A SkyWest (Delta Connection) flight attendant kicked off four passengers, including a child, for giving her “attitude” when she confronted a passenger for failing to place her mobile phone in airplane mode. Now that passenger is claiming the move was driven by racism.
Here’s what I can gather from what transpired. The FA asked passengers to place their phones in airplane mode. Not everyone complied (as is always the case) and she actually looked at mobile phone screens during her pre-flight safety check (most do not). The passenger featured in the video was one who did not initially have her phone set to airplane mode.
The question is whether the passenger argued or initially refused to place her phone in airplane mode. Based on where the video picks up, it isn’t clear. But what we see in the video is that the FA is angry at the passenger as the following back-and-forth ensues:
FA: I know what I heard. I am not going to argue with you. There’s no need for arguing. Crew instructions means crew instructions. Several times you were asked to turn off your phone. This is something that is done on every flight in the United States.
Passenger: I did it. I showed it to you!
FA: Now you have. Is it in airplane mode?’
Other Passenger: She was complying. I was right next to her!
FA: No she wasn’t.
Other Passenger: Yes she was. I was right here. I was right behind her.
FA: Would you like to stay too? I’m not going to take everyone with attitude. I have zero tolerance for it.
What Happened Next
I feel sorry for a FA who actually enforces this “airplane mode” rule because I cannot remember being on a flight in which anyone has actually placed their phone in airplane mode. But the rules do say that phones must be in non-transmit mode during taxi, takeoff, and landing. She was just enforcing the rules.
I’ve been scolded before for not placing my phone in airplane mode. From this video, it seems like all passengers were eventually compliant. It also appears, however, that the FA was angry at the “attitude” of passengers who seemed to disrespect her position of leadership.
She ordered that the captain return the flight to the gate and four passengers, including the two in the video plus a young child, were removed from the flight.
That strikes me as a total overreaction considering the passengers eventually complied with crew member instructions and I did not sense any “attitude” in the video, not that “attitude” is grounds for throwing someone off a flight.
We can only speculate about what happened before the video transpired. Maybe the passenger was rude. Or maybe the FA targeted her among other non-compliant passengers because she was black. That’s what the passenger is claiming.
SkyWest issued the following statement to a local CBS affiliate in Detroit.
We take all allegations of discrimination seriously and are reviewing reports from SkyWest flight 4527 operating as Delta Connection. We are disappointed that our customers had this experience and are working with our partner Delta to follow up directly with the customers involved.
CONCLUSION
I can see both sides of the argument. Perhaps the FA singled out this passenger because she was black. But perhaps the FA singled out this passenger because she initially refused to place her phone in airplane mode. In any case, I cannot believe four passenger ended up being thrown off the aircraft over a cell phone issue. Then again…
lawyers lining up yet ?
Racism? Sounds more like stupidism to me. Seems to be alot of that around, as when we once had to evacuate a plane on the tarmac and ‘entitled’ passengers carried off luggage and blocked the evacuation taking selfies rather than follow procedures. Stupidism seems to aflict all sexes and races and is related to some people thinking that they are “special” and rules don’t apply to them.
I was once on a flight (AA @ LAX) when shortly after departing the gate we stopped in the alley and the Captain came on the PA and said “…we are getting anomaly on our instruments that can only come from someone’s cell phone being on…so everybody needs to check their phones…we are not going anywhere until everyone’s phones are off”. Everyone just kind of looked at each other…I didn’t see anyone reach for their phones. We sat there about 3-5 minutes and were on our way without further admonishments. I’ve never had that happen before or since and would love to know what was really going on.
My guess would be either the captain or the first officer forgot to turn off their cell phones…
Perhaps you didn’t see the person who turned their phone off, or the more likely explanation, it was a flight attendant.
Or s/he was bullshtting. I’ve heard flight attendants say “It looks like we have two iPhones and three Android devices still broadcasting…” as passengers scrambled to make sure they were off.
“FA: Would you like to stay too? I’m not going to take everyone with attitude. I have zero tolerance for it.”
This, to me, is unacceptable and badly needs to be rooted out of airline employee culture. There is zero – ZERO – justification for throwing off a passenger just because the FA disapproves of their attitude. Yet there is essentially no recourse or accountability when this happens. There’s not enough facts here to determine if there’s any merit to the race card being thrown out there, but personally I think the power trip alone justifies DL making an example out of this employee. Do it once or twice, and I can promise these types of stories will start going away.
It’s against federal regulations to argue with flight staff. If people would follow instructions and stop treating them like cocktail servers they would have a better experience. I have watched flight attendants ask people several times to hang up their phones and they don’t because they are so very important and think it’s silly.
While it very well may seem silly, there are rules for them to follow and if passengers are going to blatantly make that job harder then they can take the next flight. I bet they won’t pull that shit again once they realize they can be removed.
