Monday night’s Spirit Airlines flight 3902 from Atlanta to Detroit was delayed five hours. After a significant mechanical delay, passengers “were eventually told they could board around 10:15 p.m.” and around 15 did indeed board.
However “rowdy travelers caused another delay” and Spirit gate agents shut the boarding doors so that “nobody else could board.” A passenger took control of the gate’s public address system to call for a supervisor.
At the beginning of the month a Spirit Airlines passenger went berserk in Atlanta. And last month two Spirit passengers brawled at a gate there. Despite a smaller operation than in South Florida, Atlanta is taking on greater significance in the Spirit Airlines Passenger Meltdown hub system.
I love watching reruns of Springer, Maury, and fake wrasslin’. So I feel like I would love flying Spirit for the entertainment value alone.
Sadly, I fear these incidents are much rarer than we are led to believe, so I’d probably end up wasting my money and time on an uneventful flight.
of course they are not that common. Half of the content on this website is about rare events that Gary turns into discussion events – because.
The problem is there is no teeth to controlling the increasingly moblike mindset that is American civilization – and is not unique to the US.
The NK gate agent did the right thing in stopping the boarding process and keeping the problems off the aircraft.
and the government itself has pushed lower and lower fares which bring a different clientele into the travel ribbon than what has been traditionally the case and which are not capable of understanding or living within the stress that is air travel – and keeping street behavior out of airports and off of airplanes.
airlines need better tools to deal w/ unruly passengers and the government needs to quit trying to remanufacture society resulting in degradation of societal restraints.
You risk getting this kind of behavior on a large-scale when you fly bare bones airlines. The kinds of people who are sensitive to only price are a specific lot. This is why we fly Delta… yes, sometimes it costs more. But we don’t have to deal with Spirit/Southwest passengers and we don’t have to expose our kids to that kind of behavior.
@Tim Dunn
My only disagreement with you Tim is that at this point, it’s more than half of his content! But he is, without question, intentional with it because he knows it stirs up controversy. It’s now his own version of the Jerry Springer show. I’ll read his “clickbait” titles and skip straight down to the comments. Don’t really bother reading his articles anymore. Hardly any real one’s out there anymore. All about clicks, likes, and $$$ now.
As a Delta semi-frequent flyer from a very small airport we have one place to connect…ATL…and always in the D concourse. Thankfully, it’s usually at the higher numbered gates(D27 and up. Spirit is also in ATL and shares the D concourse but at the lower numbered gate(D1 etc..). Almost every time I connect we can hear some sort of commotion all the way down the concourse. It’s like clockwork.
Sadly, events like Gary mentioned are all too common at ATL.
Thank God for spirit I wouldn’t want them on my flights
Peaceful protesters 🙂
“But we don’t have to deal with Spirit/Southwest passengers and we don’t have to expose our kids to that kind of behavior….”
Says Lance, in his comment
As long as I have flown SWA I have never, ever, seen an “incident” caused by an “unruly” passenger. Glittering generalities are, by definition, generally useless “catch-alls.”
John,
I don’t get paid to post comments on any site including this one.
and BNA is opening a new satellite terminal in a couple months reachable only by bus from the main terminal and the two airlines that have signed up to leave from there – probably because of lower gate fees – are Spirit and Allegiant.
If low fare passengers are the problem, then BNA has come up with a great solution to keep them separate from other airlines.
Problem is this stuff happens on WN too if to a lesser degree and they are the largest airline at BNA which is fast-growing, and like AUS, did not get in front of the growth surge for the area near fast enough. Unlike AUS, BNA has been able to get some new gates online fairly quickly (the new international gates are also coming online soon) which will allow the airport to move fairly aggressively with their expansion and renovation projects.
You tend to get these types of people when budget is involved. Many years ago these people would be taking a bus or a car because flying was too expensive. Now you have a bus with wings.
As well avoid going on flights to Detroit, Baltimore, DC, Atlanta. That’s where a lot of these people are going to and coming from.
#PLM #PassengerLivesMattet
I’m thinking about withdrawing my employment application for Spirit Airlines. Thoughts LOL
Some posters lament bargain rate airfare as the cause of these mob mentality moments. Nothing could be further from the truth. Since the inception of the pandemic, airfare has at least doubled on almost any flight.
The true cause of of misbehavior is simply the coarseness of our culture. You can actually see people enjoying themselves on the video. That’s not how someone would act if they weren’t all in for their moments of madness gone viral.
These are the same people who cruise Carnival. Thank the Lord there’s a place for every kind of passenger. I loved what lars said above. Clearly he has never taken a Spirit flight. I have once and both legs of my flight resembled this.
When you fly at bargain basement prices, you have to be ready to deal with bargain basement people.
Tim Dunn,
You do get paid, and your PR firm could get in legal trouble for failing to disclose this no matter the degree you’re removed from the business relationship.
You should, of course, get doxxed and banned, but that’s a different talk.
Spirit Air! – The Walmart of Airlines!…
Atlanta to Detroit
I’m shocked. The Usual Suspects Representing
Jeezus people! This is why I work from home and have my groceries delivered. And if I fly, it’s first class. Am I privileged? Yes. You know why? Because I live a life where taking over the intercom and calling for a supervisor would never be a thought outside of an emergency. And now I have plenty of hard-earned money to live my life how I want instead of being an entitled dick.
Sara Smith,
you do live in a beautiful alternative reality. I hope you enjoy it.
If you think I have a PR firm, you should see my legal team.
Sara Smith, you do live in a beautiful alternative reality. I hope you enjoy it.
what legal team?
get a grip
some people seriously live in a fantasy land