Passengers on board American Airlines flight 3286 from Las Vegas to Dallas on October 4th witnessed surprising levels of hostility in first class and ended with police meeting the aircraft, but reports suggest that the police could never figure out quite why they were there.
According to one Executive Platinum customer seated in first class on the 2.5 hour Airbus A321 flight, the pilot began the flight during boarding with an announcement that “no rudeness toward flight attendants would be tolerated.” And one flight attendant conjured rudeness in her mind – and then went full Kanye at the mic on the first class cabin.
I’ve been contacted by more than one passenger on that flight who shared that she confronted one customer who had not even spoken at all and accused him of being upset and said she’d reported her to the captain. The crewmember apparently told the captain that passengers were being “mean” and “belligerent,” that they were “probably drunk” and acting “not first class.”
Passengers were told that she would “call the union” and that “an officer would meet us on landing” and she then “barricaded herself in the front galley, refus[ing] to complete service.” On arrival, the flight attendant announced the names of passengers and said police were waiting for them – but police didn’t understand why they were there over the matter.
I was told by American they’d be investigating and contacting passengers in the cabin. I understand everyone is being offered compensation. When I first heard the story I thought “surely there must be more, another side to what happened” and that when I contacted American about it I’d hear either “we can’t corroborate this” or “that’s not what happened here.” Instead they seem to be taking this seriously and also offering compensation. So this doesn’t appear to be a ‘two sides to the story’ type of situation, and it’s really bizarre.
Another first class passenger from 3286 shares that the flight attendant Cynthia’s actions were unwarranted, unprovoked, and unreasonable.
What began as a routine delay escalated into a deeply unsettling situation when the first-class flight attendant began exhibiting erratic and hostile behavior toward passengers in Rows 4 and 5.
Without provocation, she accused calm, seated passengers of being “rude,” “belligerent,” and even “drunk,” despite no one raising their voice, leaving their seat, or behaving inappropriately. Multiple passengers exchanged confused glances but remained silent and compliant.
…More than an hour passed [in the air] before any drinks were served in first class, even though economy had already been served. …After an additional delay, the passenger in 5A politely asked another flight attendant if assistance was needed. That attendant returned and told him, “She’s doing her best, you’ll be served soon.” …The first-class attendant reacted angrily to this questioning and verbally accosted the man in 4A, who had not spoken at all. When the passenger in 4C calmly clarified that no one was upset and that she was mistaken, she escalated further.
She stood at the front of the cabin, openly on the phone within earshot of passengers, referring to us as “nasty” and “not first class,” saying things like, “I’ve never been treated like this before,” “I’m afraid for my life,” and “I’m on the verge of tears.” She then refused to serve the first-class meal and remained up against the door to the cockpit, behind the drink cart. At no point was her safety threatened, and no passenger behaved aggressively in any way.
Later, she did leave her drink cart hiding place to come by and tell us that a compliance officer would be meeting us upon arrival, to which we responded that we welcomed the opportunity to share our concerns.
To my biggest shock, as we were landing, she used the public address system to read out a list of eight first-class passenger announcing that law enforcement would meet us upon landing. This announcement publicly portrayed us as dangerous individuals in front of the entire aircraft.
…Even law enforcement appeared confused. Officers asked, “Why are we here?” and stated that they disliked being used in this manner. …We were detained and asked what happened to which our group each told our stories of what had occurred on this flight.
After removing eight black men who did not know each other from a flight for ‘body odor issues’, American adopted a policy that flight attendants aren’t supposed to be kicking passengers off planes based on their own opinion unless there’s a safety or security issue.
Unfortunately this flight attendant did decide there was a safety issue – she ‘felt unsafe’. The captain called in law enforcement on the customers, when she probably wasn’t well-suited to be working in a safety role on that or future flights.
Sounds like somebody needs a drug and alcohol test. Just sayin’.
Lookie, “everyone is being offered compensation”… Niccce.
SOUNDS LIKE DRUGS,
Wow, usually FA’s in AA’s First Class domestic cabins only barricade themselves or hide in the galley when it’s time for the pre-departure beverage service…
Time to fire her and I suspect even the union wouldn’t object to this one. If not on some drug she has serious mental health issues that should disqualify her from serving as an FA. Sounds like AA is going ahead with compensation which tells me they sided with the passengers.
