Unruly Flyers Make Headlines Over Labor Day Weekend
Joe Cortez September 07, 2021
Hand einer jungen Frau in Handschellen Hand of a young woman in handcuffs
A pair of unruly flyers in two different cities went viral over the weekend for the wrong reasons, when their stories were shared on social media. While one experienced a meltdown over face covering rules, the other claimed fat shaming when she was escorted off her aircraft for dress code violations.
Even on a holiday, unruly flyers don’t take a day off.
Two flyers in two different cities made headlines over the Labor Day holiday when their bad behavior was shared on social media. While one in Salt Lake City was caught chewing his face covering in protest, another in Seattle claimed discrimination was the reason why she was asked to leave her aircraft.
Clothing Requirements at Center of Disruptive Passenger Episodes
In both situations, wearing the proper coverings were at the center of the disturbances. In the Salt Lake incident, NBC affiliate KSL-TV reports the passenger started becoming unruly while flying aboard American Airlines from Los Angeles to the capital of Utah.
A man has been cited for public intoxication after becoming unruly on a flight from the Los Angeles International Airport to the Salt Lake City International Airport.
🎥: Dennis Busch
DETAILS: https://t.co/blmkCxwfgD pic.twitter.com/iHE4CusP6v
— KSL 5 TV (@KSL5TV) September 7, 2021
Witnesses say the passenger was harassing an Asian-American couple in front of him, saying things like “They don’t belong here.” When the flight crew intervened, his harassment to them, calling them “power-hungry” and using profane language in their direction.  Law enforcement was called to meet the flight at the gate, and while the passenger was not arrested, they were cited for public intoxication.
The second episode happened aboard an Alaska Airlines flight traveling from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to Fairbanks. TikTok influencer Ray Lin Howard, who goes by the handle “fattrophywife” on social media, claims she was wrongfully removed from her flight when flight attendants allegedly “fat shamed” her.
According to Seattle ABC affiliate KOMO-TV, Howard removed her top halfway during the flight, opting to only wear a sports bra and shorts. Flight attendants determined that her attire violated the dress code and requested that Howard put her shirt back on. Moments later, the flyer claims another attendant approached her and said her midriff-baring shirt she was wearing was also unacceptable. After a confrontation, police in Fairbanks met the aircraft and removed her from the flight.
@fattrophywife@alaskaair Flight attendant harassed and called the airport police on me for my inappropriate outfit. ##bbw ##plussize ##plussizeedition ##bbws ##fyp♬ original sound – Trophy
A spokesperson for Alaska said they were investigating the incident. The situation is similar to another episode with the carrier in August 2021, when another TikTok user accused the carrier of “slut shaming” because of her outfit.
Unruly Passenger Situations Continue to Rise in 2021
Despite the various awareness campaigns, unruly passenger complaints continue to rise in 2021. As of August 30, the Federal Aviation Administration has received over 4,000 unruly passenger reports from airlines, with three-quarters of them related to mask-related incidents. Only 143 – or 3.5 percent of the total complains – resulted in an enforcement case.
There's a very simple, permanent solution to these idiots that can't behave on airlines - even fat ones that want to treat an airplane like their living room in front of a Peloton workout mirror. The solution requires just a small portion of lead - as well as a little clean-up time after the problem has been solved and removed (even less time if the airplane seats are leather). The fact that local authorities are so unwilling to fully prosecute - with the backing of the feckless FAA at this point as SamirD pointed out before - means that this permanent solution would end these idiots ever flying again as well as probably scare a few future-idiots-in-training from finishing their courses.
Sounds like both people deserved to be removed.
Fattrophywife? Must have been a participation trophy.
Another "influencer" conveniently has a problem and gets more fame for it. They got what they wanted -- attention.
3.5% chance of getting punished? There's the source of the problem. Laws in the face of zero enforcement have no effect. See the third world if you want to see how this turns out...