Where are basic courtesies for foreign fliers?

[Francis Hult]

Des Moines Register

 

Where are basic courtesies for foreign fliers?

 

Who knew?

Who knew that an airlines flight from Shanghai, China, to Chicago would include passengers who spoke only Chinese? What are the odds on that?

Who knew that a flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to Chicago would include passengers who spoke only German?

Who knew? Apparently not United Airlines, because the treatment recently accorded Chinese and German visitors to the United States was testimony to how insular and unaccommodating Americans can be. The international flights were right in step with Iowa's "English only" mentality.

 

A friend, Kit Spangler of West Des Moines, was on the Chinese flight; my wife and I were on the Frankfurt flight. In both instances Kit and I spoke to flight attendants: Um, don't you think some of the intercom announcements should be in Chinese/German? On Kit's flight, they could not because not a single member of the flight crew spoke Chinese. And they did not have the foresight to have available, say, a recorded announcement in Chinese or to enlist a bilingual passenger to ease the stress of non-English speaking Chinese.

  

Full story:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080607/OPINION01/806070308/-1/SPORTS09

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