Now when I’m on any AA flight and see a flight attendant named “Cynthia” I’ll watch out for erratic behavior.
Mental illness is a growing challenge to society lately….
I think a very thorough psychiatric evaluation is in order before she’s allowed to fly again. If this is just an opener it could get lots worse in future episodes.
@Retired Gambler — More like, time to let them complete their investigation, which will include management and the union.
Or, ignore that silly due process, and just… BURN THE WITCH!
This is why we don’t allow hearsay or unreliable evidence before juries, because, everyone is very quick to become judge and executioner.
Still, I’m happy when passengers get paid, regardless. So, still some good news here.
Let me guess: this FA was Black and the pax were White, right?
Regardless, I hope she was fired or at least suspended without pay pending a full mental health evaluation. She sounds dangerous
The edit from this story is the part where the captain said that he supported her 100%. The captain also has some blame for this because s/he is responsible for the aircraft and made poor judgement in supporting this unhinged employee.
I wonder if the “burn her, she’s a witch” comments will come back. I still think that it is probably a mental illness issue that needs professional evaluation.
As for the captain backing her, the captain’s job is to get to the destination with the airplane and everyone in it intact. A judgment call but probably the right one to deescalate the situation so everyone was safe. No need to throw gasoline on a fire.
I landed in San Juan about two years ago on a Delta flight and had San Juan police expecting me. Why? Because I had the nerve to complain that the flight attendants had the galley cart blocking access to the lavatory in first-class for the captain and first officer even though the cart was there for a whole 20 minutes before the captain came out to use the bathroom. I had to go and just wanted to get in and out. I was also told I couldn’t get up and walk to the economy lavatories. The San Juan police laughed when they were told why they were meeting me at the plane.
So many hateful comments…it sounds like this lady had a mental break and needs help. Why is eveyone ready to have her fired without knowing more than hearsay?
FA’s randomly get drug and alcohol tested so I don’t think it sounds like drugs. It sounds like a Mental Health situation. Since the Captain is in the flight deck he just has to rely on what the Crew members tell him. Unfortunately, in this situation the person he was relying on wasn’t credible. I was a FA for 30 years and Airlines need to be more pro active in getting people like this out of the Airplane. It always amazed me how the companies tolerate bad or unhinged behavior.
Is it now time for “Body Cams” to become a part of the FA uniform? Sadly it just might be?
@jns — Did I stutter? See above.
@L737 — “Really, @Diane?”
@FNT Delta Diamond, you sound like a dangerous criminal to me! You were probably wearing your gang colors, to boot! 😉
One person that doesn’t not belong as a flight attendant. Would you want her around in the event of an emergency?
Yeah, she had a breaking point with rotten passengers. Also the FDA shouldn’t be taking away mental drugs that have been around since the 70’s.
Approaching the first galley when pilots are using the lav or meals are being served to the pilots is taken VERY seriously. To the poster that said the cops just laughed. You should have considered yourself lucky. You could have been banned from AA and/or the cops could have made an issue out of it although it would likely be considered a federal offense.
That is something you should never argue with crew about. Hightail it to the back of the plane if you can’t wait. And yes often both pilots end up coming out to use the lav and if one or both need to do “number two” well there’s going to be a wait.
@George Nathan Romey — If you had to pick one, would you take this one, or the one who was sleeping at landing?
@1990 — *turns head* “Real-ly, Diane?”
Burn the witch!!!!!
Comments had trailed off a bit, just trying to juice the pump again….
Sounds like an employment issue. Probably was on her last straw, now can claim emotional stress and harassment. Possibly will continue to be paid per her union rules while she is out on leave.
As with “Thing 1”, it sounds as though this flight attendant had a brain break of some sort. Aggressively causing a commotion or “juicing the pump” is a mental thing for anyone except Madonna.
“Diane” may have mixed up the hues a bit. I suspect it was the other way around, if anything.
@Thing 1 — Milk that thang!