Police bodycam footage is being shared to social media from Delta Air Lines flight 3166 last November, where senior executive from Epic Systems and SkyMiles Million Miler Carl Dvorak boarded his Detroit to Madison, Wisconsin flight inebriated, asked for a nausea bag, and filmed flight attendants due to perceived service lapses.
He asked crew: “Do you know who I am?” They answered, “Yes, Mr. Dvorak, we do.” He began invoking his travel status while refusing crew instructions to step off for evaluation. And he responded, “Bring on the Sheriff.”
Eventually, Delta deplaned everyone from the aircraft – leaving him onboard with law enforcement – and delaying the flight by an hour.
Wayne County Airport Authority Police reported that he smelled of alcohol. When asked how much he had consumed, he said: “one drink.” Officers ordered him to unbuckle and leave. His reply:
I am not going to unbuckle my seatbelt… you’re going to have to drag me off.
Eventually he was handcuffed and escorted off the aircraft onto the tarmac and transported to police holding facility Building 610. Footage shows,
- He told officers to handcuff him so that he could pursue a lawsuit.
- He argued with police over who would hold his ID.
- He quipped about wanting McDonald’s, and deputies… took his food order while processing him.
Dvorak said, “I’ve never been arrested in my life.” An officer replied: “Well, today’s your first day.” He letter issued a statement,
The way I acted on the plane Wednesday was inappropriate. I have apologized to the airline and their staff, and I apologize to the other passengers.
There’s no confirmation from him or his company that he began drinking when he realized how little his million SkyMiles were worth.
Gary, the last line of the article is sure to trigger a certain someone…great work!
Wow…in before 1990…I’m surprised since he has to opine on all your articles and throw in his political stance.
Premium airline, Premium passengers!
That’s a hard way to learn that the usual response to “you’re going to have to drag me off” is “fine with us.” Usually punctuated with a nightstick.
Ah, another similar story; recall Gary’s recent ‘Concierge Key’ bad-behavior-in-the-lounge post. Folks, it’s not any particular group or identifier, it’s the bad behavior that is bad.
Well, this time, it’s with Delta, so, naturally, I want @Tim Dunn’s take.
@L737, where’s @Matt for his one-liner?
@1991 — Nice name. Thank you for not literally impersonating me, as someone had done. All are welcome here. And, you’re welcome to try to make it about partisanship or race or whatever. That’d be delicious rage-bait! I still assume more clicks and views are good for the site.
Every time I see another post of passengers behaving badly, I take comfort in knowing my behavior is not that bad.
Ah yes, more entitled travelers. I recall the Mayo Clinic lounge article last week or so, I wouldn’t be surprised if EPIC did something similar at MSN.
@1990 — For a… ah I’ll let the master handle it.
P.S. Wouldn’t “@1992” be a better impersonating name? Heh
All-in-all it could be worse…he could have been “romantically” sitting next to his head of HR!
Gotta love the apology though. After acting like he was 100% in the right…he admits he was an ass!
@L737 — I’d say, you’ve got a similar issue, at least with the Boeing line-up… L747?
There is a saying that any apology not followed by a resignation (or a swift and public firing by the board) is insincere.
In today’s world 90% of people feel entitled .
So many of us are million milers but still realize that it’s just numbers.
We still have to respect profesional airline employees!
@Aida Perez Flamm — You have it backwards; +90% of people are normal, decent folks, who don’t do this stuff, like, at all. Then there’s this guy (and the others that get a lot of attention, because they go viral, and get posted about on here and Reddit.)
Cops treating him like he’s a delayed passenger. He should have been put on a No Fly List and done a few days in the local pokey. Then when he goes to his all important CEO type meetings he can “Go Greyhound.”
This incident has been reported numerous times since the actual date. I believe on this web site, too! If I recall, there was a video, audio or written apology by this guy. BORING
Oh, and a response that sometimes use to, “Do you know who I am?” is “No, but if you will hum a few bars, I’ll try to sing along.”
