Seattle is the latest home to an unruly passenger, this time forcibly knocking a gate agent to the ground after being denied boarding.
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The Situation As Described
A passenger at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport approached the gate to board a flight late in the process. He was initially told he would not be permitted to fly for lack of a mask. He purchased/found a mask and placed it over his mouth (it doesn’t appear he covered his nose) and attempted to board the aircraft.
Just before he was scanned through, two other Alaska employees came to the gate and denied the passenger boarding for intoxication. One Alaska employee moved in front of the jetway, preventing him from moving to the plane. The passenger pushed her to the ground and she fell hard.
The employee has not returned to work and may have longer-term health concerns from the fall (potentially a concussion and dislocated shoulder.) The incident took place on August 24th, 2020.
KIRO in Seattle reported the incident with video.
Bad Passengers Are Everywhere
Recently, Matthew posted about another poorly behaved passenger which happened to fly Spirit. This passenger happened to fly Alaska Airlines. Whether they choose to fly Allegiant, Spirit, Alaska, or United – it’s not the airlines that create or engender poor passenger behavior – it’s the passengers.
He could have been turned away simply for not wearing a mask earlier, or properly as he boarded. Intoxication only further complicated the matter.
Conclusion
Bad actors are everywhere, and drunk passengers are a danger to themselves and (clearly) others. Alaska was right to deny boarding to this passenger and should consider banning him. If a customer pushed one of my employees to the ground, they would never be allowed back on my premises.
What do you think? Should Alaska ban the passenger?
It’s too bad that there are so many bad and stupid people out there. The people who commit violent acts will pay a price that is so not worth it and for no gain whatsoever.
Quit serving alcohol on flights.
Um… if this happened before he boarded the flight, how is that the issue? Bring back Prohibition?
Are you for.real? He couldn’t even interact with the gate attendant. What happens at 20,000 feet with no police no security and he has to be relied upon to refrain from violent acts during the flight? You want this guy in the plane? He should be in jail for assaulting the attendant.
Pretty sure the comment was in response to someone saying stop serving alcohol on flights. In this situation the guy was drunk Prior to the flight so how does wether or not the serve alcohol in flight play any role in the discussion. I dont believe it was meant how is that an issue stopping him from flying it was how is in flight alcohol service an issue at all in this situation. Reading Comprehension.
Simple solution. Lifetime ban from flying, flag placed on his passport so that everyone knows he is a danger.
He should be ban for life on all Alaskan Airlines.
He Must pay for all the medical expenses for injuring the staff and long term cost.
Oh Mary just stay home and drink your tea, unfortunately alcohol is a tool to be able to tolerate modern day flying in cramped spaces, poor or no service, rules that change daily it’s no wonder people are fed up and unfortunately blow up on an employee. That poor airline employees Fat Cat Executive created this, blame them not alcohol. Further u notice if you had read correctly that he was allegedly drunk before he got on the plane. So why would you say stop serving alcohol on planes.
Looks like the pax crossed the threshold into the jetway. Wouldn’t that now be a Federal offense?
Isn’t this called assault? I imagine a police citation, at minimum, should be involved.
I recently travelled and airlines do offer a disposable mask if passenger does not have one. Why did he have to hunt for one I do not understand. However, his behavior seems violent and uncalled for.
I call BS – more to the story as the video is heavily edited to push a narrative.
When the gate agents waiting in the wings (at 34 seconds – wait not at the poduim but behind and the bum rush the pax).
The Alaska employee in yellow safety vest intiated the first physical contact. Why is this story only news almost a month later? 8.24.2020 reported 9.15.2020
Airport police should have been involved not Alaska employee – since this was premeditated – GA/FA. The other employees were not motioned or paged over they waited till after his ticket was scanned. Pax should sue Alaska. So how did the employees off to the side know in advance he was intoxicated? The GA didn’t wave or motion them over they weren’t paged.
Flight on AS out of SEA in the same north Satellite last week – Alaska had plenty of blue masks -provided to to those with gaiters and wearing masks with valves. Alaska since enacting mask policy on 8.7.2020 said one would be provided if pax didn’t have one. Why didn’t GA offer a blue mask? If they did so why is the video of the original maskless interaction missing?
Context is everything. Being this was Seattle I’m sure he was released without bail 30 minutes later.
Should have closed the boarding door, instead.
She should have pushed him down first, instead.
Then the employee would have been fired. Violence is not a mature answer in any situation. You sound like a hot head.
Think about how is been seating beside a drunk person for the whole flight.
They shouldn’t be allowed in the plain.
I had a bad experience on that.
Don’t blame the airline or the employee. They might have been able to deescalate, but they didn’t initiate the problem, he did. It’s 100% the passengers in these cases. I have worked in airports for 30 years and have seen this way too many times. People are stressed more than usual these days and a drink before their flight helps calm nerves, but some don’t know when to stop. In the era of ULCCs we’ve also seen an increase in the number of pax that can’t control themselves.
He should be banned for life from flying Alaska Airlines, fined and arrested.
My conclusion: This wus writtin by a 7th greater.
Writtin? Glass houses buddy.
“this wus writtin by a 7th greater” went write over you’re head. Buddy.
dont forget “greater”(s/b grader)
‘my employee’ ‘my premises’
When was this about you?
Do you not have reading comprehension? He clears states what he would do if this involved one of his employees being attacked.
Is this not assault? Why weren’t charges pressed?
