A United Airlines flight from Newark to Tel Aviv diverted after a pair of poachers tried to sneak into business class. When busted, instead of hanging their heads down and returning to their seat, they rioted, prompting the return to Newark. The result? A cancelled flight which inconvenienced hundreds of people.
United Airlines Flight Diverts After “Riot” From Business Class Poachers
The incident occurred Thursday evening, January 20, 2022, on UA90 from Newark (EWR) To Tel Aviv (TLV) aboard a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner.
When asked to return to their seats, the self-upgraders refused and the decision was made as the flight entered Newfoundland to return to Newark. According to a witness onboard, the passers “rioted” when asked to return to their seat, pointing out that there were plenty of open seats in the cabin.
One Mile At A Time wonders why everyone onboard had to be inconvenienced for two idiots, but it makes sense to me:
- You really think Israel is going to want to deal with self-upgraders?
- More importantly, if these passengers were belligerent and began to “riot” when admonished to return to their assigned seats, then diverting makes a whole of lot sense precisely because their behavior was so erratic and unpredictable (it’s not like the FAs could just knock them out).
But while the diversion was unarguably unfortunate, especially after the flight cancelled, these thugs now face a U.S. justice system and hopefully a huge lawsuit from United.
Think about the cost of this diversion. The fuel. The crew time. Hotels and meal vouchers for passengers. It seems to me that a diversion of this nature would run into the six digits.
If United (or any airline) want this sort of behavior to stop, it must prosecute the passengers. Who knows, maybe the guys are broke, which is why they self-upgraded and will simply declare bankruptcy once United wins a judgment against them…but United should, by principle, prosecute this case.
And beyond the civil penalties plus compensation and restitution for United, these passengers should be put into a labor camp to build American roads or bridges. 16 hours per day. Seven days per week…
(I’m not even joking)
What a mess. What an avoidable mess.
CONCLUSION
United Airlines cannot be faulted for protecting the integrity of its business class cabin. It doesn’t matter that the plane was mostly empty: stay in your assigned seat unless you have permission to do otherwise.
These selfish, entitled idiots should face extreme civil and criminal penalties for their act, as part of our solemn duty to pursue justice and uphold order.
And if you ever think self-upgrading is a smart idea, think again…let this story be a warning to you. Even if you can get away with it, it is not worth the risk.
Banned from UA for life I would hope and other airlines too. Reprehensible conduct. As an aside, can two people constitute a riot?
I hope that type of illegal behavior is met with a law suit, any available prosecution (no idea what crime. attempted theft of a $4000 business class seat?) AND most importantly banned for life on all US airlines. I would think that type of punishment would cause folks like these to actually pause a second before acting like jack asses.
‘You really think Israel is going to want to deal with self-upgraders?”
What does this mean? Does Israel refuse to provide police fire disturbances on aircraft?
Simply that U.S. law enforcement officials seem better equipped to handle an incident that took place in U.S. airspace on a U.S. carrier.
For an Israeli, dealing with Israeli police is much less scary. They have a cousin who’s a police officer (everybody has a cousin who’s a police officer) so this miniscule charge will just go away.
USA policy is much more by the book, not playing games. I don’t want to get into trouble with them.
So I’m glad these idiots ended up arrested in the US, not Israel.
I hope too. Jail for long time!
I heard they were arrested upon arrival… this doesn’t surprise me. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve worked TLV out of SFO, and just because there are some Polaris seats vacant once in a while, the pax in PE think it’s ok to sit in them and upgrade themselves. Last time, a lady told me her husband said to her she could sit there since they were vacant… hmmm, and who is your husband to authorize such a thing? LOL.. SMH… oh well, the beat goes on….
This is what the no-fly list should be used for.
A friend of mine was a purser with Air Canada. He said self-upgrades on the Tel-Aviv flights were the norm. The problem never escalated to returning the aircraft to the origin airport though.
As they were entering Newfoundland, maybe they should’ve simply dumped the self-righteous squatters in Goose Bay?
What’s going on with flights to Tel-Aviv? I’ve never seen self-upgraders on other flights. Is it a route typically flown by inexperienced passengers?
just install brigs in the cargo holds. could have solved both transatlantic issues this week. no diversions necessary.
“Hey, look! That stadium luxury box next to Jerry Jones’ suite looks empty. Let’s ride the elevator and watch the game from up there.” Yea, right.
I hope that type of illegal behavior is met with a law suit, any available prosecution (no idea what crime. attempted theft of a $4000 business class seat?) AND most importantly banned for life on all US airlines. I would think that type of punishment would cause folks like these to actually pause a second before acting like jack [redacted by admin].
