FIGHT & FLIGHT
Attendant-flier clash goes viral
Viral video showing a heated confrontation between an American Airlines employee and a passenger over a mother and her baby ignited outrage on social media Saturday — dealing another black eye to the airline industry.
“Come on, hit me!” the flight attendant is seen saying as he faces off with the male passenger, who had threatened to knock him “flat” after the employee allegedly hit a woman struggling to board the plane with her baby and a stroller.
Facing outrage over the Facebook video, the airline apologized, suspended the employee and upgraded the mom and her family to first class for their entire international trip.
The leader of a union that represents American flight attendants said the incident was “not representative of the work flight attendants do to de-escalate conflicts.”
“I am deeply concerned with fallout of this video in pitting passengers against the crew who care for them, advocate for them and keep people safe,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.
The clash occurred in San Francisco aboard Dallas-bound Flight 591 as passengers were still boarding.
“OMG! AA Flight attendant violently took a stroller from a lady with her baby on my flight, hitting her and just missing the baby,” another passenger, Surain Adyanthaya, who posted the video, wrote on Facebook. “Then he tried to fight a passenger who stood up for her.”
The video does not show the flight attendant’s alleged dispute with the mother and instead begins with her sobbing at the front of the cabin, with a baby in her arms.
Off screen, the male passenger is heard saying, “No, I’m not going to sit here and watch this stuff.”
He comes into view as he leaves his seat and approaches a female flight attendant.
“What’s the guy’s name who did that with the stroller?” he asks her.
Moments later, the male attendant returns.
“Hey, bud,” the passenger says, pointing. “You do that to me, and I’ll knock you flat.”
“Hey, you stay out of this!” the employee yells back, jabbing his finger.
The employee steps forward, and the male passenger leaps back into the aisle.
“Hit me,” the employee says, motioning with his hands. “Come on, hit me.”
He later barks, “You don’t know what the story is!”
“I don’t care what the story is,” the passenger replies. “You almost hurt a baby.”
American Airlines allows each customer one stroller. It must be checked at the gate or ticket counter.
The airline said it was investigating the incident.
“What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers,” spokeswoman Leslie Scott said.
None of the fliers or employees involved was named.
The incident came less than two weeks after passenger Dr. David Dao, 69, was dragged bloodied and screaming from an overbooked United Airlines flight.