“There’s no confirmation from him or his company that he began drinking when he realized how little his million SkyMiles were worth.”
Heh, heh, heh….
airlines are common carriers; no one has any more or less people w/ serious issues like alcoholism or inability to know one’s limits.
People that think they are immune from what they jeer others doing are the ones you should be most scared of.
This kind of nonsense makes me glad I gave up alcohol years ago. I used to be a hot head as well…. Just give up the booze, dude! …Now the board has to start looking for the next CEO since you show such bad judgment.
@1990 — Always a bigger fish (plane) to fry (fly)
Epic sells absolutely soul-crushing software. So this is very on brand.
Here’s a one act play, where a doctor is in the examination room with an ill patient, engaging with their epic system.
Doctor: (In front of computer screen, click, click, click, click-click, click click … click-click) How are you feeling today? (click, click, click-click, click, click, click)
Patient: My belly is very sore.
Doctor: (click-click, click-click, click, click, click, click, click, click-click) OK, let’s have a look. (click-click, click-click, click-click, click, click, ….click-click, click, click-click, click, click, click)
Entitlement on full display.
@L737 — “How wonderfully decadent! …Jombey! The chocolate icing!”
No video link
LOL Gary. One third of VftW is serious travel commentary, one third is the kind of pontificating that I do when three martinis deep, and one third is World Star Airport Edition.
None of these are criticisms – I’m here for all of it.
Unfortunately another rich, spoiled, entitled, arrogant guy. Money doesn’t buy class.
@1990 — “Squeaky, squishly clean!”
Million miler, first class passenger…. He received a 1st class arrest with a customized dinner offer.
He had a premium experience all around.
Perhaps his behavior was caused by something more than what he supposedly had to drink.
Detroit does have a history of dragging folks off Delta jets 😉
A good response to “do you know who I am?”is “maybe, check your id” or “try hard to remember so we can get you back to the retirement village” or”itvseems like today is a goodvday to remain anonymous. “
I/we have seen this story almost on a daily basis. only airlines and out of control passengers change. what we should be seeing are the results of bad behavior. no fly list, heavy fines, possible lawsuits from other passengers, even jail time.
Since the Trump era(s) started, there has been a lot more in the news about narcissism, malignant narcissists, etc. Several interesting research medical and psychiatric articles listed the top professions where they are found. “Corporate Executives: High-level positions often come with power and prestige, appealing to narcissistic individuals.” and “ These professions often provide environments where narcissistic traits (entitlement, grandiosity, arrogance, etc.) can be rewarded, leading to a higher prevalence of such individuals.”
I am not claiming Mr Dvorak was either drunk or a narcissist. I have no way of knowing that, and I do not personally know him, nor am I a doctor.
@mikey flies — You’re right; we see this ‘story’ on a daily basis (clickbait), but we rarely see it in-person, while flying, because it’s actually far less common in the ‘real’ world, thankfully.
Maybe in the future we can get AI implants to let us know realtime when we’re being jerks.
…mine will be going off 24/7.
Wow. I am almost to 2 million on united. I had no idea the cops would help with a mcdonalds order. Must be only with delta miles.
White light, white heat, white trash.
I’d say his ‘white privilege card’ has officially expired (if it hasn’t already) ..
And I love the warning to law enforcement that they’d have to drag him off the aircraft ? Could he have harbored masochistic instincts in that request ? I find it hard to believe he hadn’t heard of the infamous ‘UA Dr Dao incident’….. What drunken (entitled) fool…
Too early for flapjacks?
Being a Million Miler is not the same as having a million Skymiles. I have 2 million United miles but I’ve only flown about 400,000 lifetime miles (I switched from Delta 2 years ago).
The root of this problem is not the drinking, it’s tne “do you know who I am” mentality. This is exactly why there is so much strife in the world. People all want to believe they are “special”, especially the wealthy snobs who look down on “common” folk. That right there, is exactly why humans are doomed to extinction.