On the morning of November 18 at Malpensatwo travelers from Italy caught the attention of United Airlines staff by trying to fill Business Class seats with altered documents. The incident, described by an airport source as an episode “with little precedent in the world”, arose from the duo’s attempt to present a corrected boarding pass on a computer after passing the routine checks required for Economy Class passengers. “Two passengers try to travel from Milan to New York in comfortable Business class seats“, reported the employees, noting that the premium cabins “cost thousands of euros” and both were immediately on the “airline blacklist”.
Based on what was seen, the two “Italian nationals” boarded the plane thanks to their original Economy tickets for United Airlines flight 18 to Newark. As reported by Corriere della Sera, after being greeted by the flight attendant on the plane they were seated in two Business class seats, where there is a fare “the cost is no less than 3,080 euros, per person, one way” and could even double as occupancy levels increase. There were “191 passengers and 13 crew” on board and the Business was nearly full. 49 (of 50) Business seats for sale are all occupied”, also thanks to 5 “upgrades”. However, they remain “5 free seats in Premium economy” and more than fifty in Economy. The gap quickly emerged, because “flight attendants always know how many people they have to look after especially in Business”, and because “the gap is visible on the tablets provided”.
When the two sat down, the staff checked their documentation. The source said that the passengers attempted to dispute the validity of the computer-corrected cards. but comparison with official data clarifies the situation in a few moments. At that point staff asked the couple to collect their personal belongings and leave the plane. No relocation to Economy followed: exit the cabin immediately.
Sea, the company that manages the airport, did not comment and referred any information to the company. United provided a brief statement: “While boarding flight UA18 from Milan to Newark, two passengers were offloaded to resolve a ticket issue. Once removed, the flight departed as scheduled.”
