A first class American Airlines passenger was kicked off of a flight after requesting a predeparture beverage. He refused to leave after being told to do so a flight attendant and a pilot, so police were called.
He wants to know what he’s done. It doesn’t matter, he’s been told to leave and in the moment there’s nothing he can do about it. The request does not have to be reasonable. He’s going to have to comply.
About four minutes into video of the incident, the passenger’s phone was taken because he was recording the incident. Ironically video of the whole incident was shared online and it was clearly taken by an employee. Eventually he’s pulled from his seat, led out of the aircraft, and handcuffed on the jet bridge.
Since we don’t have video of what was said before the passenger was told to leave the aircraft, let’s assume he was rude when his request for a drink was denied:
Man forcibly removed from flight after refusing multiple requests to leave from attendants, pilot, and police. All started over being denied a pre-takeoff gin and tonic.
by u/losfathead in PublicFreakout
The passenger is largely being roasted in the comments on social media because he’s in first class and the altercation is over a drink. And it’s pointless to argue – escalating the situation only ends badly. But surely the airline ought to be calling the crew in here. Even if they weren’t going to offer predeparture beverages, they shouldn’t have escalated this either.
One of the key service elements of American Airlines domestic first class is the predeparture beverage. Passengers are supposed to be offered something to drink during boarding. The airline has emphasized how valuable this is for customer perception and handed out fortune cookies trying to convince them to do it.
Many flight attendants just don’t bother to do it, and the airline doesn’t actually do anything about it. The most important thing for the airline is an on-time departure, and sometimes there just isn’t time. If a flight boards late, and passengers are pouring down the aisle into the plane, flight attendants aren’t supposed to slow things down. And if ever questioned, all they ever have to do is suggest that they didn’t want to risk delaying pushback.
Since there are no consequences when they don’t do this part of the job, many crewmembers just don’t do it. Others are openly hostile to the idea.
- Their pay is calculated on flight time after the boarding door closes, so they don’t want to work before then.
- They don’t receive enough profit sharing, so don’t care if customers are happy and the airline profitable.
This is a comment about predeparture beverages an American Airlines flight attendant once left on this website,
You bought the seat in 1st. The service is optional. FAs are on board to save your ass not kiss it. …Are there no drinking fountains or restrooms in the terminal? …[Y]ou are so self absorbed , you whine about everything. Walk a day in someone else’s shoes for a change. Tip your flight attendant. They make less than minimum wage working double the hours they get paid for. You tip the waitress that brings your food why is this job any different?
It’s absolutely reasonable for a first class passenger to request a predeparture beverage. In fact it should be proactively offered. However if you’re a frequent traveler on American Airlines you know not to expect this. And arguing with your crew is never going to end up the way you want it to.
(HT: @bags)
The tyranny of the flight attendant, who can call in more armed muscle than any mafia boss when he or she doesn’t like the way they’ve been spoken to. Horrible and totally unacceptable . . . but it will be accepted because “safety,” etc.
American Airlines has turned into a terrorist organization.
The guy breaks down and weeps like a little girl as he’s dragged into the jetway. He must have wanted that PDB something awful.
Just ANOTHER reason to never fly on American Airlines.
There has to be more to this story…
AA FA insults the passengers who keep her employed and then she asks for a tip. Talk about being “self absorbed”.
I don’t ask if they don’t offer. I just file a ‘services not as described’ chargeback for even the smallest service failures. AA and BA don’t even fight them anymore. They don’t have the staff. And AMEX always gets my back. Have now charged back about $15K in airfare in the last year successfully. Hit them where it hurts. They’ll learn eventually.
@ Gary — The guy seemed drunk when removed. Idiot. OTOH, I’m sure the FA completey overacted to whatever happened and treated the passenger like garbage. That’s the AA way.
Entitled brats are taking over this country. Man-babies who cry when they don’t get their sippy cup, then verbally abuse flight attendants for a PRIVATE COMPANY.
A plan is not a public place, you MUST leave when asked to. Otherwise you ARE COMMITTING A CRIME.
All these babies in the comments calling American Airlines “terrorists” are the same babies that get physically ejected from planes for being whiny little bitches. FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT
This entitled little cuck thought he was better than everyone else and could do as he pleased and treat people like shit because he didn’t get what he wanted.
