Plane Passenger Faces Lifetime Ban From Flying After Accidentally Grabbing A Flight Attendant Who Startled Him
While the flight attendant believes that she was assaulted, the passenger claims that he was the one who was treated unfairly.
New Africa | Shutterstock Sleeping on a plane is no easy feat, but one passenger was lucky enough to do it. Unfortunately, he never expected his restful flight might result in a lifetime ban on Delta.
Apparently, a flight attendant startled the man awake, and he grabbed her.
While the flight crew believes that the passenger was in the wrong, he claims that anyone in his position would’ve reacted the same way and that the airline staff acted inappropriately.
The passenger is facing a potential lifetime ban from Delta Airlines for putting his hands on a flight attendant after being startled.
Sharing his story to the blog “View From The Wing,” the passenger said that he was traveling on Delta business class on a flight from New York to Europe when the incident occurred.
Toward the end of the flight, he fell asleep with an eye mask on and missed the announcement that all passengers must adjust their seats to their upright positions before landing.
Dmitry Galaganov | Shutterstock
Instead of gently waking him up and reminding him to adjust his seat, the man alleged that the flight attendant began adjusting the seat herself without warning him.
The sudden movements startled the passenger out of his sleep. As he removed his eye mask, he said that he “spontaneously reached out to their [the flight attendant’s] hand pressing the button.”
After the incident, the flight attendant requested that the police meet the plane upon arrival.
While it is unclear how the police handled the situation at the arrival gate, the passenger now fears he will no longer be able to fly Delta.
The man expressed concern that his innocent reaction might result in a travel ban. “I must say that I felt incredibly mistreated by the staff with little or no say in this ordeal,” he wrote.
He asked others if they were aware of any resources he could utilize or if any passengers had similar stories of flight crew misusing their power.
Airline companies have a tendency to defend their staff, whether they are right or wrong, and the man did not want other airlines to have an unfair image of him based on Delta’s claims.
He was especially concerned given the fact that Delta CEO Ed Bastian argued that passengers who are banned from one airline should be banned from all of them.
“Holding individuals accountable for criminal behavior shouldn’t be a controversial or partisan issue,” he wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post.
However, in this case, this particular passenger is not a criminal. He is a human who likely made an honest mistake and had no intention of acting aggressively toward the flight crew.
Generally, people are banned from flying on an airline if there is credible evidence that they pose a threat to the flight crew and other passengers.
This can include incidents where passengers acted aggressively and unruly toward flight crew members while on board.
However, it is possible that misunderstandings can occur here and there.
Mangkorn Danggura | Shutterstock
You can accidentally hit another passenger with your carry-on bag while removing it from the overhead compartment. You can mistakenly trip and fall into a flight attendant while walking in the aisle and hit an unexpected patch of turbulence.
None of this indicates that you are a violent person who deserves to be on a no-fly list.
If you ever find yourself in any misunderstandings while flying, make sure you communicate your concerns with flight crew members, TSA agents, or any police officers who might be involved. Just be sure to stay calm and don't let anger or emotions get the better of you.
After all, we’ve all been startled awake at some point in our lives, and our reflexes have taken over.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.