Delta Air Lines flight 2097 from Atlanta to Rochester was delayed an hour and one of the airline’s passengers wouldn’t have it. She melted down at gate B14, demanding to speak to a manager – while “calling employees names [and calling a] fellow traveler a weasel.” Delta’s gate agents remained calm throughout.
The best is when she slams her bag on the counter and yells for the police. The agent she’s talking to just picks up her walkie talkie, while the other continues to work at her computer to get the flight out, as though nothing is happening. The passenger then demands “I want to speak to a manager!”
The flight ultimately arrived in Rochester around 45 minutes late.
I have a few thoughts.
I’m sure these kind of incidents happened in the so-called good old days, including the age of train travel. They just get more documented now because of camera phones and social media.
With that said said, I do think these incidents may be happening more because of alcohol, an overall decline in good manners, increased stress, and the breakdown in airline and aviation reliability.
She should be banned from flying on Delta for life. No reason to talk to ground staff like that and when they let her on the plane, they don’t fix the problem.
@FNT … Perhaps the deeds are the fault of the doer of the deeds .
Was she removed from the flight?
Anybody who wants to talk about manners should check their own first — Karen is a racist and sexist slur due to its etymology in white women. Gen Z and later, whose brains have <15 second attention spans due to TikTok and therefore cannot process anything resembling nuance in philosophy, fail to understand that Karen is a slur and they continually use the slur. But Gary Leff is of an age and generation when nuance existed so he should understand that this is a slur that should not appear in this blog.
Incidents of this nature are more common now, both in absolute terms (due to the growth in the total population), as well as in relative terms (due to the fact that travel is more affordable today than it has been in the past). To be sure, boors and bad behavior are not exclusive to any class — there are boors in every social circle and every socioeconomic status (SES) — but the incidence rate is higher, if by slim margins, in lower SES cohorts.
All the evidence suggests Americans as a whole are getting better at drinking responsibly. Manners have not been emphasized in early childhood growth and education for many decades. Every era has its own stressors; hindsight bias prevents us from evaluating past eras fairly on something as elusive to measure as one’s level of stress. Delta Air Lines is the most reliable airline in the country — and no my name is not Tim Dunn!
Only an hour delay? That’s called early these days. Although my current trip on the “Premium Airline” is going well, my last one had multiple delays up to 3 1/2 hours (none weather related). She must not be much of an experienced flyer.
Oh lord … some of these comments. People must be contrary no matter what is said !
My half a cent is she should be banned from Delta. Period.
Social media has made the population, in general, louder.
As someone that grew up in Rochester, she’s probably just mad that she has to go there.
Delta flies premium passengers to premium destinations.
Well to be perfectly honest, in my humble opinion, of course without offending anyone who thinks differently from my point of view, but also by looking into this matter in a different perspective and without being condemning of one’s view’s and by trying to make it objectified, and by considering each and every one’s valid opinion, I honestly believe that I completely forgot what I was going to say.
Dignity wrote: “Anybody who wants to talk about manners should check their own first — Karen is a racist and sexist slur due to its etymology in white women…”
And that is why it is a *perfect* descriptor – and why I use it when apropos…
It’s also simply great fun to confront an obnoxious entitled white woman by calling her “Karen”, as they become ever more enraged, lol…!!! Did it the other day in a Trader Joe’s checkout lane, she huffed and puffed and furiously left the store, without checking out… She was treating the Black checkout person in a hideously servile and overbearing manner, thus I calmly called her out, ostensibly “for wasting our time” and suggesting she “take a time – out”… those present had a good chuckle over the incident after she exited…
DL should have called this adult infant out on her squalid behavior – the *best* way would have been to involve the police, and then ban her from the flight…
This person’s punishment came in the form of other passengers.
I’m sure what everyone else said or did was not complimentary or kind.
Banned for life. LOL. you’re probably the same people who support looting and still wear a mask because of “science”.
I was on that flight!
While the situation was aggravating, I think the Delta personnel did a great job of getting us a different plane (with the same seats!), new gate not far away and re-boarded all of us, and our luggage, expediently. I was surprised that they had another airplane of the same type available so quickly and ready to go!!
@GM
I doubt that happened.
@GM
That’s why I use the term thug in my description of the Spirit passengers that fight weekly at the gate. We all have our descriptors.
A premium airline for premium people handling a premium complaint in a premium way. I hope her premium uterus is better now.
