A Plane Was Forced To Land After A Passenger Was Denied Wine — She Flew First Class The Following Morning
There need to be stricter consequences for those who disrupt air travel.
joo83908 and Krasula via Shutterstock / @bperkins33 via TikTok Passengers were left inconvenienced after a woman aboard their flight reacted loudly and belligerently after she was denied wine by flight attendants.
Her behavior ultimately led to the plane being diverted and landing in a different location. However, despite her actions resulting in the delay of other passengers making it to their destinations, the woman was allegedly given royalty treatment when she was finally allowed back onto a plane.
The woman reportedly had a ‘meltdown’ on the flight after she was refused a glass of wine.
Blake Perkins was aboard a United Airlines flight from Houston, Texas to Los Angeles, California. Like his other fellow passengers, he was most likely expecting an uneventful trip. Unfortunately, they were all mistaken.
During the flight, one passenger became belligerent and unruly after she was allegedly denied a glass of wine. She began arguing with another passenger seated near her. The woman’s behavior quickly grew worse, forcing flight attendants to intervene and attempt to settle her.
Perkins documented the harrowing experience in several TikTok videos, depicting the woman and flight attendants engaging in a screaming match as they beg her to take a seat.
The woman accuses other passengers of “calling her names” and refuses to sit back down as a flight attendant tries to reason with her. “I helped you get on the aircraft. I helped you, and this is how you’re going to treat me?” he can be heard saying. “You were crying and I gave you a hug because you told me you were having anxiety.”
One flight attendant had reportedly allowed her to board the flight with her own wine. Flight attendants also warned the woman several times that if she refused to take a seat, the plane would have to make an emergency landing and she would be de-planed and arrested.
However, the woman ignores the warning and continues to scream and holler at flight attendants.
The flight was diverted to Phoenix, Arizona where the woman was arrested upon landing.
“We had to land the plane so that she could get escorted off and causing us even more delays than we already had,” Perkins captioned one of his videos. “Over wine.”
Perkins claims that he and his fellow passengers were not compensated for the diversion or given alternate flight options. Although, the “wine lady,” as she’s been dubbed on social media, reportedly received high-quality treatment from the airline company after she was escorted off the plane.
The woman was reportedly able to board another flight the following day in first class.
“United decided to put her in a suite and then fly her first class the next morning,” Perkins alleged in a comment under one of his videos. “But everyone else that got delayed? Nothing.”
Other TikTokers were mortified by the woman’s behavior. “Why are people SO ENTITLED ugh,” one user commented. “All of this over alcohol,” another user pointed out.
Others proposed that the flight attendants on the particular flight get pay raises.
The woman’s meltdown is not the first to occur during flights.
Over the past year, there have been several instances of unruly passengers inconveniencing the flight staff and other people on board, with many uploaded to social media. An analysis by the International Air Transport Assessment shows that unruly-passenger incidents on airplanes increased 47% from 2021 to 2022, from one incident per 835 flights to one incident per 568 flights.
In 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a “zero-tolerance” policy designed to keep passengers in check. As per the new policy, violators can face criminal charges and fines up to $35,000. Airlines also have the right to permanently ban misbehaving passengers from future flights.
Still, even after the introduction of the strict policy, there are passengers who continue to act unreasonably, directly impacting their fellow passengers and flight crew.
Those passengers certainly do not deserve to be rewarded with first-class seats and VIP lounge treatment, as the woman in the video allegedly was.
United Airlines shared a statement via email to the Daily Dot regarding the incident.
“On Tuesday, July 25, United flight 1813 diverted to Phoenix due to a disruptive passenger who continually refused to follow the flight attendant’s instructions to return to her seat,” they wrote. “Law enforcement officials met the aircraft on arrival and removed the passenger, and the flight subsequently departed for Los Angeles later that evening. The customer has been banned from future United flights while we review this matter.”
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.