Worst Passenger of the Week: A Sleeping Pill, a Few Cocktails & a 50,000 Volt Chaser

Every Friday, FlyerTalk looks back at the week’s most charming individuals. While there are always plenty of contenders for our Worst Passenger of the Week award, only one lucky flyer can take home the glory. Here are this week’s winners.

Honorable Mention – How to Foster Your Child’s Artistic Side While Traveling 

A passenger was shamed this week for allowing their small child to redecorate an aircraft cabin using nothing more than a box of crayons. Cellphone footage showing the youngster gleefully scribbling on a seat-back surrounded by other tray tables covered in prior artistic renderings went viral and invited helpful child-rearing advice from around the world.   

The unconventional laissez-faire parenting style is certainly difficult to watch. At one point, the parent can even be seen encouraging the little one’s artistic expression through vandalism. Hysterical concerns that the aircraft was damaged by the kid’s excited scribbling, however, could only have been leveled by commenters who have never heard of Formula 409. 

The brief video may raise larger concerns than overindulgent parenting or extra work for the cleaning crew. Either the entire scene was staged or a passenger is out there filming other passengers’ small children without permission. Perhaps in this particular case, the shamer has become the shamee. 

Third Place – The Graffiti Tagger Who Made the Most of a Layover

On the other hand, a cautionary tale for parents who refuse to set boundaries for their children comes to us courtesy of the West Coast and the land down under. Authorities in San Francisco announced this week that a notorious vandal and alleged member of an Australian graffiti crew known as “Get Hectik” was arrested in connection with vandalism discovered on a number of BART trains at the city rail yard. 

According to NBC Bay Area affiliate KNTV, Matthew Raoul White was arrested during a layover at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Police say the 33-year-old’s pants and shoes showed clear evidence of spray paint at the time he was taken into custody. Authorities explained that the vandal-on-holiday wasn’t difficult to track down.

“He’s a prolific tagger,” BART Deputy Police Chief Ed Alvarez told NBC News. “He is well known in Australia; when he was leaving the country, contacts were made out here in the United States.”

While White’s mischief reportedly caught up with him prior to a connecting flight to Sydney Airport (SYD), his origin airport was not released. It is a safe bet, however, he likely flew into SFO from  a U.S. city with an unexplained surge in vandalism near the airport.   

The Runner-up – “Mean Girl” Gets Real with Reality Star 

Vanderpump Rules cast member Brittany Cartwright says she was assaulted while disembarking a Delta Airlines Flight from Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to Miami International Airport (MIA). The alleged assailant, who Cartwright describes as a “mean girl,” is said to have assaulted the reality star in retaliation for a dispute involving the first class lavatory. The celebrity restaurant worker says she was shoved on the jetway and only later realized that the assailant and fellow passenger had stuck gum in her hair during the incident.

Fans will know that this traumatic incident couldn’t have come at a worse time for Brittany. I mean talk about a roller coaster of a summer. 

Brittany stuck with Jax despite everything, but he ended up giving her a ring and who is WeHo’s worst couple now, Courtney? and then they went into business together and maybe that was too soon and then their friends were really being doubters and maybe Jax hadn’t really changed after all and what if Brittany never really got over what happened last summer and Brittany say she’s in Jax’s corner, but the wedding planning is putting a strain on the relationship and what if her friends are right? and now she has gum in her hair!

The Winner – Down-and-Out in the SLC 

By all accounts, 53-year-old Brian Duffy Regan’s JetBlue flight from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) started out great. According to court documents, Regan washed at least one Ambien down with an alcoholic beverage to get things off on the right foot. According to a police report, he spent the early portion of the journey making new friends and mingling with other passengers in the cabin.

Things took a turn for the worse when Regan’s inflight entertainment system started acting up. Despite reportedly banging on the screen, Regan was unable to repair the unit. 

The flight started to become downright unpleasant when flight attendants told the understandably bored passenger (with a broken monitor at his seat) that he was no longer permitted to roam about the cabin trying to make more friends. It was bad enough when the flight attendants declined to serve him any more alcoholic beverages, but then it appears crew members got their feelings hurt when he critiqued the onboard service by allegedly calling them “f**king idiots.”

Mr. Regan was likely vowing to never fly JetBlue again after crew members and fellow passengers restrained him in his seat (with no IFE) and the captain diverted the plane to Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) where the dissatisfied passenger didn’t even want to go in the first place!

Things reportedly got even worse for Regan on the ground in Utah. When Regan allegedly took a swing at officers, police responded by tasing the accidental tourist. 

If the disgruntled passenger was disappointed with JetBlue’s rough customer service and Salt Lake City’s aggressive tourism ambassadors, he is really not going to like how he is treated in the coming months; Regan now faces upcoming appearances before both federal and state judges.

[Photo: Shutterstock]