*US Airways should have proactively provided some sort of appreciation to the Dr. without him having to “ask”.

*It is unreasonable for the Dr. to ask for TLV vouchers as consideration in this matter. October is the high holidays season in Israel and the monetary value of 2 non-stop PHL-TLV vouchers during that time would be approximately $2,500. That said, US Airways was probably kind of “cheap” in its offer of $175, something in the range of $300 seems more appropriate – but $2,500 is rather exaggerated in my opinion.

I live in the PHL area and hardly EVER fly US Airways. I could offer up 3 more examples of how US Airways is NOT inclined to be generous with ANY sort of compensation for any of their passengers.

Don’t do something thoughtful or considerate if you want to be “paid” for it, bottom line. A “Thank You” should be enough in the real world.

The facts are that US (at the corporate level) did nothing to recognize the doctor’s heroics… and that he was so put off by it that he wrote his letter. His specific request may well have been over the top, but the fact that they failed to take any initiative to recognize him despite his saving THEM tens of thousands of dollars (let alone a passenger they had not properly cared for, by serving excessive alcohol) would be sufficient to motivate most reasonable people to react the same as he did.

I seriously doubt that his sole motivation for helping was to avoid his own delay. But since neither of us was there, we’ll never know for sure. What we do know are the facts as presented, and the overwhelming consensus here seems to be that while his request may have been excessive, US’s trashy recognition reflects that they are, indeed, a lousy airline ruled by as inept a management team as can be found in any business, let alone an airline. My condolences to not only the doctor, but to the many decent US Airways employees on the front lines who try their best despite their leaders.

Many of my physician colleagues volunteer their time and provide free medical treatment to the needy and uninsured, but Dr. Pomerantz apparently feels his volunteering should come with a price tag?

If the plane had been forced to make an emergency the landing, the airline could and should have gone after the passenger for reimbursement for the expenses, as they did in the famous case of a drunk passenger defecating on a serving cart, who later turned out to be in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. If the doctor wants to be reimbursed for his time, he should take that up with patient #1, which I would 100% support him in doing. It doesn’t sound like patient #2 was much of an inconvenience, comparatively.

Additionally, if airlines were to offer substantial financial compensation for situations like this, it opens the door to all kinds of abuse. What’s to stop someone from booking a flight with their doctor friend, purposely (or purportedly) causing themselves to have some medical problem, then splitting the rewards? For a free intercontinental ticket, it would be very tempting to do so.

Can you imagine if other companies had customer service comparable to an airline’s? You walk into Burger King, order a hamburger, but then change your mind and ask for French fries instead. How would you feel if the cashier kept your money for the hamburger, charged you a $5.00 order change fee, charged you for the French fries, lost your receipt, and then refused to serve you because they had no receipt and you can’t prove that they ever did? Then they arrested you for arguing with the cashier, in violation of the Patriot Act.

In regards to the specific question of Chris’ article, let me make this easy: Imagine YOU are on U.S. Airways and have a heart attack mid-flight. The crew asks if a doctor is present who can help save your life. There IS a competent doctor on the plane, but he doesn’t speak up because he heard about how U.S. Airways treated Dr. Pomerantz, and didn’t want to render hours of free medical service when the plane could just make an emergency landing and save you with its own medical services. As a result, the airline makes that emergency landing, the airline’s insurance company pays out tens of thousands of dollars to reimburse U.S. Airways for a percentage of all the expenses associated with the emergency landing, half the passengers miss their connections, the other half are inconveniened, no one is reimbursed because the delay doesn’t violate the airline’s Contract of Carriage, U.S. Airways receives horrible press, and – oh – you die for lack of prompt medical treatment.

If you could have avoided all that (and survived the flight) by U.S. Airways giving Dr. Pomerantz a couple of free tickets to Tel Aviv, wouldn’t you have done so? Regardless of how audacious you may think his request, would you rather see the opposite precedent set just to uphold your high-horse principles that all people with applicable skills should render necessary services in emergencies with no compensation other than a pat on the back and a gift of the very poison that caused the medical emergency in the first place?

Don’t you don’t think a person’s life, the saving of tens of thousands of dollars, the staying on-schedule of 200+ passengers, and the comfort in knowing that future physicians will assist when needed is worth a couple of tickets to Tel Aviv?

Apparently U.S. Airways doesn’t, which is why I won’t be flying that airline in the future! (But had this story read, “U.S. Airways gives generous upgrades and a free flight to caring passenger who saved another’s life mid-flight,” I would have specifically USED their airline when I could, seeing how well they treat people who make their company look good.)