A man stole a bulkhead seat on American Airlines, claiming that he was entitled to the seat because of his US citizenship and daring flight attendants to have him arrested for refusing to move.
Man Steals Bulkhead Seat on American Airlines, Refuses To Give It Up, Then Fights Removal From Flight
I’m not sure who created the video (it is very well done) or the date of the flight, but we see the scene unfolding on American Airlines flight from Dallas (DFW) to Los Angeles (LAX).
A passenger, let’s call him Kevin, decided he wanted to claim the bulkhead seat for himself, even though he was assigned a seat further back in the aircraft.
So he took it.
When the passenger actually assigned to the seat (in the checkered shirt if you watch the video below) showed up, he refused to move.
Instead, he got angry, claiming among other things that he was entitled to the seat because, “I’m a citizen of the United States.”
A flight attendant told him that he was being rude and he would be kicked off the flight and he responded, “Ok. Get the police here. Take me to jail.”
And the police did show up and remove him on a wheelchair (beats dragging him off, I suppose)…though the video suggests that he was NOT even arrested.
We’ve asked American Airlines for clarification on this.
You’ve got to watch this:
Man Steals Better Seat, RAGES REFUSES To Leave JFK Airport Fasten Your Seatbelt
byu/CascadingPhailure inAirRage
Based on the video, do you think the man was high on something or perhaps mentally handicapped? I doubt it. It seems to me he was just entitled, which is why I have no qualms about sharing this.
But seriously, did he think that would end any differently? Did he think that by raising his voice and making threats the flight attendants would just say, “Sure, sir. You can keep the stolen seat. We are sorry to disturb you and will move this ruffian who was actually assigned this prime bulkhead seat to a middle seat in the rear of the plane?”
It is folks like this who should be banned from all carriers (I would be shocked if he is not already banned from American Airlines). Someone so unhinged and irrational is a threat to everyone onboard. Imagine if he had turned violent. This ultimately turned out all right because the other passengers remained so calm.
Kudos to them and the crew for handling this well…
image: @cascadingphailue / reddit
Hello Matt. I coined a phrase (I should register it): The greasiest wheel squeaks the loudest. My mechanic told me that brake pads are designed to make a squeaking noise in order to alert drivers to get them replaced and then people ignore them and disaster.
Anyhoo, I say this because we may have reporting bias going on: The internet and access to so much news means these stories get reported more often.
The man’s behavior sounds like he had some type of (perhaps transient) mental issue. For FA’s in service industries and their primary duty, as we’re often reminded is: “they’re here for passenger safety”, they should be trained in how to handle these situations and de-escalate them as much as possible and remediate with minimal fuss. To a certain degree, I think that’s the case: When I get on the plane I always say (in the native language) “good day” and instruct my daughter to do the same (the little barbarian doesn’t, but the FA’s smile knowing I made the effort). They’re on the lookout for those who are help, or liabilities, during the flight.
Planes are wonderful things, but they are also high pressure environments for many people: They’re confined to a space in a technological wonder engaging in flight that is inconceivable to most people 2 centuries ago. We, here, take it for granted on how to civilly behave because of our, and I say this in a good way, privileged upbringing. We had the support and background to fret about whether we should ask before reclining our seat.
I would guess that a lifetime ban isn’t necessary. He has suffered the consequence for his actions and, I would guess statistically, will learn the proper lesson.
What I find interesting is that in the many millions of miles which I’ve flown, the number of incidents on board planes that involved notable unnecessary drama from passengers has been pretty negligible and thus memorable when seeing/hearing such drama.
Most of what little such drama I’ve seen on the planes has been post-9/11 and has seemed to say more about the routes and airlines and the crew and passenger mix doing the flights than anything else.
I was flying a fair amount also when airline transitioned from having smoking sections to banning smoking, and even that didn’t involve so much dram although there were some incidents then and thereafter.
The overwhelming majority of passengers today are still very well behaved on my flights.
next time pleasevcall him matthew, not kevin
Sure Kev.
Its discouraging how Airlines look the other way with these people. Charge him with disobeying Crew instructions and danger to pax and Crew. Start holding pax accountable for their actions. Pay the Crew to attend court and give testimony and let Judge decide how to punish, with minimum fee for delayed of flight and missed connections etc. Airline Management are to blame to allowing this behaviour to continue. Crew are allowed a few options but its always safety 1st, regardless of the opinion of others. Someone should sue this man for the cost of their ticket.
‘Merica!
So Matthew, who would make the decision on whether to prosecute this person for his behavior – the airport police / municipal authority, or the Feds? And is it on AA to start the process by making a complaint? As soon as the guy was removed, AA likely regarded the issue as resolved. As for the police, the incident might fall under a misdemeanor, in which case the guy would be released before the police even finished the paperwork, so why bother? Plus the local DA might not even prosecute if the policy has been “enlightened” to new ways. Just saying…