“Suspicious Behavior” Delays 3 Flights in 4 Days
Joe Cortez November 23, 2015
Three commercial flights scheduled to travel across the United States were delayed or diverted over the last four days, due to the actions of passengers aboard each of the aircraft. Hundreds of passengers and one presidential candidate were inconvenienced as authorities exercised an “abundance of caution” in each of the alleged situations.
The rash of diversions began on Thursday on a Spirit Airlines flight departing from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport (FLL). According to a police report obtained by the Sun-Sentinel, a child aboard the aircraft claims she heard an Israeli man having a phone conversation about blowing up the aircraft. As a result, the flight was returned to FLL and two men were removed off the aircraft. Afterwards, authorities claim the incident was simply a misunderstanding, with a spokesperson for Spirit claiming to the newspaper that discrimination played no part in the situation.
On Friday, a United Airlines flight departing from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) carrying Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie was delayed by six hours after flight attendants became uncomfortable by a passenger taking their photo. San Francisco ABC affiliate KGO-TV reports after the passenger deleted the photos, another passenger claimed they saw a picture of a device with wires and Arabic captions. The flight was immediately returned and re-screened by security teams.
On my way to #Newsgeist, spotted @ChrisChristie at San Francisco airport. pic.twitter.com/6uPu3GqJbz
— Moiz Syed (@MoizSyed) November 20, 2015
On Sunday, a Southwest Airlines flight bound to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) was diverted to Kansas City International Airport (MCI) after a group of three passengers became unruly. USA Today reports the group of passengers were refusing to follow flight crew instructions, leading to the diversion. The flight continued after additional security screening, while three passengers were held and questioned by authorities. The group was allowed to continue their travel on a separate Southwest flight.
Including this weekend’s events, at least seven flights have been delayed or diverted in the month of November over concerns of passenger behavior. Of those flights, two were Southwest flights, while three were Spirit flights.
[Photo: Getty]
Lakeviewsteve : unruly passenger = those who don't follow the rules / regulations / laws. And also, those who don't follow instructions from the crew. If the crew is being abusive, you can bet that someone will have the scene on video. Just send the "proof" to the airline. If no effect, you can send it to DOT and/or upload it to YouTube / FT.
Celsius1939 said "Unruly passengers should be removed and banned from flying on any airline for 5 years. You would have a lot less passengers behaving badly. Also, you would have a lot less diversions and delayed flights. Simple." Who would make the judgment if a passenger is "unruly?" What would constitute the definition of "unruly."? These questions must be considered before you're proposed 5 year ban. I wouldn't want a hungover angry flight attendant making that judgment call about me, especially if I wasn't unruly. People who need to travel for a living could lose their job if they couldn't fly for 5 years.
And anyone who disobeys the seatbelts sign should be banned for 5 years. Of course there won't be anyone left to fly any more... As for "unruly passengers", I think that's in the eye of the beholder. You get some surly flight attendant with a bee in their bonnet and they're ready to throw people off the plane.
Also, anybody reporting a false claim of people with whom they are uncomfortable, should also be banned for 5 years.
Unruly passengers should be removed and banned from flying on any airline for 5 years. You would have a lot less passengers behaving badly. Also, you would have a lot less diversions and delayed flights. Simple.