An irate passenger was ejected from a Hawaiian Airlines longhaul flight after a crew mistake so incensed her that she became unbearably hostile to the flight attendants.
No Trip To Paradise After Irate Passenger Ejected From Hawaiian Airlines Flight To Honolulu – Flight Attendants Say She Was Too Threatening
36-year-old Daniele De Matos was on a work trip to Australia and had boarded Hawaiian Airlines flight HA452 for her journey from Sydney (SYD) to Honolulu (HNL) onboard an Airbus A330 aircraft.
Upon boarding, De Matos was directed to economy class by the crew, even though she had a business class seat. According to court documents, this prompted “verbal abuse” toward the crew (in quotes because the nature of the alleged verbal abuse was not revealed).
Realizing their error, the crew apologized and directed De Matos to business class.
Pre-departure beverages were served. A flight attendant “prematurely” took an alcoholic drink from De Matos before the safety demonstration, which prompted another round of “verbal abuse.”
Moments later, however, De Matos apologized and expressed remorse for her behavior.
Yet just a few minutes later, De Matos began “staring down” the flight attendant who had taken her drink.
Feeling intimidated, the flight attendant reported the incident to the captain, who elected to return to the gate and offload the passenger.
Another flight attendant let De Matos know that the flight was returning to the gate to offload her and in doing so “placed her hand on the accused’s shoulder to calm her” (according to the court report).
This prompted further outrage from De Matos.
De Matos initially refused to get off the aircraft, prompting the police to be summoned. Once Australian Federal Police officer confronted De Matos, she left the aircraft without further protest.
She was arrested and charged, pleaded guilty (one count of behaving in an offensive or disorderly manner affecting safety) and has been fined $600.
CONCLUSION
I like the rapid Australia-style justice. Pay your time and move on. Hopefully De Matos has learned her lesson and perhaps I hope she will look into anger management classes…even if the flgiht attendants were rude, giving the “evil eye” is about as childish and you can get.
image: Colin Brown Photography / Wikimedia Commons
No excuses for bad I passenger behavior but doesn’t it seem like the FA is trolling the entire time?
It sounds like clear trolling to me.
Flight Attendants don’t seek out to “troll” their passengers. It’s very clear the passenger came on with an anger problem. The verbal abuse was threatening enough to make the crew feel like she was a threat and decided to follow protocols.
It somehow appears folks must hoard anger, waiting to unload once boarded on a flight. It’s a curious phenomenon where simple day to day issues are suddenly magnified into life changing altercations. And I approve of the rapid resolutions
HA and their racist crew is absolutely to blame here. You’re no longer allowed to be dissatisfied for service that you paid a premium for……or else. I also fully support Hawaii seceding from the rest of the USA. They hate us anyway and want their pineapple king back. Let them have it.
Who’s racist now. Mahalo
Houli.
That’s not how you spell it, Einstein…
I think I counted 6 spelling errors…
1. First paragraph, she was on her way to Australia not Australian
2. “This prompted further outrage from Dem Matos” – I thought it was De Matos?
3. Last paragraph: “…even if the flgiht attendants were rude….” – flight
4. “…giving the “evil eye” is abut as childish and you can get.” – about
5. “… Once Australian Federal Police officer confuted De Matos, she left the aricraft without further protest.” – confuted? Or confronted? Confuted works, as they proved she was “in the wrong” – but whatever
6. “ Once Australian Federal Police officer confuted De Matos, she left the aricraft without further protest.” – aircraft
Odd that I missed all of those. I greatly appreciate you pointing them out.
Why are these incidents mostly women?
Entitlement Karen strikes again. If the FAs were doing a bit of trolling, good for them.
I bet you’re also a fan of cops provoking people to arrest them.
If they provoked the cops first and didn’t learn when to sit down and shut up because they’re entitled special snowflakes, then yes.
