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.
Is this summary wrong? Man tries to board Frontier flight with bag that would require a $100 ($99?) fee. Staff offers a deal where he can pay them $50 instead. But, they won’t let him on without paying, which is what they should have done if he wouldn’t pay Frontier. He fools them and gets on without paying.
Bad guys are the ones trying to get $50 by costing Frontier $100. The pax avoided a $100 legitimate fee and got an extra $150 voucher.
This is hardly like the stories we hear at some outside US airports.
What “legitimate fee” ? What is it for ?
He most likely had a carryon larger than a “personal it÷m,” which has a fee of $99, I believe. Or, more simply, had a carryon he had not paid for.
@Matthew … Where is the “oversized carry-on” in his chronology of events . The only mention of an “oversized carry-on” is in the main story .
A relative with muscular dystrophy traveled from Madison Wisconsin to Orlando on Frontier. He ( at the time) was able to successfully negotiate the flight. His checked baggage was not an issue. But when I asked about the flight he was concerned about a pregnant woman. Apparently gate agent said the child counted as a carry on. Please understand my relative is quite literal in understanding, but he said the mother was upset. Inappropriate joke or an attempt for extortion, this was just wrong.
What a POS airline.
This is so off the wall bizarre that I have a hard time believing it. But it is so off the wall bizarre that I wonder who could make up or embellish such a story?
Not even in some third world countries that I have flown from has a criminal shake down like this been perpetrated. America is below the basement, the abyss of nightmares. If factual, the two employees must be fired. This matter actually IMHO ought to be referred to the police. What a sordid tale, but it is a in-your face society now. Who cares, anything goes.
So, you ignore all the many stories of extortion by gate agents outside the US, so you can bash the US? If you’re outside the US, you can find better evidence for your US bashing. If you’re in the US, I feel sad your stuck here and will gladly pay your airfare out if you promise not to return.
Those people are not Frontier employees, they are employed by a Temp agency. The flight attendants are the ONLY Frontier employees. The horrible “gate agents” do crappie stuff like this ALL OF THE TIME!! I guess the $10 they would have received off of the $99 fee wasn’t enough for them! Sounds like pure greed, just the regular atmosphere of Frontier. Also , military members on Frontier do NOT pay bag fees!! They have it in bold print on their website.
+1 You are correct. Much as Spirit’s gate/counter employees also are