The irony of course is that it’s a flight on a holiday weekend and there are already two redcoats at the counter trying to fix whatever nightmare is in process. The manager is already there! Meanwhile, lurking somewhere in the background is a points and mileage weasel praying to take a bump off this flight for a few gift cards as a belated present from Delta.
All American women are Karen’s.
American women are born of narcissism and entitlement. It’s made worse by the education system and the media that enabled fat positive movement and “assertiveness” (see uppity).
“Karen” describes the behavior. Just because it’s based on a white character doesn’t make a Karen have to be white. And I have seen it used to refer to males, also.
@Dignity should bear in mind that this blog should be viewed thorough the lens of entertainment (see T&Cs, disclaimer etc.), and Karens everwhere are hugely entertaining as they invariably humiliate themselves!
A woman lost it at the counter. It was silly at best. Gary runs a post calling her “Karen.” Everyone loses their minds.
People, this has been happening for years, long before any of us. So what. No one cared before. Everyone was just fine in the end. Gary and the rest are using many of these “opportunities” for just that. And the end result is that it just makes everyone crazier. Grow some balls, laugh, or ignore it.
We have all lost it at times. For whatever reason. “Lighten up, Francis.”
Gary,
I realize that your job is to report on these unimportant moments in airports and on planes that impact nobody but the people in the immediate vicinity. I’m unsure why this is an actual job, but apparently it is. If your writing is any good, you will describe the incident and readers can draw their own conclusions about the behavior of this woman, who is incredibly unlikely to actually be named “Karen.” Good writing doesn’t rely on tired, overused misogynistic and racist memes and cliches to get its points across. Instead, it describes the event in sufficient detail so that readers can draw their own conclusions. Cheers. Have a Happy New Year.
Why is this news ?
Typical USA women
She should be on a no fly list
Hey could you people please find another term for your abusive name-calling, derogatory language, and insults. My wife is 80 yrs old, was an intensive care nurse for 34 years, knows all about abuses that you can’t believe, like being decked on the chin by a psycho patient. She has never been anything but kind and caring. Her name is KAREN and she and I are freaking tired of your inconsiderate choice of the substitute for just a plain old asshole.
Call it like it is!
@Gary Why do you need to cover a person having a tantrum? You can find this at any airport any day of the week. Your profile lists that you are an expert on miles, points, and business travel. It would be great if you could highlight deals that exist instead of playing tabloid journalism.
I really want to believe @dignity’s silly tirade is satirical, but something tells me it’s not.
Hmm… Something doesn’t quite seem to add up. The sign says that boarding for the flight has already ended. Was she really complaining about the delay or was she complaining because of missing the flight? Not that her actions are acceptable either way.
The AA version of a Delta Red Coat is a robot that shocks the gate agent if the door is not closed at D10.
I see that no one has commented on @Andys hateful comment directed at all American women.. @Andys seems to be misogynistic horse’s behind that is afraid of women with an education.
Happy New Year. Let’s start it off by dropping the 8th grade name calling, like Karen. What happened to using the word b$tch or D&ck? Leave Karen out if this. My first crush’s name was Karen.
“Karen” is a “racist and sexist slur”? Man, have you got a thin skin. Wait, I said ‘man’. You could be an “it”. Crap, I said “you”. It wouldn’t surprise me that you get your butt up on your shoulders all the time. Wait, I said “it” and “you” in the same sentence. Bad pronoun. Wait…you could be a “Ken”, we don’t know. HORRORS…another “racist and sexist slur”! Get over it wuss. The woman was wrong. OH CRAP…I said “woman”. The more I use correct words, the more Dignity gets wound up.
It wasn’t pretty, but she was having a nervous breakdown — most likely about something not related to the flight. Doesn’t excuse the behavior but that is likely what was happening.
Speaking as someone with a Uterus… I’m 55 years old… survived Breast Cancer @ age 21 & haveived with Lupus since giving birth 22 years ago… I have never considered acting or reacting that way. She was rude, entitled and out of Line. If she was that sick she should have gone to the ER. Had she not been an Anglo woman…she would have never been allowed to perform her 1 woman show for that long without consequences. No employee should be required to subject themselves to that type if abuse…and people wonder why gate agents aren’t warn and fuzzy!
