Spirit Airlines Passenger Lights Up As Plane Taxis To The Gate, Flight Attendants Shrug

On Tuesday a woman on a Spirit Airlines flight couldn’t wait to smoke until she got out of the airport. She couldn’t even wait until she’d gotten out of the plane. So while her aircraft taxied to its gate in Fort Lauderdale she lit up at her seat. Of course this happened on a Spirit Airlines flight. In Fort Lauderdale.

The flight, which originated in Detroit, “took an hour to make its way to the gate,” frustrating the passenger and leading her to whip out her smokes. A nearby passenger reported, “She literally took out a cigarette and just started smoking. …Is this real life?” And initially, she said, flight crew “refused to do anything” because presumably this is just like any other Spirit Airlines flight to Florida.

They told her she could move the back of the plane if she wished, which she did. The recording begins after she moved from her seat, she said. …During the recording, law enforcement officers are seen entering the plane and asking the woman to go with them. She gets up and is escorted off.

@heyalexa_nah

Definitely never flying spirit again.

♬ original sound – Alexa Majdalawi

United Airlines introduced the first ‘non-smoking section’ on its planes in 1971. Smoking on US domestic flights was first banned in 1988 (for flights up to two hours) with all domestic and international flights required to be smoke-free by 2000. Since passengers sometimes disobey the law you’ll still find ashtrays in lavatories.

In fact, in 2019 there was an incident also on Spirit caught on video. And the best part is watching the man across the aisle reacting. His face is priceless. And he flags down a flight attendant. This, too, ended with law enforcement.

Last summer an airline passenger refused to wear a mask and then sat back and lit up a cigarette. It was hardly the first time this happened.

Before the pandemic a man downed 4 bottles of beer, vaped an e-cigarette, and punched a flight attendant. E-cigarettes of course are generally banned on planes just like regular cigarettes are (largely because some passengers might freak out and think they’re the real thing). Nonetheless a man who burned himself with his own e-cigarette sued the airline he was flying.

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. Spirit doesn’t want to violate her personal right to smoke. Just like having to wear a mask. The rights of one idiot individual trumps the rights of everyone else.

  2. Democratic airline CEO’s support politicians who want to defund police and support racial wars in the streets but can’t handle their own petty problems on their own so they need to send in armed police to arrest someone who smoked a cigarette. Sums up the authoritarian elite pretty well to me.

  3. OMG, what next I wonder ? I’m guessing we’re going to be seeing more of this in the future. Maybe we need TSA to confiscate cigarettes and other smoking materials at security screening

  4. I was on a Berlin-Amsterdam Easy Jet flight, which is max maybe a 1-hour flight. I was sitting in the first row and a Dutch lady went into the front lavatory and lit up a cigarette. It triggered the smoke alarm alert on the main wall-mounted touch screen in the front gallery of the 737. The flight attendants were so confused but eventually figured out it was coming from the front lavatory so they popped the door open and caught the lady in the act. I was sitting in the front row so could smell the smoke when they opened the lavatory door. Police met the plane obviously when we landed. I used to think it was crazy that they have ashtrays in the bathrooms on new planes like 787, but now I know why. It is so if someone is smoking they dont put their ashes into the trash bin and light it on fire.

  5. @Don, I’m with @Rog, you may want to switch to decaf. This is a person smoking on an airplane, which is not allowed. Not anything more than that.

  6. @Don, apparently you’ve been smoking too and it’s addled your mind. I could say more, but then I’d be violating the terms of service here.

    This woman has no right to impact the health of those around her.

Comments are closed.