@Ed – I’ve seen all sorts of things with pax going to Tel Aviv or connecting from there. The latest was a return to return to the gate and subsequent deplaning by a Capitan because a passenger refused to sit down for taxi and takeoff because he was praying and needed to stand up while his wife and baby were sitting. I am not familiar with all of the intricacies of religious customs but this is only one of various incidents I have witnessed with passengers going to/from TLV, along with the self-upgrade nonsense, seat poaching, and just blatant disregard for rules on aircraft.
Question I am wondering about – what would an EL AL crew have done had this taken place onboard their aircraft to Tel Aviv ? Believe they have an Air Marshal onboard right? Maybe these two are already banned from flying El Al..
FAs should consistently enforce the “use the lav in your own section” rule. I have seen Y pax use the F lav, spy an open seat and occupy it.
Sometimes it is GS and 1K elites who did not get upgraded and believe they are entitled to sit in F, or at least the lav in F. That’s one way to save PlusPoints.
However, sometimes it is the FA who is telling an economy passenger to use the first class restroom. Two weeks ago coming back from Vail I was in the 2nd row of economy (since I was traveling with a pet and couldn’t snag my usual exit row seat) and when I got up to use the restroom the FA told me to use the restroom in first instead of walking to the back of the plane.
They were entering New Brunswick. Saint John, NB; St. John’s, NL.
I think you’re coming down hard on them. A labor camp as punishment for a victimless crime?! Sure, self upgrading is annoying, but nobody got hurt, and aside from “failure to provide crew instructions” what’s the real crime here? I was recently denied my cabin of service by United and they compensated with 6K miles, so they don’t really view their product as all that valuable.
Ban them from United, no doubt, but if I wound up being delayed because of this, I’m mad at United, not two stupid pax.
Tough to be angry with UA when they are keeping the safety of the flight and passengers as a priority. They cannot take a chance in allowing such people to remain on the flight when crossing over the Atlantic; especially since going back to the point of departure is much closer. Besides, we were not on the flight so we cannot properly evaluate the airline’s choice in the risk assessment matrix.
No further descriptions of these idiots….US residents, Israelis, ages.? Surprised no air Marshalls on a TLV flight.
Details have not yet been released.
As a former flight attendant and purser with Pan Am and United, I think this was the appropriate action. It’s unfortunate that the customers were inconvenienced and delayed in getting to their destination. It’s also a costly loss for United. It sends the message that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.
In my over 20-year career working flights with the final destination of Tel Aviv, as a whole, these flights presented the most challenging customer interactions. Most passengers were lovely. However, there was a greater probability of things going wrong — angry, aggressive behavior, and disregard for the rules — on these flights compared to most other international destinations. I still have negative flashbacks.
“And beyond the civil penalties plus compensation and restitution for United, these passengers should be put into a labor camp to build American roads or bridges. 16 hours per day. Seven days per week…
(I’m not even joking)”
@Matthew,
I’d be a bit careful these days about saying this regarding these particular pax in this context. Especially the labor camp part, as well as the working conditions. Even during WW2, prisoners did not work 16 hours a day!
Now, if we want to send all criminals to severe labor camps and be forced to work 16 hours a day (and barely have enough food to live), you have my full support!
“these passengers should be put into a labor camp to build American roads or bridges. 16 hours per day. Seven days per week…”
“I’d be a bit careful these days about saying this regarding these particular pax in this context. Especially the labor camp part, as well as the working conditions. Even during WW2, prisoners did not work 16 hours a day!”
Thank you for saying something about this. This quip did trigger me in that I have friends and family who were sent to Gulags and some who may have died there (one can’t be certain at the time.) I shed a tear when I read Matt saying that. I’m not angry at him for it, but it brought to my mind the stories I have heard.
Prison work camps provide a direct financial incentive for governments to over-zealously charge people with crimes and imprison them and hold them longer than necessary.
In an era when we’ve had riots over accusations of police and state misconduct towards certain groups, it’s worth asking whether we should look to police and prison reform for the sake of all human beings. The USA already has the highest incarceration rate in the world. If it costs the state to imprison someone, that’s an incentive to find a way to reduce the crimes happening in the first place and reform them.
All that said, this ties into another recent post regarding the Flight Attendant Union calling for reduced service to focus on their “security” duties. Supposedly they’re too busy “attending” the passengers to serve drinks. Very well. Zip tie the miscreants and land in Israel and even if Israel declines to prosecute, charge them in the USA which would result effectively in a lifetime USA travel ban. Also ban them for life from United. Done. Ask them to hire some Polish women FA’s, they’ll get the job done!