Being able to have phones on at all should feel like a privilege. And if just putting the phone down for their compliance checks is what’s needed, then just do it.
It is *not* against federal regulations to argue with flight staff. It is against statute to ignore instructions validly issued by crew. Subtle but important difference. If an FA tells me to STFU and to “stop giving her attitude,” that is out of line and not an instruction I’m bound by law to comply with. She, on the other hand, is abusing her authority, and that, my dear friend, is a dismissable offense. Based on the fact that the offending pax had no less than 2 witnesses (those who were kicked out alongside her) who then and there rebuked the FA should give us all a strong indication that the one with attitude problems was the FA herself.
(And I agree with MeanMeosh, no need to pull the race card, judging by the video the power trip itself is inexcusable.)
If djreborn put as much effort into complying with cabin crew instructions as she does with document her case she’d never be kick off flights … ever. I didn’t get any impression of racism, however I did get a honk of attitude from djreborn, but then I’ve only seen a few seconds of video clips.
Fire that power-hungry (possibly racist) FA; even if the passenger showed some attitude, the FA is the one who escalated. Under the guise of passenger safety, I’ve more than my share of FA laziness and rude behavior. She needs to be fired and made an example of.
The problems here are many fold the authoritarian attitude of some airline and airport employees, their employers who have an attitude of near contempt for those who purchase their product, the passenger who has few if any rights and is subject to assorted indignities when traveling by air. The whole passenger flying experience needs in depth review and consideration whether things can be improved for both customer and service provider, else it will only get worse.
This happens a lot on regional jets. Never once has it happened on a mainline flight like me, and I’m pretty sure the FAs see everyone using their phones and don’t care on those flights.
I remember on a regional flight once peoples’ phones went off after landing and the FA demanded everyone keep it off over the intercom until she said it was ok to use lol.
The lesson we can learn from this incident, and numerous others in the past few years, is: When all else fails, play the race card.
Milking the race card is so old fashioned. No wonder blacks remain slaves of their own making.
It’s very white supremist of you J. Munene
“Old fashioned and slaves of their own making ” I guess in your mind you belong to a master race? Newsflash- throughout history other races including yours have been slaves, indentured servants, etc… Be Cool J M….
Who gives a sh%t about a phone being on or not in plane mode? Get over it.
Hmmm…. how about… it’s the law?
I suspect this was racism. Given Delta’s base in Atlanta, it probably tends to attract more than its fair share of racist flight attendants — this blonde woman was likely one of them.
It is common knowledge that Flight Crews leave their ‘phones on for the duration. The requirement for flight mode is pretty much unnecessary but anything that restricts selfish passengers from using phones is to be appreciated. The things are a curse.
The FA in this story joins the long list of petty tyrants and martinets that would be better advised to seek more suitable employment.
If you would have read the article, you would know that this happened on Skywest metal, not Delta mainline. They’re based in Utah, which is even whiter than Atlanta. Not sure if race has anything to do with this incident though. I don’t believe people should just go along like sheep, but the rules on an aircraft are very different than in any other venue. It’s not a restaurant, or a hotel, where the customer is always right and the FAs are there to cater to your every need (unless you’re flying Emerits First Class). They are there to evacuate the cabin in an emergency, respond to medical emergencies, and prevent hostile actors from gaining access to the flight deck, among other things. Before takeoff, they are determining who is fit to fly, who will be a helper, etc… When someone is arguing while the plane is on the ground, they have to assume their mental state will only deteriorate at altitude with less O2. It’s easier to back to the gate and rebook them than have to divert the plane en route. There are other
security considerations, but I can’t go into that. I’ve never seen an FA go hard core on the wireless policy, but it doesn’t mean she was wrong for making sure it was fully complied with… And we’re missing what transpired before this too…
Love when people in uniforms go on power trips.
Yes, it’s overreaction but the number of times I have seen pax texting and talking on the phone while taxiing indicates that many pax don’t take this seriously. Either FAs enforce this rule or we shouldn’t have it (I for one would prefer not to have chattyheads during a flight).
I agree 100% I was a flight attendant and we would do 2 pa announcement so everyone had a reminder to shut phones down. When you have to personally remind someone and wait for them to comply it is just rude. The passengers are wasting time because the flight can not go until the cabin is secure. Pulling the race card is bull poo. The rules apply to all. Just because your race is not the same as the flight attendants does not give you any special rights to use that as your main focus to sue. Who knows what was said prior to the video being taken. The woman was recording her conversations with ground crew being very passive aggressive. If a passenger is heated on the ground, why would you take them up in the air with you for 2 hours in an extreamly confined space. The flight attendant did the right thing if she felt threatened by this passenger in any way.