First Class Passenger Removed From Flight for Smuggling Drinks
Jennifer Billock May 16, 2018
American Airlines kicked a first-class passenger off a flight recently for trying to sneak drinks back to his friends seated in economy—after several attempts of sneaking past flight attendants and lying to them in order to break the rules on the sly.
Over the weekend, a first-class passenger with an entitled streak got kicked off an American Airlines flight for trying to get some drinks to his friends in economy. Katie Genter, a writer for The Points Guy, was in first class on the same flight and detailed the experience.
Apparently the trouble started when the man first boarded the plane; he was in the first class line with two friends – the economy passengers – who had too many carry-ons. Not only did he insist the economy passengers board with him, but he also bullied the gate agents into letting them bring on their excess baggage.
After they boarded the plane, the first-class passenger was offered a welcome drink. He had his and then ordered two more, and when the flight attendant objected that he can only order one at a time, he ordered one for him and one for the stranger next to him – who didn’t even want the drink.
Then the man took both drinks and headed back to economy to try to get them to his friends. A flight attendant stopped him, saying that he and the drinks had to stay in first class. He told the attendant he was going to the bathroom, and the attendant pointed him to the first class lavatory.
Not to be defeated, the man returned to his seat and texted his friends to come up to the bathroom and meet him. But again, the flight attendant stopped the group. Shortly after, an airline representative had the man removed from the flight.
[Photo: Shutterstock]
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This sounds like a bunch of adults acting like children, good on the airline for kicking him off!
While the passenger was a jerk should not have been behaving this way, who really cares. Let's take a step back and look at what is really gained from the FA withholding a drink or kicking him off the flight. AA Pros: Cost of two extra drinks (wait, the FA actually made the extra drinks and threw them away, so no Pros. AA Cons: Potential loss of a premium customer forever, Added workload for FA to block him and his friends and call the GA, Cost of flying an empty seat, Cost of having to accommodate him on another flight, Potential customer service voucher depending on his status level and how much the agent is paying attention, Potential delays/missed connections of all the other passengers. Now I dont know the details, maybe he was already drunk, who knows, but just based on the story, if the FA just let the jerk give his friends two drinks, the flight would have proceeded normally and you would have had 3+ happy customers.
Going to go against the consensus here. First, the passenger does sound like a [insert your word choice here]. Second, the passenger sounds like a moron for not waiting until the doors closed if he wanted to really get a couple drinks to the passengers in coach. Third, it sounds like the passenger was trying to show his friends how cool he was - "I can do whatever I want." Many of the things he did - bringing his friends into the FC boarding lane - I've done this with my wife and never experienced any issues. I haven't even thought twice about not doing it. Possible that makes be a bad passenger. Not sure why this should contribute to his being kicked off. And "bullied" the GA into letting them? I've never seen a GA submit to a "bully" so I don't really buy that. However, kicking someone off of a flight is a big deal. I'm worried about the precedent. But it all depends on the facts and the interactions with the crew. Just doing what is described above doesn't really seem to me to necessitate removal from the aircraft.
The passenger must have really been over the top. Doug Parker and his Management team have done a great job in developing a "Who Cares" culture within American I \'m surprised an employee took the trouble to worry about it. And yes mixing with the Great Unwashed in the back is a crime in it's self.
They should have also kicked off his friends for going along w his boarding scan and boorishness.