Guess The Airline? Passenger Kicks Agent In Head, Beats Another With Dustpan, Coughs On Cops Saying She Has COVID-19

21-year-old Emmari Jackson of Texas was held in an Orlando jail on $3500 bond after “batter[ing] five airline agents and a corrections officer” on Tuesday afternoon over a $65 Spirit Airlines bag fee – the cost of a first piece of luggage checked at the gate.

Spirit’s gate agents reported that she became angry over the fee, and things escalated when they told Ms. Jackson they wouldn’t allow her to fly. That’s when she “threw a bag of shoes at the agents at a service desk…reached over the service counter to hit an agent, …punched [another agent] in the head” and things only got more out of hand from there.

A supervisor for Spirit Airlines attempted to call the police when Jackson ran at them, punched them in the back of the head, then jumped on them, according to a report. When witnesses attempted to pull Jackson off the supervisor, Jackson kicked a victim in the head, according to police.

Jackson then grabbed a metal dustpan used for airport cleaning from a nearby custodial cart and proceeded to hit a victim over the back with the dustpan..

When Ms. Jackson was taken into custody by police she “told officers she had COVID-19 before coughing on equipment.” She then tried to escape and “began to cough and spit in the officer’s face.” An officer tackled her to the ground and she “kicked the officer in the chest.” A mere $65 bag fee must be looking pretty good to her right now.

If I hadn’t experienced Spirit myself I might think Ms. Jackson was every Spirit Airlines passenger ever. Of course this also happened in Florida, so…

(HT: Live and Let’s Fly)

About Gary Leff

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 »

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Comments

  1. “If I hadn’t experienced Spirit myself I might think Ms. Jackson was every Spirit Airlines passenger ever.”.
    Are you serious?
    I personally don’t like fly Spirit either, but that does not mean I am a psychopath like Ms. Jackson.
    Clearly she is very wounded and need psychiatric care. But please don’t make such blanket statements. You are better than that!

  2. What one pays is generally what one gets. This is a reason I don’t fly Spirit, Allegiant, and Southwest.

  3. @Alllen Given that she’s black, it’s statistically unlikely that she’s a fan of Trump. In any case, this story has nothing to do with politics.

  4. I fly Spirit regularly for my thankfully short commuting run between Vegas and Denver offices.

    Their fee disclosures are very transparent, and aggressively self-populate onto your booking screens: you have to click agreement before you’re allowed to proceed to the next booking process screen, so anyone who actually READS while making a knowingly non-refundable purchase knows what to expect — and what to avoid.

    “Sorry Miss Jackson,” but a 1-girl BLM riot anywhere past the TSA checkpoint is a pretty bad idea.

  5. If only her ancestors had put up such a fight when they were put on the ship bound for the Americas, this would not have happened.

  6. @Doug. It is a non-political story. Gary rarely has political issues, but invariably someone right or left has to bring in politics in his/her comments.

    The passenger definitely fits as a Florida resident, but Texas gets credit this time.

  7. I am mad as hell and I am not gonna take it any more, – not paying any damn baggage fees.

  8. @for starter

    The incident happened at Orlando but Ms Jackson is from Texas.

    Amazing how people gross over what they read, or not read at all.

  9. Poor woman- don’t judge her, who knows what is going on in her life.
    Garry, I used to avoid spirit for ten years after a flight from chicago to last Vegas, but last year was forced to take several flights with them and actually really liked the experience. The crue was friendly and made jokes, the whole process was efficient and painless. Seats were actually not bad- I upgraded the seats to front row and for the fraction of what it would cost on major airlines had a domestic business class seat. All of that for a very reasonable price. They have gotten much better and I will be flying them more for sure.

  10. I flew spirit once because I missed my flight from Vegas to Oakland and spirit was the only other option that day. Paying $15 for a first class seat was great, but wow, the passengers on the flight were something else. A couple sitting in the back row got out of their seats as we hit the runway and walked to the front of the plane so they could get off before everyone else. The flight attendant told them to sit down and it was basically just, “fuck you, bitch”. Spirit is wild.

  11. My husband and I regularly fly Spirit Airlines. We actually like the fact that only those who have extra baggage are charged for it. I don’t want to have to pay for somebody else’s supposedly free one check bag limit. If I don’t have any baggage to check, my rate is extremely affordable and the flight itself, the crew, and the seats are quite acceptable. There are no frills. If I want to eat, I bring my own food. If I want snacks I bring my own snacks. I don’t want to have to pay for these things that I can do myself or don’t need. All of this is made explicitly clear if you read true the information provided on the online ticket purchase platform.

  12. @Doug and Ryan that story never said anything about her RACE nor did it have any Pictures. So I am confused as to how you all can just assume that she is black. That just shows how simple minded you all are. Your showing that you are racist and a part of the problem . How dare you all assume she is black just by reading a story. No I don’t agree with her behavior regarding the situation but that is just it this story is about ones behavior not the color of their skin.

  13. Spirit only takes credit cards.

    I’ve seen the “I only have cash” baggage scam at the gate many times. Spirit allows the customer to pull this once, them puts them on a list.

    She knew the rules.

  14. So you just had to add that unnecessary comment “it happens in Florida”. First of all, the one causing the scene and acting crazy is not Floridian but somebody from Texas. Maybe a lot of these crazy people doing crazy things in Florida came from another states, did you think of that?

  15. I fly spirit all the time, and as long as you know how to read, they are super inexpensive and present to fly with. The problem is just like if you rent a cheap apartment over an expensive one. Its the people you attract. To the lady saying don’t judge this person, lol. Really? It doesn’t matter what’s going on in your life, if you are punching, kicking, and beating with a dustpan, you are either my mom, or you are an asshole, or both. No excuse for that EXCEPT for the fact that everyone thinks that they can get away with anything they want at this point in time. I’m glad she was arrested.

  16. She isn’t a Trump Supporter, she is one of those damn Amish people who are always making trouble

  17. I just flew back on Spirit from Las Vegas for the first time I would give it an 8 out of 10, no check back, brought my own snacks and water and only cost me $72 bucks. As for the crazy lady, maybe menopause?

  18. With all my respect I would say that most likely the attacker is either black or Hispanic. I grew up in a prominently black & hispanic hood & been around other races. So pls don’t attack me this don’t have anything to do with discrimination is just a fact. Attacker was black

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