now another airline has come up with something else.

I wouldn't say entirely the same as leaving a sleeping passenger behind but just as novel.

Delta Airlines contracted to fly 2 different children (one boy and one girl) from their respective starting point to their respective destinations - namely Cleveland and Boston.

The children flew and Delta dutifully brought them to their destinations - the boy in Cleveland, the girl in Boston.

Alls well that ends well right?

Of course not else I wouldn't be making a commentary.

I'm sure many of you already get what happened but just in case you missed it the boy was supposed to go to Boston and the girl to Cleveland.

A mix-up? Yes, a BIG one.

Imagine the surprise of the persons picking up the children when they discover the child they were suppose to pick up not only changed gender but also changed names.

Delta blamed a paperwork mix-up for the incident.

See why are they blaming pieces of paper when they should be blaming the people in charge of their unaccompanied minors program and the immediate people in charge of the two children.

How simple could it be to check the name of the children and match it with the name of the child they have have on record so they know which child goes to which destination.

Unless of course Delta's records were wrong to begin with so the blame is really for their whole system and it cannot be blamed simply on a paperwork mix-up.

An apology and free flights is not enough. More punitive action must be taken against Delta, and all airlines for that matter, that treat passengers as simply nothing more than baggage.

It's only right that there be a passenger bill of rights that airlines should and must abide with lest they be held accountable - and the punishment should not simply be a slap on the wrist.

It must be something that will remind them not to do it again.

Maybe after this they will start putting barcodes on the children they carry.

It would not prevent them from being lost but at least they will be going somewhere warm and tropical.

Finally We Have The Winners

It's really official - well semi-official at least - Benigno Aquino III and Jejomar Binay are our country's next President and Vice-President respectively.

Congress, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, finally finished canvassing the 278 certificates of votes - a process which had been marred by delays due to questions about the election's validity as well as accusations of fraud.

Of course it's not over until it's really over since Senator Manuel Roxas is probably going to file an electoral protest.

Whatever the outcome of that remains to be seen.

But at least for now, a new leadership has been chosen by the people and will take office come end of June.

Whether it will be better or worst than what we've had is still up in the air.

We can only hope that President-elect Aquino would follow through with his promises and be able to steer the country to a better course than where it has been headed now.

And may the vice-president-elect and all the senators and representatives put aside politics and work for the actual good of the country.

Seems like a logical thing to ask . . .

. . . Or is that whistling in the wind?