Man Says Frontier Airlines Employees Tried Extorting $50 "Tip" From Him Just To Get On Aircraft

people standing in front of a counter

What’s worse, the employee demand or the fact that I’m not surprised it took place on Frontier Airlines?

A Frontier Airlines passenger claims two employees in Atlanta tried to extort him for money as he was boarding his flight. I’m not convinced an oversized carry-on wasn’t part of this story, but it’s a bad look for the budget carrier either way.

Report: Frontier Airlines Employees Try to Shake Down Miltary Man For $50 To Board Flight

Passenger Demonta Roach, a US Navy sailor, shares the following story:

His Frontier flight (3215) from Atlanta to Los Angeles was delayed on November 11, 2024
During the delay, he went to a food concession near the gate
When he returned, he found he was last to board
He claimed he was not late: there had not even been a final boarding call made yet
Back at the gate, a gate agent said he would need to pay to get onbaord
He was offered a “military discount” and told to pay $50 instead of $100 (“we normally charge $100 for this but since you’re in the military we’ll charge you $50”), but that he would need to send it to Cash App
They wanted to use the money to buy weed and get their nails done
Her colleague chimed in, “I don’t give a damn what you’re in, as long as you have my damn money”
Even as Roach began to record, one gate agent slammed the boarding door shut and said, “I don’t care who you report to if you want to get back on this plane, you have to pay me.”
Roach said he got onboard by pretending to pay the women, but then not doing so once he was let onboard

There is a partial video recording of the exchange.

Frontier Airlines apologized to the passenger:

“We take claims like this seriously, and our team is in the process of investigating the situation to determine what happened. In the meantime, we have offered the customer a voucher for $150 as a customer service gesture.”

But Roach wants the two employees fired:

“If she did this to me, I can only imagine how many other people she’s also done this to.”

I hope Frontier will find out…

Let’s just say that this is all about an oversized carry-on and not just a “tip” to board the flight. Even so, by directing the passenger to send money to a cash app, the employees are defrauding their employer…there’s just no way to spin this story in a way that does not make these two employees look very bad.

And good for Roach: just say no.