JetBlue Chaos: Passenger Destroys JFK Check-In After Being Denied Ticket to Haiti

In a startling incident at New York’s JFK Airport, a man went on a destructive rampage at the JetBlue check-in area, reportedly after being denied a ticket to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Onlookers were stunned as he shouted and caused significant damage to the airline’s kiosks.

JetBlue operates daily flights (B6 935 and 634) between JFK and Port-au-Prince, maintaining an essential connection for many Haitians amidst the country’s ongoing political turmoil and violence. Haiti is a mess. This passenger, though, did not have a ticket but was demanding to be placed on the next available flight.

The man grew increasingly agitated as he walked around the check-in area, shouting at passersby. His demands were clear: “I need to get to Haiti on the next scheduled flight… the next scheduled flight.”

As his frustration escalated, he began attacking the check-in computers and self-service kiosks, knocking over equipment and trash cans. Despite the chaos, some passengers in line for assistance continued to wait in an orderly manner, even as the man’s actions caused some barriers to hit bystanders.

The situation drew to a close when a lone police officer arrived, managing to subdue the man with a bear hug and escort him out of the terminal.

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. I guess he should have just contacted a government sponsored NGO. They certainly are liberal in giving out plane tickets.

  2. So the last article you published about an incident at airport check in prominently mentioned which presidential nominee the offender preferred. Why doesn’t this article?

  3. @PilotLawyer It’s because, in the last post where the offender destroyed the airport check-in desk, the guy specifically mentioned that he was a Trump supporter so it was relevant to the story. AFAICT, the guy in this post did not mention a political affiliation, hence it was not part of the story. As a “PilotLawyer” I’m assuming you’d agree that relevant facts are often important to the context of an incident, so it’s important to report on them accurately.

  4. Content of thier character.

    If he didn’t have a ticket, how was he able to access the secure area of the airport?

  5. He’s just destroying the airline counters that Americans can’t be bothered to destroy. He did it as an act of love.

  6. @kevin – fly much? They dot have kiosks, baggage check in etc in the “secure area” – this is clearly at the B6 check in area which one does not need a ticket to approach – obviously.

  7. We need to find a way to bring more people into this country with that kind of initiative and work ethic!

  8. Clearly he was completely stressed out and lost it. But my question is why anyone would want to go back there. About 10 years ago I visited by bus from the Dominican Republic, going to the quieter north end of the country (Cap-Haitien) to see the immense fortress a mad king built two centuries ago. It was impressive too. But the life expectancy dropped 10 years at the border, and the taxi driver I had stayed in a metal cage so he couldn’t be murdered for his car. And that was during a peaceful period there. Glad I saw it, glad I’m out and have some beautiful steel cut art to remember it by. And before any politician spreads lies about the decent hardworking people trapped in a hellish situation there they should see it for themselves. And they should know the history too, including how for decades the U.S. supported a homicidal dictator because he was anti-Communist. He left nothing behind but ashes.

  9. I went to Haiti a couple times on business. It’s fun… in that “always wanted to speed through the street in a car with tinted windows and guy with a gun in the front seat” way.

  10. Bad as these pet-eating immigrants are, they can be more effective protesors but emulating “Southern Bourbon” methods including using their Second Amendment rights to bear ICBMs.

  11. When the situation was descending into the chaos that the man created, why didn’t they give him a fake ticket so that they could move the conflict to the boarding gate where they would have security on hand to deal with him? Why let the conflict lead to property damage and possibly injury to other passengers or crew? Further, they would get all of his identification.

  12. Since he Swiftly destroyed the JFK Check-In Area maybe a look at this guy’s friendship bracelet would identify his political party?

  13. Folks living in South Florida can smell Haiti. Haiti really needs to be nuked to put it out of its misery. Nothing good has ever come from Haiti. And nothing ever will.

  14. I would simply like to know why this man needed to be in Haiti so fast. Had someone died? Was he threatened here or there? (Was the Springfield, cruel issue the last straw?) There are always many options. When people are desperate, which this man clearly was, they can do desperate things. It’s time we think a bit more about the human question here. I felt so sorry for him, am proud of the bystander’s reactions and the policeman who escorted him out.
    Funny: first we don’t want immigrants in, then we don’t want them out…

  15. Reading the comments it’s sad and here are the reasons.

    1. The man clearly could have been mentally ill or became mentally unstable due to some extreme circumstances. He should be arrested for what he did as it’s not legal to do what he did but we should not be so cruel making racist jokes about this.
    2. People should do some minimal fact check before spreading bogus nonsense about Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs. Donald Trump gets away with talking bullshit but no-one else. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

  16. The USA used to be a society that could mould any immigrant into an American. Those days however, are long gone, and the permissive and indulgent culture of the USA now unfortunately allows or even encourages immigrants to maintain the culture they were born with, so that they mix uncomfortably with the rest of society. “Eating” cats and dogs might not have been quite accurate, but it was at least allegorical.

  17. @mak You really should check out 1920s NYC and then come back and tell me how we “moulded” immigrants.

    What you describe takes multiple generations and is a natural process. It’s the children of immigrants that you see as ‘American’ and it always will be.

  18. These articles and the comments below are always entertaining. I’m glad all the deplorables have found a safe space to yell racist dog whistles at each other without letting reality leak in and ruin their delusions!

  19. Our country is being overrun (10 million+) criminal illegal aliens, many of whom are criminals or mentally unwell, but Jon is concerned about imaginary racist dog whistles. Jon probably lives in Martha’s Vineyard or the UES. How many illegals are you supporting, Jon?

  20. Mostly disgusting comments from the puerile, uneducated louts that love rushing to judgement. This person was clearly in meltdown with mental health issues and, spoiler alert, lots of white men have such issues as well. Of course, those often shoot up places, killing children. True that Haiti has had a troubled history and is presently in awful condition. However, to say that nothing good has come out of it is to ignore its fascinating history and its rich contributions to art. I’m glad I was able to make many trips to collect that art. And to all the ones who couldn’t resist the comments about eating pets…most of us get that you’re groveling at the feet of your old, demented cult leader and can’t help yourself.

  21. If he is in meltdown mode he definitely does not belong on my airplane or any airplane. We should be thankful he lost control before he was locked in a metal tube.

  22. WOW, as if Haiti and The Haitian people didn’t have enough to deal with these days!!! I am not Haitian, but I feel for the Haitian community, which I know well, and feel great love and esteem for. Dude! Sit down, go away, be quite. Show som self respect, and pride, not just for yourself. but all of your countrymen!!!

  23. In the real world this guy would have a one way ticket to jail and would not get out until he pays for every dime of damage he does.
    Glad Joey has a fly them in at no cost policy from Haiti so we can endure this crap.

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