‘Threatening’ message drawn on Hong Kong-bound plane ‘led to illegal sackings’

A group of 13 flight attendants say they were illegally fired by United Airlines after refusing to fly on a Hong Kong-bound plane last July that had a “threatening” message scrawled under its tail engine, according to a complaint filed with the US Department of Labor.

In the complaint, filed Tuesday, they said the words “Bye Bye” and two faces, one smiling and the other “devilish”, were found finger-drawn in oil grime under the auxiliary engine of the Boeing 747-400 plane at San Francisco International Airport.

The flight attendants, all with 18 or more years of experience, said the airline refused to deplane the passengers and conduct a security inspection. They said they disobeyed orders to work, believing the lives of more than 300 passengers and crew on the jumbo jet could be endangered.

After a delay, the July 14 flight was eventually cancelled. United accused the flight attendants of insubordination and fired them all, according to the complaint.

Chicago-based United, a unit of United Continental Holdings Inc, said it would fight the pending litigation vigorously. A spokesman said in an email that the airline’s teams had investigated the issue and found there was no “credible security threat”.

The airline followed all of the Federal Aviation Administration’s procedures, the spokesman said, noting that the pilots and mechanics had deemed the plane safe to fly.