Retired Senator Booted From JetBlue for Customer Service Complaint
Jeff Edwards January 10, 2017
The former US Senator from New York was escorted from the plane after attempting to rally other passengers in protest against an unpleasant onboard experience.
Even in retirement, former US Senator Alfonse D’Amato remains a political firebrand. The onetime Republican lawmaker from New York exercised his political muscle on a JetBlue flight due to depart from Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL) to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). Although the 79-year-old D’Amato was removed from the flight for his troubles, he certainly managed to bring attention to his cause.
Video of the preflight incident captured by eyewitnesses on the plane appears to show D’Amato attempting to encourage fellow passengers to join him in protesting the airline’s treatment of travelers on the flight. The former US Senator was reportedly annoyed by a series of departure delays and the crew’s request that some passengers change seats.
“We can still speak in this country,” D’Amato can be heard saying in the opening moments of his address to the cabin. “I’m making an appeal to all you people — you want to know what? Stand up for what’s right and walk out with me. That’s the only thing they’ll know.”
The retired lawmaker seemed to have some support for his issues with the airline. At least two other passengers are said to have walked off the flight in solidarity with D’Amato. Video images of D’Amato being escorted from the plane were posted to Twitter with the hashtags #FreedomOfSpeech and #FirstAmendment.
@AlDAmatoNY Former State Senator of New York was kicked off JetBlue flight just for speaking out… #FreedomOfSpeech #FirstAmendment pic.twitter.com/d5AwutQDav
— Layla D (@laylafd31) January 10, 2017
“Here’s a gentleman who’s doing it,” D’Amato said praising the passenger who heeded his figurative call to arms. “Stand up and walk out. If you don’t, then don’t, what do you stand up for?”
Reports that the retired lawmaker had been drinking were strenuously denied by D’Amato’s office. According to a statement, he was returning from visiting an ailing friend at the time of the incident.
“JetBlue has apologized to the Senator for overreacting and the Senator apologized for speaking his mind at a time when he clearly had left his patience at the gate,” a spokesperson for the former legislator told the New York Daily News.
JetBlue declined to respond publicly to the incident involving D’Amato, but told told reporters that the decision to remove any passenger from a flight is “is not taken lightly.”
[Photo: AP]
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If a passenger's being disruptive and trying to incite other pax to rebellion, their continued presence on the plane starts to become a flight safety issue. Even if the incident's defused, there will still be the potential for rumbling discontent, or a recommencement of hostilities. Taking the trouble-maker off the plane is pragmatically the best way to pour water on the flames. If D'Amato had done this mid-flight, he'd have been forcibly sat down and restrained, invited to shut the heck up, and escorted off the aircraft at the nearest opportunity. With an early landing if the situation merits it. At least the plane was still at the terminal, which made everything so much easier.
More facts are needed. The NYT says it was scheduled for 1:40 and departed at 8. Were they on the tarmac the entire time? I'd have probably wanted off in that event, too. But I wonder if they were just very late in pushing back. And needing to rearrange for weight distribution doesn't seem like a big deal. Of course, JetBlue is pretty well known for delays.
The US government and any of its agencies cannot prevent the exercise of free speech. Jet Blue is not he government. They can.
I really dislike JetBlue and have had quite a few problems with them, but I fully stand with them on this one. This is absurd.