Category Archives for Passengers.
A United passenger on a flight to Orlando reportedly took off his pants as soon as he reached his economy seat, leaving fellow travelers wondering why no one intervened. United can refuse transport for passengers who are not properly clothed, but in the cramped, dirty reality of coach, comfort and basic decorum keep colliding.
Airline status buys convenience, not permission to steamroll people. A video shows a United Global Services passenger barking “let me go first!” as he pushes past a family with toddlers during preboarding—he doesn’t want to be the second passenger on board.
Delta has power outlets at most seats, but that doesn’t mean every device belongs in use at 35,000 feet. A TikTok video shows a Comfort+ passenger curling her hair with a hot iron mid-flight—sparking arguments over whether curling irons are “banned.”
A cascading delay into Los Angeles was about to keep travelers from reaching the funeral of the Sydney rabbi killed in the Bondi Beach attacks. United wouldn’t hold its flight—but American Airlines did something airlines almost never do: it moved gates to eliminate the terminal scramble, held its own Sydney departure, and then comped a new ticket entirely. What followed was a behind-the-scenes relay from cockpit to operations to the gate that turned an impossible connection into a just-in-time arrival for the funeral.
A passenger at Salt Lake City International ran onto the runway, climbed into the engine of a taxiing Delta A220, and died. Now his family is suing the city for $300,000—arguing the airport failed at multiple points, from monitoring emergency exits to communicating quickly enough with responders and pilots. But at what point does personal responsibility overwhelm systems failure?
An American Airlines passenger says he was physically shoved twice—once before boarding and again after taking his seat on AA4586 from JFK to Indianapolis. He claims an FAA inspector onboard urged the crew to remove the aggressive traveler, but that American instead kicked off the man who reported it, leaving him stranded overnight at JFK with an $829 hotel bill and later flagged as “disruptive.”
A confrontation at the Frontier Airlines check‑in counter in Houston escalated after travelers appeared to be denied check‑in for a missed flight, leading to a police response and multiple detentions. The viral clip has been reposted with exaggerated claims, but the footage shows the incident unfolding at the ticket counter before boarding.
A woman says goodbye to her “traveling boyfriend” at airport baggage claim — and seconds later her husband appears with flowers, stunning everyone nearby. But look closely at the monitor: this isn’t security footage at all, it’s a production feed, and the on-screen file name gives away what’s going on.
Former President Joe Biden was spotted boarding an American Airlines flight in Miami headed to St. Croix—standing in the same queue as everyone else, with only a low-key law enforcement escort. It is a refreshingly normal post-presidency moment, right down to an on-time operation.
Passengers on South African low-cost carrier FlySafair were filmed passing banknotes up the aisle during boarding, like they were paying fares onboard in a minibus taxi. It’s a joke—FlySafair is cashless for inflight purchases—but it points to a real throwback: airlines like People Express once let travelers board without tickets and then sold fares in the cabin. Here’s how that worked, and why it’s basically impossible in modern U.S. air travel.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
