Category Archives for Passengers.
So board as early as possible, get a seat with no one next to you, and the next time your flight isn’t full just be… creepy? And on Southwest that pays off in greater comfort.
A woman waiting to check in with Southwest Airlines in Los Angeles tells another passenger, an African American man, that he’s entitled – while a Southwest employee asks her to move up in line. It seems like he’d asked her to move forward when there was plenty of room in front of her, she didn’t, and she got mad over having been asked – although exactly what transpired before the video was filmed isn’t clear.
This passenger, dubbed “LAX Karen,” yells and makes a fist at the agent who asked her to move up. That puts her on the verge of being “escorted out” of the check-in area. That’s when another agent jumps into the chat.
A teenager on board an easyJet flight from London Gatwick to Menorca, Spain posted “a fake bomb threat to social media.” The Spanish government set a fighter jet to intercept the aircraft making its 808 mile flight on Sunday.
While this could have ended badly – they wouldn’t have sent the jet outside of a precaution in case they’d decided they needed to shoot it down – the military aircraft ultimately “escorted the easyJet plane all the way to its island destination.”
A Southwest Airlines passenger was accused of airdropping photos of his genetalia to other passengers on the plane.
AirDrop is a way for Apple devices to share photos. Other Apple users can choose to receive or not receive photos, or limit who can send them to you. But many leave the setting open, though I don’t know anyone that would accept files sent by someone they did not know.
A woman sitting across from him got an airdrop notification on her phone. She saw the man airdropping photos on his phone. She looked at the photo and asked if he meant to send it.
Two passengers were arrested after a man shoved his girlfriend before attacking airport staff at the gate for an easyJet flight from Bristol to Alicante.
She was shouting and, apparently, in the way of her boyfriend’s rage – he punched one employee and hen knocked another staff member over.
Camille Vasquez, one of Johnny Depp’s lawyers, is being called “Wonder Woman” by flight crew after assisting during a medical emergency in first class on an American Airlines Los Angeles to New York JFK flight.
When a man shoplifted from a Dallas – Fort Worth airport shop, American Airlines used surveillance video to accuse a passenger of the crime. Though the passenger looked nothing like the perpetrator, arrest warrants were issued, and the man found himself in a New Mexico jail for 17 days unaware of what he’d supposedly done.
It was only after strip searches, seeing other inmates punched in the face and bloodied, and living in filth that he was finally released – and when his lawyer finally got prosecutors to compare surveillance photos to the man. They immediately dropped charges. Now the passenger is suing American Airlines.
American Airlines says their corporate purpose is “caring for people on life’s journey.” Now, that sounds like the mission statement for an assisted living facility. But it is a reminder that each of the 2.3 million passengers carried on that airline over Memorial weekend alone isn’t just a ticket number or a seat assignment.
I highlight this because it raises interesting questions, I think. Airplane attire is nothing like it was when I was a young kid just after deregulation. But are costumes appropriate in the airport and on board? What if it’s May 5th (Star Wars Day)? Should we all just ‘come as we are’? Maybe so.
According to Alaska Airlines employees determine subjectively what they consider appropriate given their own biases, prejudices, and beliefs. And I can actually accept that because Alaska underscores that “bare feet are never acceptable” and no statement has ever been more true in the history of aviation.
Alaska finally confirms “Alaska does not have a dress code policy that would prohibit this guest’s attire.” So they agree with me – nothing wrong with how this passenger was dressed, which means their non-policy policy is to blame.
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 »