Translation: You are going to pay a premium. We the giant corporations are going to treat you like worthless cattle and when you don’t like it we are going to collude with big brother to arrest and fine you. PS: We have tons of mindless fanboys and fangirls to support our cause!
I absolutely agree with this. We are paying top dollar to be treated like garbage.
Did I miss the part about telling the crew not to speak to her (per the headline)?
Matthew, you are making the mistake of assuming the flight and cabin crew were in the right and the passenger was in the wrong. You are essentially saying passengers have no right to not be enthralled by the service they pay for, must not express displeasure over poor service, and the flight attendants and pilots are always right. A passenger being kicked off a flight over false allegations or for bad reasons is the crime. Being kicked off a flight has a plenty for the passenger and those who perpetrated it never are held accountable. The cops of course side with their authority abusing counterparts. The cops never consider if the pilots or flight attendants are the ones making false accusations and should be the ones arrested.
It’s possible the woman was a legitimate issue for the flight but it’s not helpful for you to assume that. It’s wrong to fault her when there is no mechanism for a passenger to request pilots and flight attendants to be kicked off flights for abusive behavior.
Seems you are making a big leap when you say that Matthew is saying that passengers cannot express any displeasure with their experience. To the contrary, there are a number of reasonable ways for passengers to address complaints relating to air service. Trying to intimidate an employee– and that’s what staring someone down is about, intimidation, is not one of them.
Being directed to the wrong cabin and then having a drink prematurely taken from you are not grounds for a meltdown. They just aren’t. A discussion with the purser? Sure. An email or letter to organizational leadership, sure. Staring down a FA? Nope. Acting out to the point where the pilot throws you off the plane? I hope that bit of drink left in the bottom of the cup was worth it.
Video tape everything! Some flight attendants take the authority they ARE freely given to the next level. Us Passengers have zero rights.
Now, there are some real pieces of work (yes passengers) that are rude, disrespectful, have some kind of self Entitlement crap going on, are pissed at the long lines, bag checking, body scan, star on your license or ID, and all the other rules we must follow.
Now having said the Obvious.. what happened to us as a whole? Human Decency, being more understanding, perhaps letting the little things slide, plain old compassion, or as we call it in the Hospitality service (on the Big Island) Kailua- kona side we call it smile therapy works wonders. Maybe trying to find a Solution and not adding to the problem??
Whoever was in the right or wrong, it would have been a costly decision for the airline to return to the gate…….even though they hadn’t departed, and one the captain would not have taken lightly……
Nowadays, if you cause any trouble, don’t be surprised if you get a bill in the mail for $10,000 for landing, or fuel or gate fees.
I recently flew Lufthansa from Amman to Frankfurt and the service was truly appalling. The flight departed Amman at 3:20 A.M. and lasted four hours. From the moment we stepped aboard, the crew didn’t stop chatting to each other in a standard tone of voice, laughing and having a grand time notwithstanding the business cabin being full of passengers trying to sleep. When asked politely b a passenger to lower their voices, a quick apology was offered, the galley curtain snapped shut and laughter continued with no reduction in the noise level. LH business class is already a joke on internal European services b/c/ for some reason Jordan and Israel are lumped together with Brussels and London – much shorter flights that don’t operate in the wee hours of the morning. Cabin crews do deserve our courtesy and respect, as is owed to anyone in the service industry, but passengers are also owed a degree of courtesy and respect or, at a minimum not to be laughed by rambunctious crew members.
You are making your flight into a “psychological competition” which I would never, ever try to do with a flight attendant(s). Do you ever try to argue with the police? Then do not do it with a flight attendant. Just sit down and enjoy your flight. Or at least try to.
You seem to be forgetting that passengers pay thousands to fly business class. A little quiet during a long-haul flight is not a lot to expect.
