Frontier Expresses No Regrets, No Remorse, No Apologies over the Arrest and Strip-Search of 3 Paying Passengers

I was going to blog today about how the Mall of America has ingratiated itself into the informer network of our American Stasi, better known as the Department of Homeland Security.  That can wait.

Yesterday we read about how three brown passengers who had done nothing wrong (other than two who had committed the apparent crime of needing to use an airplane lavatory) were arrested at gunpoint, handcuffed, searched, strip-searched, interrogated and held for hours without counsel or family.  Not only is this how our government is now treating its citizens, we read today that Frontier airlines offers no regrets or apologies for delivering its paying customers to the government to abuse in this manner:

Shoshana Hebshi-Holt, arrested on Frontier flight on 9/11 anniversary, speaks out

Frontier Airlines did not get in touch with her or apologize. In a statement, the company said, “The primary responsibility of our flight crews … the pilots and flight attendants … is the safety of all passengers on board the aircraft at all times.”

The company went on to say that only the two men had been reported to authorities for suspicious activity and all other “actions taken by federal authorities after the report were their own and were made without any further involvement from Frontier or any company employee.”

One way deal with pariahs in our midst is to stigmatize them.  We can neutralize the American Stasi by shunning those who do business with it, especially those companies that willingly deliver their innocent customers for illegal search and interrogation.

One aspect of this is the boycott:

• Were you going to purchase a ticket on Frontier?  Don't.
• Have you purchased a ticket on Frontier?  Cancel it.
• Have you purchased a ticket on another airline?  Call Frontier and explain why their competition got your business.  There are several numbers below -- call each of them, every time.

The second aspect is non-violent protest, airline style:

• Call Frontier's telephone reservations line (I would suggest blocking your caller ID first) and make a bogus reservation.  Ask lots of questions, change the time and/or route mid-call, decide that you want to add your family, etc.  When it finally reaches the point where you would actually have to provide your credit card information:  "Before we finalize this, may I ask you one question?  Are brown people allowed to use a lavatory on your airplane?"  Let them answer, then excuse yourself:  "I'm sorry but I've been thinking about this, and I just don't want to end up like those people in Detroit.".  Thank them for their time, hang up, lather, rinse, repeat.
• Call every Frontier phone number you can find (several below) and explain why you will not do business with them,.
• If you are passing through an airport ticket lobby, stop at the Frontier desk and explain why you did not purchase your ticket on Frontier.  Ask if they have comment cards, and fill one out if it is offered.
• Do likewise if you pass by a Frontier gate in a concourse.  Tell them why you won't be boarding at their gate, and offer to fill out a comment card.

A Stasi needs informants to survive, prisoners to intimidate and abuse.  By pressuring its informer network (of which Frontier Airlines is a bona fide member) to shun the Stasi, we can defeat the Stasi itself.

Frontier phone numbers, emails and contact link:

• 800-432-1359 (reservations)
• 866-263-2759 (frequent flyer program)
• 800-432-1359 (frequent flyer program)
• 800-432-1359 (customer relations)
• 800-243-6297 (agency desk)
• 800-952-7637 ("Best Care" business program / assistance)
• 800-243-6297 ("Best Care" business program / assistance)
• 888-601-4296 (group desk)
• 800-892-6580, Option 5 (cargo)
• 800-265-5505 (corporate office)
• 317-484-6000 (investor relations)
• 866-956-0702 (gift card orders)
• Company Store
• Cargo
• Media
• Frontier Customer Contact Link 

And finally we close this post with couple pictures, both arrested by their Stasi, their situations differing only in time and degree -- Sigrid Paul visiting her former Stasi prison in Berlin, and Shoshana Hebshi, released on Sept. 11 from the American Stasi Interrrogation Center at DTW: