Police Board Spirit Airlines Flight, Passenger Ordered To Put “Hands On Our Head And Drop Everything”

by Gary Leff

Police boarded a Spirit Airlines flight from Chicago O’Hare that landed in Las Vegas on Sunday. But it was all a misunderstanding, it was just a Spirit flight. A passenger “observed communications between a mentally ill person and an airline employee” and made an “overexaggerated” social media post.

One passenger reports that after boarding the aircraft police made passengers on board “put our hands on our head and drop everything.”

While a woman sitting towards the front of the aircraft was arrested, she was released as “no laws were broken.”

Shouldn’t there just be a different standard for responding to disturbances on Spirit Airlines, with maybe the new Spirit Airlines frequent flyer program bonusing these sorts of incidents (though with their frequency, that could become expensive)? Treat Spirit flights like a sort of Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle,

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. When flying Spirit Airlines, it might be wise to schedule an extra 12 to 24 hours to reach your destination to allow for pesky flight delays, disruptions, and law enforcement interventions. Remember, time to spare, travel Spirit Air.

  5. It is indeed my money and usage of a particular airline is based upon timeliness, courtesy comfort , convenience and price. Weighting each item at 20 percent or less I give Spirit Airlines a 95 because no airline is perfect, but Spirit is the best value for my travel needs.

  6. So is this correct: the police boarded the plane due to a social media post? Am I naive to wonder about police monitoring social media?

  9. I fly all the time.
    United Airlines
    Delta
    Southwest
    And no joke. Spirit Airlines is my favorite. Yes the seats are cramped. However, the flight attendants and all that work for Spirit make it worth it. Super nice, fun and professional.

  10. This is a classic Spirit airlines flight, nothing out of the ordinary – at least for Spirit.

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