High School Rebellion Ends With Night at the Airport
Joe Cortez July 07, 2021
What started as an act of teenage rebellion ended with an overnight stay at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. When American Airlines was forced to give a flight an “extended delay” when a group refused to wear face coverings on a flight the Bahamas, it ended with hotel vouchers for everyone but the high school graduates.
A group of high schoolers acting out between flights learned why it is never a good idea to act out at the airport. Charlotte NBC affiliate WCNC-TV reports their refusal to wear face coverings led to an “extended delay” of their flights – and an overnight stay in the terminal.
Passengers “Non-Compliant” With Face Mask Rule Caused 24-Hour Delay
The incident happened as American Airlines Flight 893 was preparing to board passengers from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to Nassau, the Bahamas on Monday, July 5, 2021. After a technical issue forced a delay, a group of teenagers reportedly began getting frustrated with the situation.
According to witnesses, the group was celebrating their high school graduation with the trip. Once the flight was delayed, the group started creating a disruption both in the terminal and aboard the replacement aircraft. The teens reportedly began yelling and cursing, before staging a demonstration by allegedly refusing to wear their face coverings.
Others on the flight say the group was boarded, the disruptions continued. The plane was loaded for three hours before the airline decided to delay the flight indefinitely.
“Per procedure, the customers involved were asked to exit the aircraft,” a spokesperson for American Airlines told WCNC. “We expect our customers to comply with our policies when they choose to fly with us, and we take action when that is not the case.”
The flight was ultimately delayed for just over 24 hours, forcing the airline to offer food and hotel vouchers for everyone affected. The group of students accused of staging the disruption were unable to take advantage of the free hotel rooms, as many of them were too young to get a room on their own. As a result, they were forced to spend the night in the terminal before departing the next day.
Face Covering Protest Second Major Disruption in Charlotte in Five Days
The delay marks the second incident to take place at CLT due to a delayed flight. WCNC reports a passenger decided to use the emergency exit after a flight was cancelled and deboarding was delayed due to a lack of airport personnel. The passenger was ultimately arrested by police.
Moreover, were these kids glued together? The ones causing trouble: goodbye - off the flight. Everyone else gets to go.
They were exercising their intolerance as practice for when they enter university.
ok so they shouldn't have been disruptive, but why wear faces mask on aircraft, when none is required, when sitting extremely close to someone at a packed out sports stadium ?
I was thinking, what could be the underlying cause here? I’m guessing labor shortage understaffing was causing difficulty with proper staffing to get the aircraft in proper shape, and also to deal with the unruly kids, and possibly even airport security, and someone decided to just take a mulligan on the whole affair.
If you read the follow up article the group leader shows up saying "A few students caused a disturbance, it's unfair to penalize the whole group for the actions of a few." Honey, that's EXACTLY what it means when you travel with a group. Also, it's YOUR GROUP. Get them under control and don't cause a disturbance. You're lucky they were all allowed to travel the next day.