Removal of passenger upsets fellow f lyers on plane

Man says he only asked a flight attendant to wear a mask

Allegiant Air removed a passenger from a Labor Day flight preparing for takeoff from Punta Gorda, Florida, for “making threatening statements to the flight attendant,” according to the airline. But in a video of the incident shared online, the man can be heard explaining that he had only asked the flight attendant to wear a face mask.

“I need you to come off or I get law enforcement,” says an employee a in a video shared anonymously to social media news wire Storyful. The passenger says, “I just asked somebody to put on their face mask, that’s all I did.”

Others on the flight can be heard voicing their support for the passenger as he’s escorted off. “That’s not right, this is ridiculous,” one passenger says, while comments such as “this is not OK,” “you’re not right,” and “just let him be” are heard as well.

In a statement to The Washington Post via email, Allegiant said that the “passenger became disruptive during the preflight safety briefing . . . Following the announcement, the passenger persisted in making threatening statements to the flight attendant, to the point of harassment.” The airline said the man was accommodated on another departing flight.

Allegiant also told Newsweek that the flight attendant had lowered their face covering “for speaking into the PA so the briefing could be understood.”

Allegiant has faced backlash on social media in recent days for flight attendants who have been photographed with face masks pulled below their nostrils. In one image, a flight attendant appears to have her mask completely pulled below her mouth.