You should be able to argue with police Tony. Most of us are so intimidated by the absolute power (a gun, powers of detention and arrest and that they are ALWAYS believed and we never are) officers wield that we accept the “speak only when spoken to” dynamic. Now that (in the US at least) we have the right to video officers while they’re carrying out their duties, the balance of power has changed and cops don’t get to intimidate (as much) and can’t lie about the interaction as they have been for so long.
But we’re off topic here! I don’t care what Karen paid for seat, 227 other people also paid for a seat and the 7 crew has to ensure a safe and comfortable flight for everybody. It’s not the Four Seasons and if I were cabin crew who had a demonstrably volatile passenger who appears to still be simmering, I might be concerned about being closed in an aluminum tube for 14 hours with said passenger. I bet cabin crew who have had to visit the dentist after headbutts from passengers are once bitten, twice shy.
Ultimately, there is a difference between not liking a passengers attitude and the passenger being a physical threat onboard.
Sounds like a psychological battle. One More reason to just sit down and s.h.u.t up when you board the plane. Don’t even try to be right with a flight attendant.
I agree with the actions to remove her but I would say that flying a different airline may have had a different and less newsworthy result. After all, how can you expect flight safety officers to get all of these things correct (sarcasm).
Women need to learn their place in society. It’s behind men.
YES! I was a flight attendant for Hawaiian Air in 1959-1961…I was never rude to a passenger. I never swore to my kids, grandkids, great grandson, children as an OTR! Only to myself while driving! The staff from Hawaiian are the best in the airways…I’ve flown all over the world. Workers don’t deserve that kind of verbal abuse. All hospitality staff world wide work hard honest jobs to survive and need to be treated with gratitude and generosity. Mahalo for this article, MP Conley
Love reading the comments…..
In the old days, people used to know how to communicate and verbalize their displeasure without becoming angry. Thereby, allowing crew or staff to rectify the problem or find a solution or be directed to proper channels.
These days, people forget that we all live and come from our own Universe. We no longer have patience or show grace for misunderstandings because of our differences. We walk around prepared and ready to be offended. Not taking a moment to reassess or look at the bigger picture. We react before we think…. ( In public confined space such as an airplane, it is crucial we use communication skills we learned since childhood rather than acting out so that it does not be perceived as a threat to others .).
Have encountered one or two FAs on an authority head trip.
Got my ass kicked when my mask slipped below my nose.
The hall monitor (FA) pointed me out among the rest of us in steerage.
If they had kicked me off, that would have been OK.
We were departing FLL and I could have stayed an extra day or two on the beach!!
From a person on this flight!
Venting:
The stewardess are hosting over 200 ppl on a flight and trying to safely get us from point A to point B. Soooooo sorry they made a mistake and sent you to the wrong seat then corrected it and so sorry you didn’t get the last sip of your damn drink, but for a person to be verbally rude and stare down a stewardess for that move on with your life lady!
I paid just as much for that flight that day for me and my 2 kids. This one persons childish behavior and entitled attitude, made half the flight, including me and my 2 kids miss their connecting flight that day is ridiculous! And if she only knew what half of us went through that day trying to get to our own destinations my goodness! I wish i could tell her my story and give her a piece of my mind!
Not to mention the fact that the stopped to get her luggage out, causing further delays! I would have said sorry lady we will mail you your luggage or you can meet it in Hawaii!
She has no idea the drama and delays she caused for half the flight that day trying to arrive to their work, vacation, and or home!
Selfish! Entitled people! You were not the only one on the flight that day!
Safety is always the number one issue on any flight. She must have been out of hand and causing a serious problem if the Captain decided to turn back to the gate. That doesn’t happen often. Sometimes I wonder how some passengers lose any or all manners once they’ve gotten on a plane. Flight attendants are not the passengers slaves or their punching bags for emotional distress.
What is wrong with ppl. nowadays. Both crew and pax have lost their sense of respect and dignity on one another. Every simple mishap is seen and felt as a personal attack. Most of these inflight violrnces happen in the USA and Europe. Now go figure why.