As noted in other comments, the passenger was at the end of the rope. No clue why the passenger was at the end of the rope. Perhaps the passenger will wear herself out, calm down and go home; perhaps not. The staff may realize the best option is to let the passenger wear herself out. Not all staff have the wearwhithal to deal with the process.
Quoting one gate agent at Atlanta, “I have 8 children; one upset passenger doesn’t bother me.” She went on to state their job was to let him wear himself out so they could put in on a plane later in the day and send him home.
As an individual with Asperger’s, the end of the rope is a problematic situation. One of the reasons status and premium seating is desireable is the flexiability associated with both. Some staff are accommodating and some staff are not accommodating. For air travel delays the end of the rope often involves a rebooking on a flight the next day so I can go “recover” at a hotel overnight. Not everyone is so objective, though; and emotions overrule objectivity.
Not clear if the situation would be better news if the agents didn’t continue “as though nothing is happending”.
In the early 1990’s I worked for a small commuter airline in Atlantic City. We had a severe weather front move through with winds over 60 miles an hour, completely dark outside in the middle of the afternoon. Outbound flights were temporarily cancelled and inbound flights were re-routed to other airports to sit out the storm. In walks a middle age female to pick up her luggage from a flight that had been diverted. She had elected not to fly into AC because she was afraid to fly on our “small” 19 passenger aircraft. When told her luggage was on a flight that had been diverted, she literally lost her mind. Yelling, screaming, cursing, slamming things on the counter. She demanded the aircraft be ordered to fly into AC immediately. When I replied it was unsafe to fly and we would commence operations when we received weather clearance from Philly tower, she said she didn’t give an “f” who died to get her luggage to her, she wanted that plane here now. The lobby was filled with people waiting for flights and the whole place went silent. She screamed “what are you looking at” at and said “f all of you” and walked out. She was only slightly more ill-behaved than the guy who arrived late and wanted me to order a plane back off the runway that was already cleared for take-off. He threw his luggage at me and jumped on the baggage platform to attack me. Fortunately other people intercepted him. So it’s been happening for a long time, we just hear about it more I think.
As long as she is willing to pay premium prices Delta should roll out the. (soiled) red carpet.
This is news and fine reporting- no one said ever about this blog.
Meanwhile, there’s actual industry news being covered by other blogs like TPG.
They seem too complicated for this author to cover.
I have a feeling she’s not angry about the delay but likely that she missed her flight. The board clearly says “boarding complete” so it’s likely either she was on another delayed flight and missed this one or she walked away from the gate, they boarded the flight up, and she walked back to the gate with the plane already gone.
This lady is a Karen on steroids! Who are these people in the comments (yes I am talking about you, Dignity)? Psychoanalysis of that pathetic situation, really? Such flowery language! I think you are a Karen too, because you are ridiculous. I would have been up in this lady’s face telling her to shut her pie hole and stop abusing the gate agents (who were angels). There is no excuse for her behavior, and I hope her job sees this and fires her, and that she is banned from Delta.
@Brian
Your mind reading sucks. Keep your day job.
She was kicked off the plane by the pilot.
Since there was a second officer waiting outside the door they exited, there was probably a squad car waiting. It takes awhile to get the squad out on the tarmac area. I doubt if she was put on another flight. And I wonder as one of the other folks that commented if the woman was possibly suffering an anxiety attack of some sort. I’m not condoning her actions or her language but that could account for why she spun so out of control. So I’m fairly certain she did not get to fly anywhere that day. The Airline staff were doing their jobs very-very well. Control and contain the problem.
I’m just here for the comments because, we’ll, I had time today. You all did not disappoint. Thanks so much for the entertainment, better than Netflix. Happy New Year all. #FlyDeltaJets
My name is Karen and when you call this bit.. woman who went totally out of bounds in boarding area and delayed a flight, I must say as a Karen, I’m very offended! I fly Delta quite a lot, should I look for another airline that doesn’t have this prejudice against Karens?
The real first name for some pilots at Delta Airlines is Karen.
I’m not sure what was funnier, that video, or all the boomers in the comments complaining about the use of the name Karen.
I had a set of very empathetic & helpful Delta Employees at an Airport. I was 72 @ the time. I was confused about the cities Greenville & Greensboro. So I missed my Departure & Gate. I went to the “Customer Help” Counter, calmly explained the situation to them. Without any Drama,they rebooked me,& didn’t even charge me! I was very thankful. I’m not an “Experienced Traveler”, as you can see.