No need for Gulag, Tovarisch.
Oh, on a more lighter note: Matt, you live in L.A. I dearly miss Polka Restaurant near Burbank which also is near the excellent outdoor Angeles shooting range. Please take time out of your busy travel schedule to visit both. They are worth flying into to try out.
The sense of entitlement and chutzpah cannot be ignored…..and is truly remarkable regardless of the flight’s destination. Let’s hope NY (or the Feds) prosecutes them as severely as possible considering the extreme inconvenience and cost to all involved.
NY? You know Newark is in NJ, right?
New York metro area.
What kind of people are we talking about here?
Inconsiderate, entitled a-holes.
As a flyer, I am glad the airline as tough, and even though I’d have been inconvenienced if I’d been on the plane, I remember being on TATL flights pre-9/11 when FAs tolerated far too much belligerent behavior and the flight was miserable for the other passengers. Turning around and arresting them is the right thing to do.
This is when small claims court becomes useful. Every passenger on that flight should bring a small claims action in New Jersey seeking the maximum amount permissible under New Jersey law which may be $3,000, alleging the loss of time, missed events in Tel Aviv or connection, mental anguish caused by the diversion, etc.
Say there were 200 passengers on the plane – I think that comes to about $600,000. People need to relying on the possibility of criminal proceedings (usually not pursued) or even the FAA administrative remedies. All that is needed is for a person to be faced with judgments amounting to six figures and this may stop.
Good point.
United could be threatened with charges of antisemite behavior by the passengers looking for a discount. United would be best served if they paid the “poachers” off with free upgrades for life and settled the case.
I am disgusted with your labor camp (labor prison) suggestion. You essentially advocated for indentured servitude until the debt is paid off. That’s an 18th century mindset.
13th Amn permits it.
As long as Matthew is for this for ALL prisoners (at least all felons), there is no issue at all. Prison should not be a country blub!
Perfectly legal as well. He’s advocating for a severe version of Sherriff Joe’s jails
That should say country CLUB not blub…
Anyone who disrupts a flight or doesn’t follow flight personnel instructions should be banned from flying any airline for 10 to 20 years. If you won’t be able to fly for 20 years you’ll think twice about being a jerk on a flight.
Because the death penalty has worked as a deterrent.
Idiots gonna idiots regardless of consequences.
If you’re gonna sneak into business class, you gotta accept that if you’re caught you have to sheepishly apologize and immediately go back to your seat. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. They don’t even let you “sneak” into economy plus from regular economy!
The fact that this somehow escalated into a major commercial carrier turning around an international widebody flight is really shocking. These guys must have really thrown quite a tantrum when confronted. And I’m sure the crew said “listen, if you don’t calm down and go back to your seats we’re going back to New York”. And boy did they call their bluff!!
These idiots should be fined for aviation fuel, hotel/meal vouchers, crew wages, airport fees at both ends (gate fees, baggage handling, hangering, towing/ground support, unanticipated flight filing), costs associated with accommodating passengers on other flights, cost of extra customs in both countries (visas, work permits, etc), meals and beverages catered on the flight, passengers’ missed commitments/events, passengers’ WiFi purchased on board, passengers’ parking at the airport or taxi fees, passengers’ transport to/from the airport to reach their temporary accommodations. Hell they should even pay my bar tab at the Newark hotel after I finally calm down. I would be so livid.
This is completely unacceptable and I hope these morons realize this after receiving a $750,000 bill and having to declare bankruptcy, plus being added to United’s no-fly list, if not the US federal no-fly list. All because they couldn’t act like adults on a commercial flight in pandemic times. Amazing.
This
Good points that were echoed earlier, but with the added details
One that you didn’t include, but could be an issue is the cost of another PCR/rapid test, etc.
Add in some Shabbat timing, so the Thursday night departure/Friday afternoon arrival won’t work for many Jewish passengers for a 24 hour delay, which then becomes a 48 hour delay resulting from these knobs.
And yeah, Matthew, a bit tone deafness on the labor camp phrasing.
I appreciate your frustration. However, given the flight was to Tel Aviv I’d probably avoid making any comments about putting anyone in labor camps.
