Last weekend I noted former President Joe Biden flying United Airlines first class out of Houston. Qatar did not gift him a plane to use, so he flies commercial.

On Saturday he flew American Airlines from Minneapolis – where he was attending the funeral of slain Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman – to Philadelphia, near his home in Wilmington. He bumped a first class passenger out of the cabin to do so.

Flight AA 2717 to Philadelphia. I’d like to know who the government official is who bumped me out of my first class seat. Our tax dollars hard at work y’all

— Every day American (@ElaineLehman2) June 28, 2025

They were not happy – even assuming it was an official in the Trump administration. They appear to be Trump supporters from their feed, but they were thrilled that the passenger wound up being Biden.

Update: American Airlines is woke AF but Joe Biden signed my daughter’s birthday card so I guess it’s okay he bumped my husband out of first class. pic.twitter.com/sTqh1dSHR7

— Every day American (@ElaineLehman2) June 28, 2025

The former President came off the aircraft and down the stairs onto the ramp, rather than exiting via the jetbridge into the terminal.

More bad news for Biden haters…our Joe effortlessly walks down the stairs, carrying his own bag, from his plane in Philly. pic.twitter.com/N5XMmYoZVl

— SayMay (@saymaysmith) June 29, 2025

I’m going to express an unpopular view: the scheduling desires of a former President should not take precedence over confirmed passengers. That’s true, by the way, regardless of party.

The Royals have been known to fly economy within Europe for security. They are facing any potential threat coming at them, and they only need to monitor the rear galley (and lavatory) from behind. Taking up the back of the aircraft is also more private.

I’ve always viewed Biden as:

• an honorable man, even if given to offerring up tall tales (“Corn Pop was a ‘bad dude’ who ‘ran a bunch of bad boys'”)
  
• who did a poor job on Senate Foreign Relations and Judiciary
  
• allowed his Presidential administration to be run as a fiefdom, delegating issue areas to affected groups within his party.

I thought he was the better candidate in 2020 and even 2024. However I don’t think he should be treated as more important than other passengers on a commercial flight. Here I think taking a cue from Jimmy Carter makes sense.

A former President’s financial prospects are significant, and can certainly buy their own travel as they wish, frequently including private jet travel. Bill Clinton, for instance, is estimated at a nine figure net worth and did not enter office wealthy.

Biden was worth an estimated $2.5 million upon leaving the Vice Presidency. He spent most of his life in public office. In the four years that followed, prior to becoming President, he earned millions each year (including $8 million for a book deal). His age and starting point in the low eight figures mean he’s unlikely to end up truly wealthy, but his public efforts are largely covered by donations at this point anyway.

Biden, like other former Presidents, does not need our charity. If he did, it shouldn’t come at the expense of one American (passenger) but the nation broadly. Presidents ought to take a cue from former Congressman Thaddeus McCotter who offered the best resignation in history from the U.S. House of Representatives (emphasis mine),

The recent event’s totality of calumnies, indignities and deceits have weighed most heavily upon my family. Thus, acutely aware one cannot rebuild their hearth of home amongst the ruins of their U.S. House office, for the sake of my loved ones I must “strike another match, go start anew” by embracing the promotion back from public servant to sovereign citizen.

(McCotter was the first sitting congressman in 70 years not to qualify for their own party’s primary. Staff submitted fake signatures on the required petition. He was not suspected of wrongdoing.)

One Mile at a Time is thrilled that the interaction “humanize[d]” Biden’s critic, saying that “[w]e have a lot more in common than we have differences.” I agree! Although I’d point out that the passenger’s displeasure came before realizing it was former President Biden that was the passenger.

Johnny Jet is happy to be bumped from first class “for someone who served our country so valiantly.” And indeed, that should be his choice to offer his seat to another passenger he deems worthy.

Better for an ex-President to take the lead of former American Airlines CEO Doug Parker who flew Southwest rather than bump a paying passenger.

His interaction with a Southwest flight attendant over race in the wake of George Floyd became a defining element of his post-American Airlines career. (That flight attendant even serves on the board of his foundation which is dedicated to “removing the financial hardships of aspiring pilots and providing supplemental support through mentorship”).

It’s fine to solicit volunteers to downgrade in order to accommodate the former President, but it shouldn’t be policy to do so involuntarily. If the first class cabin is sold out, and he’ll only fly up front, he can take a different flight. There are six peak daily flights on the route, and Delta operates one later in the evening. He can also connect. He’s no longer conducting the peoples’ business.