A few days ago a passenger and check-in agent at the Southwest Airlines counter in Denver got out of hand. They wound up in a fight – and the customer got tackled by police – after his aggression shifted from the airline to law enforcement.
Police reportedly attempted to communicate and calm the suspect, but he took a swing at one officer and narrowly missed. A second officer immediately executed a ‘controlled takedown’ (heh) neutralizing the threat as they say.
While social media refers to the Southwest Airlines ‘gate agent’ victim of the man’s ire, this is clearly check-in and not a Denver airport airport gate.
No motive is known – though perhaps the passenger didn’t know to expect bag fees after all those years of Southwest promoting that bags fly free, and after all customers received an email from the CEO last fall promising they wouldn’t make this change?
(HT: Johnny Jet)
Probably just wanted to know where the Spirit counter was located.
clearly they should have directed him to the Spirit Counter
‘Worldstar!’
Greatest country in the world…what could be better?
Very disappointing. I would expect to see this kind of behavior in Mainland China, but not here.
Driving to DIA via Pena Boulevard will do that to a person.
@Mike P — Bah! *paging Mr. Erect*
@Denver Refugee — No joke. The interchange of I-70 and Peña felt really abrupt to me. Like, a fast merge after Peoria and Chambers. And traffic often piles up, too. You’d think it’d be less crazy because it’s basically in the middle of nowhere. Looks more like Kansas than the Rockies at DIA. Then there’s blue Mustang… with those crazy eyes! (‘Carrot! Nom, nom, nom…’ there used to be an old commercial, I think it was by Sports Authority.)
@1990 Don’t you be dissin’ Blucifer. It’s one of the things about DIA I like.
@Denver Refugee — I still trust the Colbert Report’s ‘reporting’ on DIA in his segment ‘Mysteries of the Ancient Unknown’… some say, it’s ‘phallic.’
Southwest Airlines Management has a way of turning the tables on it’s employees despite witnesses. During my time with Southwest i saw a number of altercations between Southwest Leadership and Employees and again despite witnesses they will 99% of the time side with management. Hope it works out for the Southwest agent but when it comes to Southwest investigating anything it is usually a shoddy investigation.
Did anyone else notice, that as the takedown escalated, the sign behind the WN counter changed to “Need Some Extra Help”?
Picard
@Jean luc Picard — “Engage!”
@Jean Luc Picard writes, “Did anyone else notice that as the takedown escalated, the sign behind the WN counter changed to ‘Need Some Extra Help’? Yes, I noticed! During the daily Southwest Airlines ticket counter fight, the electronic WN counter sign should read, “Southwest Airlines welcomes Spirit Airlines customers to our Daily Gate Brawls. The winner of the fight will receive a one-year free baggage allowance with Southwest Airlines plus A-List Preferred elite status and a complimentary companion pass.”
@Ken A — That’s a great deal! Maybe even better than jetBlue’s ‘25 for 25’ promotion.
Again, thanks for all you do, sir, and for always wearing your life jacket (for everyone else, remember, only inflate it once you *exit* the aircraft, not before!) #Ethiopian961
Now that the ‘Hulk’ has departed, we need our WWE fix somewhere….. The American airport is the new WWE venue ! … Now that’s progress !
@DenverRefugee and 1990 – it is DEN not DIA! Use the proper code for the airport (and my daughter went to CU so know some locals refer to it as Denver International Airport but the code is NOT DIA
1990 says:
July 30, 2025 at 9:26 am
@Mike P — Bah! *paging Mr. Erect*
1990 says:
July 30, 2025 at 9:53 am
… some say, it’s ‘phallic.’
@AC – If we’re going to be picky, the correct designation is KDEN.