On December 31, a passenger waiting for an American Airlines flight at Dallas – Fort Worth’s gate E22A walked behind the counter, and starts typing on the computer – and taking photos. When confronted over this, he initially claimed to be “Homeland Security.” The Department of Homeland Security doesn’t just walk up to computers and start typing. He was asked for ID, and changed his story.
The man claimed not to have been taking pictures. Most everything in an airport is on camera. He deleted the photos from his phone in order to show he hadn’t taken any, though it’s not clear why taking photos in a public area would violate any law (though taking photos in an American Airlines gate area arguably violates the airline’s policies).
More airline employees showed up. He was asked whether he had any friends in the industry, though this doesn’t seem relevant. He “just starts saying other random airline names.”
Police were called. The passenger explains he was just “curious because they didn’t have the flight information up.” And the man says he shouldn’t have done it.
The officer’s explanation though for why this is problematic, and why it’s a police matter, is weird?
Yes, it’s government related, but it is also a business. Ameican AIrlines is a business, so they do have FAA and government relations.
It turns out the passenger was “wasted” and he was taken into customer “to sober up.”
@jacquelynlankfordtrumpet My New Year’s Eve at the @DFW Airport. A huge thanks to the @American Airlines employees and the officer involved for not letting this guy on our flight. PS – American, you should give them all a raise for how well they handled this! #americanairlines #dfwairport #happynewyear #2023 #police ♬ original sound – Jacquelyn Lankford
Unauthorized access to a computer has potential legal consequences, though in recent years courts have been limiting overly expansive interpretations of what this means. It’s not clear that the passenger actually accessed anything, versus standing at the terminal and getting nowhere. In the end the problem was, it seems, that he was drunk.
Click bait headline – yes he was an idiot but from the story he was taken away to sober up. Nothing in the story says he was charged or “taken to jail” per the headline. Aren’t there enough real stories about airlines, hotels, reviews, program changes, legislation, etc without throwing out “National Enquirer” type articles about drunks, inappropriate outfits and passenger misbehavior? I know you need clicks but IMHO posting stories like this (and many much worse) cheapen your brand.
How could he access any information without a UserID (probably an employee #) and a password? He basically was just staring at a blank screen.
great article! that was really funny he ended up being wasted in the end
Slow News Day?
What’s wrong with people? No self control.
Wait … was this guy taken to jail or not? “Taken into customer …” — what’s that mean?
Unless the computer was signed in by an employee and knew the entries to do anything (leaving a computer signed in and unattended is a huge no-no), he would have gotten exactly nothing.
Drunken idiot.
Id be curious to see what’s on the screens as a frequent traveler, only get a quick glimpse while boarding
Gregg (the other one)
When in use at the gate, the computer most likely shows things like a list of passengers by frequent flier status, standbys, seat maps for that flight, flight status, delays, etc. I was with a United Express carrier as a supervisor and trainer and probably worked the gate a thousand times. It’s not very interesting to anyone else. Much of the information is in internal airline codes that no one other than an employee would likely understand anyway. If you fly on a slow day, ask the gate agent. One might let you look, especially if you have a high frequent flier status.
Just checking my TikTok, bro.
Really working hard for those extra clicks now, aren’t we?
I disagree with most of the “takes” here. It should be assumed that it is a serious matter for Homeland Security and the airline. A non-employee and member of the general public potentially accessing any airline computer system? If the cops respond, check it out, and conclude it was a drunk guy and there were no other security risks, then fine. They did their duty. But it is certainly reasonable to have alerted security/cops. The airline employees were right to notify someone. I would have trained them to do exactly that.
” the passenger was “wasted” and he was taken into customer “to sober up.” What customer was he ‘taken into’?! Must have been painful for this customer: the guy is kind of big… 😉
Could be he was a hacker who want to see exactly what was the American Airlines set up for their computer system.
Me-again: Get a grip. This is a big nothing burger.
I wonder what if any legal protections American or another airline has to its computer in a public space. The airport terminal is public. There is zero expectation of privacy. Airlines don’t own the gate areas. The airport or airport authority does. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sign that says “no trespassing” or “do not enter” in the area in and behind the gate desk. The computers at the gates may not even be the airline’s, at least at airports where multiple airlines use the same gates. Playing around on an unattended computer left powered on in a public setting seems fair game.
Unless the passenger had a valid username and password, he would have not been able to unlock the computer. I think the media purposely leaves out pertinent information..
Not necessarily public. American pays for those gates and space. They are not supported by the tax payer. Out in the terminal is public, on the plane or gate area is a private company controlled.