Only issue I have with airline is fact intoxication wasn’t an issue to begin with. They told him issue was mask, he went paid for one, and then all of a sudden he couldn’t fly due to intoxication. It makes it seem like that wasn’t actually an issue.
Note – NOTHING justifies his actions. However the airline’s handling (changing reasons) contributed to making a situation worse than needed.
There is no audio but clearly the gate agent probably due to the tone and language of the perpetrator made an on the spot decision to prevent an unruly passenger from boarding… as is their right.
It is possible the person who initially rejected him due to the mask issue (which is requiered inside the terminal and js indicated EVERYWERE) didn’t noticed the intoxication issue.
I used to work in a tech support position at a “fruit stand” and one time a customer trew at me a “fruit” TV because I couldn’t get him an appointment when he demanded it which was “right now.”
I deflected the “fruit TV” with my tablet which we used to set appointments and keep track of customers.
But this is where the differences start. The manager called the Police, the Police arrived in less than 3 minutes and found the guy still walking around the mall. I identified it, the fruit stand provided video evidence and several witnesses.
The “fruit” company pressed charges, he was sentenced to community service, a fine, and anger management classes.
The “fruit” company served him with a letter effectively banning him from any and all “fruit stands” worldwide and advised that he would be considered trespassing if he ever showed his mug again.
No you should not ban him because if his actions until you find out what motivated him to do so and under what psychological circumstances. I believe more investigation is necessary and he should have been temporarily isolated after the incident as to avoid any potential harm to himself and others.
Just my 2 cents.
Sorry, but your two cents is worthless. You’re saying that airlines and other businesses are supposed to “find out” the motivation and psychological/mental problems of people ?? (or maybe they were just angry and in a bad mood) …. and then treat them right then and there? What do you want, social workers and psychologists at every gate?
l’m sick of these hot-headed dangerous mental cases all around us reacting and everyone else is supposed to jump to their aid and feel sorry for them while the victim they pushed or killed is helpless. We are victims of these nut-cases and have every right to be disgusted, annoyed and expect the authorities to haul them out of the way. I’m not going to analyze why or what caused them to become social misfits.
Ban him and Jail him. Assault has not place in an airport or anywhere else for that matter!
…and Alaska Airlines did what ??…. let him board on the next available flight (as is usually the case)? This crap has to stop – arrest people on the spot instead of pandering to them or letting them walk away. No mention of what happened to this CRIMINAL with his animalistic behavior. Ban him ?- why would that even be a question. People like this need their names/ID put into the TSA system so that if they should ever slide by (on any or every airline) they will be denied traveling. Feel the pain instead of causing all the pain to everyone else around you!!
Oh JoEllen that’s one right out of the books of red China, now you want to limit America citizens travel? Wow just like a Communist
This happens more than you would think. I worked as a manager for an airline and we would deny a passenger and then a manager above me would allow them to fly on the next available flight. I hope with this pandemic these managers start supporting their front line employees and managers.
Yes! For sure!
He should be fined an banned from every US airline. The gate agent should sue him.
The boarding agent should not have tried to block his way. This is not proper safety protocol. She was supposed to have called airport security. Either way, this passenger is still a douchebag.
Yeah, no. I doubt this is the entire story. First, the man was harassed by the fascist enforcer for not covering their face. Why was he accused of being intoxicated with alcohol when he covered his face? Why wasn’t alcohol an issue initially? It seems they wanted to punish him for not muzzling himself in the first place by denying boarding even after he complied with their demands. In that case, the man’s reaction is completely understandable, even if it was irrational and excessive. If we all stand up to fascism, we can overcome it peacefully and without violence.
Sorry Brucey, I was actually trying to reply to the story as a whole and not to your comment. It seems there may be some technical issue.
I have travelled Alaska Airlines and was very happy to see excellent services provided by the cabin crew. Next time, I will again fly with this airline. It is sad that passengers don’t follow normal rules to fly. Such things should not happen.
Don’t penalize responsible adults because of the actions of a few idiots. Many people have a drink on a flight to calm their nerves. I am a professional pilot and see nothing wrong with a person having a drink on a flight, especially if it makes them feel relaxed. Stephen C.
I really can’t understand, everyone knows what’s going on in the world today. They should have patience, be more understanding and comply. We all have been inconvenienced, But it’s not going to last forever. The bottom line is, you comply and you fly. I think Safety is the number one factor during corvid-19. We’re all in this together and we should act like mature adults.
Coming from the guy that probably popped 2 Xanax before take off and trash talks people who have a few drinks.
There are simply too many incidents like this, due to alcohol. Someone shows up “appearing to be under the influence” and all kinds of problems arise. No masks, seat assignment arguments, boarding priorities all become major issues to a drunk. Airport police need to be aware of drunks in the terminal, gate agents need to spot them early (you can, I was a flight attendant from 1972 to 2012). And if everyone else fails, the crew needs to be able to get that person OFF, before the door is shut. We would all be better off if there was no alcohol service in airports, but there shouldn’t be any alcohol served on board. Anyone violating these rules should not only be banned, but put on the DO NOT FLY list. Make them take Greyhound (but they would probably have to pay an upgrade).
WELL THAT CAN’T HAPPEN IN SFO AS NO LIQUOR IS BEING SERVED(SKY CLUBS TOO) AND BARELY ANY FOOD PLACES ARE OPEN.. THE DARK AGES THERE A MESS