I GUARANTEE THIS WAS A REPUBLICAN. The whiniest of cucks there are, always abusing people to make themselves feel better.
This fully grown man was CRYING because he had to face the repercussions of his actions. Why are republicans committed to being such losers?
@Hugh Edmunds – seriously dude? You request the entire fare to be charged back because you didn’t get a damn drink? That is way over the top. Look I appreciate the drink before departure but am not going to act like it is my God given right. There are other considerations.
Also, I suspect, as Gene noted, the guy was already drunk and he likely either got loud and threatening or cursed at the FA. No way of knowing without hearing the entire exchange but no one is getting kicked off for simply requesting a drink and then accepting the fact they won’t get one for whatever reason is given.
Thanks, Pat; I’d like to buy a proofreader to make this article readable.
I wasn’t there, but I’ve found AA FAs to often be rude and lazy, esp in the front cabin. Maybe the passenger was already drunk who knows. ” We’re here primarily for your safety” , which is AA speak for we hate pax and will do as little as possible service wise.
@Gene – if he was inebriated then this is at least in part at the feet of American management for single agent boarding. By cutting staff at the gate there’s no longer time to pull aside passengers who might not be fit to fly.
Never endanger a plane full of people by letting an incident like this slip.
Yes snowflakes, standards for behavior on a plane need to be high for the safety of everyone.
Take Greyhound. It’s where you belong.
There is something clearly wrong with this passenger. While I agree that flight attendants should offer the pre-departure beverage, it is wrong to use this incident to make any point about that. It is EXTREMELY unlikely he was thrown off the plane for asking for a drink. There’s way more going on here.
Two thoughts… 1) AS puts little boxes of water at each seat in F prior to boarding. 2) PDB’s are nice, but not a guaranteed benefit of being seated in F — and if you don’t get one, it’s not he end of the world (though, apparently, it can be the end of your flight)..
I am a current AA FA and I’m appalled at how most of you have responded. While I can agree that some of my coworkers can be rude or lazy when it comes to service the vast majority, and I’ve worked with thousands, are not. I’ve read the official report on this incident. The passenger got up and cornered the flight attendant while she was doing a briefing with the flight deck. Not only is this aggressive behavior, but that is physical and verbal assault. Also the passenger keeps asking for what law he broke. Both the captain and the flight attendant asked him to leave the aircraft. He refused. Failure to follow flight crew instructions is a violation of federal law. You all need to figure out the entire story before being so quick to judge a flight crew that I know personally and are one do the best and most professional.
@MD Really?A flight attendant (most self-aggrandizing people on earth, whose only job is to pour drinks and fellate the pilot but have spent 20 years convincing themselve that they are “safety” personnel and law enforcement) went on a power trip and had someone arrested for suggesting she do her job. Why does there need to be more to it than that? It happens every day and will continue to happen as long as we put up with the nonsense about FAs being “safety” and deserving of constant wage increases and unlimited power to imprison anyone they don’t feel like waiting on. We need a purge of people who took this job since 9/11 because they’re attracted to the idea of being cruel and capricious to those in their power and a replacement of them with people interested in the actual work.
@gary leff — your comment to @gene seems like someone who wants to keep digging. We weren’t there so we don’t know the whole story, but from what we do know, it seems highly probable that the person responsible for this incident is the passenger, and there’s scant evidence that anyone at the airline did anything wrong, and most likely they did things that were right.
I travel quite frequently. I NEVER travel on AA. I’ve said before and I’ll say again…it’s the entire corporate culture at American. Management doesn’t give a s*** about the employees and the employees and their union don’t give a s*** about the company. The passengers get what it the results of that total breakdown. I guess that sometimes a passenger is forced to take American. I’d go for a 1 stop on any other airline than a nonstop on American. As for taking the man’s cell phone…that is theft by taking. They can ASK him to quit photography/video but they can’t take the cellphone.