Does this happen in other parts of the ME? From memory it happens in China but isn’t common elsewhere
Seriously? What rubbish! The airlines’ first responsibility is to fulfill their obligations to their customers, NOT to pander to a couple of yahoos’ desire for attention – and not even to “protect the integrity of business class”. If airline staff aren’t capable of taking control in a situation like this, maybe it’s time for the airlines to add a trained security guard or two to their onboard crew. A couple of strong personnel armed with a toll of duct tape would have solved the problem – and on arrival the unruly passengers could be handcuffed and put on the next flight back to the US, to be handed off to the police. It’s just not right to turn the plane around when hundreds of law-abiding passengers have paid a substantial sum of money to reach their destination at a specific time. If you’re trying to get somewhere in time for an important event, or business meeting, or to be with a loved one at a time of crisis, or even just for a vacation, the cost, stress and inconvenience of a delay is completely unreasonable.
I couldn’t agree more!!!
In addition to strapping their asses down for the remainder of the flight and the return flight, anyone who disrupts travel should be required to reimburse EVERY passenger his/her fare…even if it means draining bank accounts, maxing credit cards, garnishing wages, and/or auctioning possessions to do so. The punishment has to be swift, severe and consistent each and every time (bc right now, these, and many other unruly passengers, obviously don’t think what may await them is bad enough to deter their utterly selfish, disruptive and costly actions).
Could have put them off in Newfoundland and warned the other airlines do they were stranded! That would cool then off…
The two poachers should definitely be placed on a no fly list for ALL airlines and pay some form of compensation to United Airlines for the flight diversion and cancellation. What makes this situation even worse is that the EWR to TLV flight was on a Thursday night, with arrival into TLV on Friday before shabbat. Assuming the rescheduled or rebooked flights for the affected passengers are within 12-24 hours of the original departure, many of the passengers would not be able to take this flight because of shabbat/shabbas/sabbath. The earliest flight that religious observant passengers would be able to take would be on Saturday night or Sunday morning,
What a mess caused by two selfish poachers. I doubt United Airlines can get full compensation for the loss of revenue and increased cost due to this diversion/cancellation. However, this really calls the need for a nationwide or international No-Fly list. Flying is a privilege and not an entitlement.
Hopefully a hefty fine, jail time, blacklist from United and a permanent ban from entering the USA.
That ought to teach those idiots a lesson.
Umm…there is a pretty good chance they are US citizens
In this case, reports in Israeli media suggest they were Israelis.
Storming the business class is no worse than storming the capitol. People are making a big deal about it.
They did it for their freedoms and taking back the business class. It they had beaten up a rich white Republican male in there they would have turned into instant heros for being so patriotic and brave. In any case, let them go. No big deal.
Enough of the antics of self entitled, belligerent travelers. And the cray cray’s too! There needs to be a NATIONAL DO NOT ACCEPT FOR TRAVEL LIST shared amongst ALL airlines (domestic and international), Amtrak, and bus companies. Act a fool or go off on a cray cray episode you get out on the list for life! Enforce it. Let the word spread.
The issue isn’t so much that they’re self upgraders, it’s their aggressive response to the crew’s request to return to their seats
Yes, exactly. Sneaking into a seat is one thing, but becoming aggressive with FAs is a whole different story and is why this flight turned around. If they simply apologized when caught and returned to their assigned seats, we would never have heard anything about this.
On my American flight from LHR to LAX in December I witnessed a belligerent Indian man who was sitting in business class because his wife had been upgraded but not him. He was very upset and threatening and the FA told him if he wasn’t going back to his seat he would have to leave the aircraft (fortunately it was before the flight took off). He mumbled but complied. I paid for my business class seat and I don’t want the riff raff to sit there for free. I totally support United on this one.
There must be a law against transporting criminals across the border.
I think their behavior is awful, but the labor camp remark is unacceptable and bordering on anti-Semitic given the context of this being a flight to Israel. Us Jews have a bit of a sore spot about the whole labor camp thing given the “work will set you free” plastered all over Nazi death camps. You may not have meant to reference the holocaust, but that’s how “labor camp” reads to those of us that had family die in the camps. Stop digging deeper and simply apologize.
I can only assume Klint knew EXACTLY how his comments would read given the context, and that his insinuation was fully intentional. As such, this website will now be added to my blocked list.
You’re absolutely delusional, but the don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
I’ve consistently called for hard labor for crime instead of jail time…read 12 years worth of posts about misbehavior on airplanes if you don’t believe me. This has nothing to do with Nazi concentration camps and I regret that anyone would suggest I made that connection, because it was not at all my intent.
I see I’m not the only one who thought the comment about a flight going to Israel and the mentioning of labor camps was bordering being anti-Semitic. Intent or not it definitely reads that way.
Well, it really wasn’t meant in that way – but I will be more careful next time.