I’m not going to defend this dude… No one here knows the full story…. and I think anyone who is rude to ANY airline staff should be BANED from future flying… period…
(side note, I don’t fly AA… but fly United)
HOWEVER… Things have gotten to the point where you are only paying for your seat.. period… and that’s sad, but true.
as I’m typing this, I’m on a flight from SAT->SFO in first on a United Express ERJ-175 in first using 8$ wifi…
I remember pre-covid, every week, 530am or 630am or 730am flights from SAT to IAH…. a 35-45 minute flight, getting a pre-departure drink, a HOT breakfast pastry (muffin or scone) and an in-flight drink…. Today? prices are 2 or 3 times what they were…. and you might get water… MIGHT… even during covid we got a pre-packaged goodie bag; but not today… Maybe Water.
Now, again, pay for what you want.. and that’s the seat for me…. but i can see how he’s frustrated with the lack of service we get these days. But, pay only for what you know you’ll receive…
The article does point mostly to the FA’s, but at the same time the airlines aren’t putting the food on to serve… telling the FA’s to do X and Y… It’s just as much the airlines cost cutting measures to blame here as the FA’s.
I no longer expect anything but my seat… so I’m a happy camper… anything on top of my seat is bonus points.. including water… I don’t recommend buying outside of economy if you have high expectations on domestic flights.
@Alan_Michael_Miller can you share what is informing your certainty around the passenger’s political affiliation? Your overall response suggests you might have some things you need to work through that, if present in the very people you are attacking, you would find unacceptable. Then again, your response may just be just another attempt to pivot a conversation to politics.
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@chopsticks – @Gene was speculating, and I offered some additional context. Even the employee commenting on the incident report above doesn’t suggest the passenger was drunk.
I literally write in the piece that we do not have video of what transpired leading up to this situation and I stipulate, in essence, that the guy was probably being a jerk. And that arguing is never a productive strategy, you’re getting off that plane.
“and most likely they did things that were right” now you’re the one purely in the realm of speculation.
@Andy “The passenger got up and cornered the flight attendant while she was doing a briefing with the flight deck.”
Interrupting the flight attendant, rather than waiting, was inadvisable. The passenger and flight attendant could easily have viewed the situation very differently, and there’s no way to know if an objective observer would have viewed it as “cornering” (indeed, if they were “doing a briefing with the flight deck” it’s hard to imagine how the flight attendant was ‘cornered’.
“Not only is this aggressive behavior, but that is physical and verbal assault.”
No, that is not assault.
“Also the passenger keeps asking for what law he broke. Both the captain and the flight attendant asked him to leave the aircraft. He refused.”
He’s asking what he did to precipitate being asked to leave the aircraft.
“Failure to follow flight crew instructions is a violation of federal law.”
You’re either referring to 14 CFR 121.317(k) – which refers to seatbelts and smoking – or to 14 CFR 121.580, “No person may assault, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with a crewmember in the performance of the crewmember’s duties aboard an aircraft being operated under this part.”
It is not a violation of federal law to ‘fail to follow crewmember instructions’ (common misconception). It is a violation of federal to to “interfere with a crewmember in the performance of the crewmember’s duties” and that’s what is at issue here.
The flight attendant should have offered a predeparture beverage. The passenger shouldn’t have gotten up and interrupted the flight attendant to ask for one. But once they did, the flight attendant should have de-escalated.
[reference to deleted comment redacted -gl]
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I rarely comment on here… and I first want to thank Gary for all the views from the wing articles… And I hope you do make some income from affiliates etc for all your hard work bringing us some interesting articles.
I also want to thank all air crews, I know jobs can be demanding… AND i do wish they have the same attitude as i do that customer care and customer service is so important in any customer facing job: i work as a tour manager/Cruise director and I try and give 100% to everyone regardless of how i am feeling, or my real self employed income being below minimum wage compared to all the hours of preparation and work … If I accept an assignment I smile and get on with it knowing I am lucky to have a job!
Wishing everyone happy journey through Passover, Easter, Ramadan and any other celebrations at this time
The key issue I see here is that a passenger getting filmed and that video being dragged all over social media and the Internet creates a significant risk that their job/livelihood will be irreparably harmed. People in public need to think about consequences when they do something. We live in a day and age where people are just looking for ways to get folks fired. I don’t fly American anymore because I had two consecutive really bad flight cancellation issues, one of which forced me to take a bus from Boston to New York with my daughter and I’m not doing that again
. If the passenger cornered the flight attendant, I can understand why this went down the way it did. I was physically threatened in my own office by a coworker, and was astounded at the lack of response from our firm’s leadership. Caused me to completely rethink whether I should stay at that company (I didn’t).
Most likely: The customer was already intoxicated, and the FA realized it when he asked for a PDB. If he asked for a PDB and didn’t take no for an answer, he’s pretty much assuring that the FA will remove him from the aircraft.
Once the FA asks you to go you need to go. Certainly once law enforcement asks you to go you NEED to go, and refusing law enforcement is another indicator the passenger was intoxicated.
I suppose there’s a lesser chance PDB service wasn’t happening and the passenger angered the FA with his response to the lack of PDB service. We don’t know if that was merely rude or actually threatening.
The passengers was drunk and was probably obnoxious about requesting alcohol on the ground , and probably became more disturbing after being denied an alcoholic drink.
I am sure all other passengers were thankful to the crew for removing him . He was deemed intoxicated, and not fit to fly .
Because of idiots like this , new restrictions for alcohol consumption onboard may surge .
But that will also be the flight attendants fault , like always . Thank you Gary .
The PDB issue is a black eye on AA as it has been ongoing for years and exclusively impacts their best customers. Every forum is full of disgruntled loyalty members who are growing tired of these antics. Make serving a PDB mandatory and solve the problem. FAs are there for my safety? Give me a break. The same type of FA who is too lazy to offer a PDB is the same type of FA who would be first out the inflatable slide.
Where was this ? What flight ?
@gary. If the flight attendant is doing a briefing with the pilots and a passenger interrupts that briefing by yelling at the flight attendant, that is interfering. He continued to yell at the flight attendant. He blocked her from leaving the flight deck if that’s not interfering then I don’t know what is.
Everytime you post it’s always something bad about American Airlines LOL weren’t you just crying in a public forum earlier this week because they didn’t invite you back to be a concierge key??? i wonder why……..
@LRon “The same type of FA who is too lazy to offer a PDB is the same type of FA who would be first out the inflatable slide.”
This really is the key insight. The PDB is an excellent barometer of how seriously an FA takes their job duties – which is exactly why this topic is often such a sore point for FAs.
So much more to this “story” but Gary will still post the manufactured version of it to get clicks, views etc and I admit even I fell for it. Those of us who fly frequently get it though
I agree with Gary’s take that “the flight attendant should have de-escalated”. One of flight attendants job descriptions is poise and professionalism at all times, precisely because they cannot control ahead of time who or what kind of nutcase will board an airplane, but they must ensure that things run smoothly, from boarding to seating to on board service. Everyone is, therefore, better served if flight attendants “deescalate” rather than light the fuse that explodes a volatile situation brought about by a ‘misbehaving” or “difficult” passenger…
@Gary I appreciate you circling this around to the single-agent boarding debacle that AA has shifted to with lesser capacity planes. But aside from the fact that we don’t know what’s now become the “Minus 5” or the “Minus 10” – the 5 or 10 minutes leading up to the video commencing, there is an even bigger picture than that.
You brought upthread that no matter whether the request is logical or not, the orders being barked at him must be complied with. You and I both know that’s the case, but – inexperienced flyers can not so easily embrace that concept. Whether it comes down to reading the CoCs, or Sony researching flight decorum, encountering someone you perceive to be trying to either take custody of you or just extract remove you from your current circumstances can have an automatic negative reaction. In society, even if intoxicated m, those types of situations usually end badly when presented. On a plane, where there is clearly a different level of compliance, it’s got to be even more exacerbated.
I also will echo the chorus upthread that while some of the best encounters I’ve ever had with random stranger have been some of AA’s FAs, so have some of the worst. And we’ve both witnesses FAs toxic behavior toward passengers they deem are less than worthy.
But, alas, without the Minus 5, we won’t know just how circumstances deteriorated to that level.
By all means, hold up boarding of the flight and take off so first class get their pre-departure beverage. It’s a stupid practice to begin with. I am frequently asked by a flight attendant to wait up front so they can go hand out drinks?! Seriously? This is why I usually try to fly Southwest. I’d rather deal with their problems then be treated like a second class citizen.
Wow! What a bunch of over privileged whining people. All of you! …oh I will never fly AA again because flight attendants didn’t bow to my needs ! Or not realizing only about 2-5% of the world population has ever flown on an airplane. It’s a ride. Period. You take a 3 day bus trip see if you get a pre departure drink. I hope this country elects Donald Trump again. He truly is the the leader the country needs.
@Andy
Stop power tripping and do your job
@Andy, don’t be appalled. 90% of the people with their comments about ‘F/As are there only to sling you a drink’ have actually never even stepped foot on an airplane. They sit at home and write these comments because it makes them feel better about themselves. It’s actually very sad. They love to push down on others, especially in these comment sections on F/As. It makes them feel like ‘Big Man on Campus’ for a few minutes. My family and friends just laugh at all the nuts who comment. You know who you are and what you do and these yayhoos wouldn’t last 1 hour in our job before they’d be on the bridge bawling just like the guy in video.
This blog has lost the plot. It has become the TMZ of travel. Pathetic.
So recognizing an intoxicated passenger and removing him
prior to door closure is taught in training. We are actually taught to not serve drinks to intoxicated passengers or to those who appear drunk as it can escalate things. I’m surprised this isn’t mentioned by the author, but he sounds like an alcoholic so there is that.
It’s the whole “September 11th” mentality stronger than ever adopted by U.S. airline flight attendants and flight officers. I may be an American but the last thing I will ever do is fly a U.S. carrier including American because of the :attitude”.
When I saw the headline, I assumed this post was going to be autobiographical. I’m glad it wasn’t.
First he’s an idiot to demand and refuse. He should have been kicked off. However. It’s probably a violation to take a passengers phone simply because they are recording. The plane is accessed by the public, you are in public and you serve the public. You have no expectation of privacy in public.
I fly a decent amount, a lot of it internationally (so Flyer1 can take a hike).
FAs can be good or bad. But when they are bad, they are power tripping babies who have to run to security got every perceived slight. And some have a hair trigger with their superiority complex.
I find very little of this on international airlines. It’s the AA and Deltas who are the worst about it.
It would be nice to know how this escalated to the moment the filming begins. What really happened here? What behavior would have justified this level of response? Is being a dick over not getting a drink just cause for kicking him off? The man does not seem drunk or belligerent at any point until they pull him from the seat. I don’t blame the guy for crying once they are taking him away – hell, I’d be pretty overwhelmed if I were in his shoes, if I felt I was being tossed off a plane and no one would listen to me anymore.
When I’m feeling heated up, I hate the idea of bowing before arbitrary authority, as if allowing myself to be hauled away is conceding they were in the right to do so. That being said, in a calm state of mind, I tell myself, unless this is truly “a hill worth dying on,” it’s probably best to do what you’re told by an authority with capacity to impose force of violence. Once you’re off the plane, you can begin the process of making your case through a lawyer or whatever. Ending up being hauled off will almost never help that case. But damn if that doesn’t feel hard to swallow.
I find myself reflecting on such a situation and thinking: At what point did this guy realize this was not something he could talk them out of doing to him? You can kind of see that for a long long time, he still thinks, if I can just get my point across, maybe they will listen. Maybe they will change their minds. But that’s not going to happen. The people who are there to take him off aren’t there to listen. That moment has passed.
It sounds like quite a few of the other passengers were telling him to comply and get off the plane. Was that because they thought he had deserved it or because they just no longer cared at a certain point because his presence was going to hold up the flight? Who can say? People talk about sticking up for justice all the time, but they be can be pretty coldblooded when it’s not them in the hot seat.
Quick….PR dept….offer75K AA miles for credit cards before this becomes viral….That should shut people up from talking about it.
Gotta say, some days I wish I, too, could justify shirking my job duties by simply insulting the sobriety of my customers:
“Oh you want that project wrapped up by the deadline, do ya, you drooling tippler?” “Report in your inbox by morning – more like you’ll find it at the bottom of a bottle, innit?”