Airline ban for pair who swore and spat on staff
TWO men have been banned from an airline for life following ‘extreme antisocial behaviour’ on board a flight from Scotland to Turkey.
Their alleged behaviour includes spitting on crew, stealing wine and making ‘vulgar sexual gestures’.
Yesterday the Jet2 airline said it was pursuing further action against the men with the Turkish authorities and police i n Scotland following the incident on a flight from Glasgow to Dalaman last week.
The airline’s managing director said the group’s behaviour had been among the worst he had ever come across on a plane and confirmed a third, female passenger had been banned for six months, with all three denied access to their return flight.
Paul Strain, Kevin Brady and Claire Marshall allegedly became abusive towards cabin crew after they were refused drinks from the bar during the flight on July 13.
The airline claims the two men continued to use obscene language despite warnings from the crew and that Mr Brady made ‘vulgar sexual gestures’, spat in the face of a crew member and was seen stealing wine from the bar.
In addition, the airline claims that he refused to wear his seatbelt, remove his earphones or turn off his mobile phone during the aircraft’s descent.
Mr Strain and Mr Brady have been issued with lifetime bans from travelling with Jet2 and Jet2holidays while Miss Marshall has received a sixmonth ban under the airline’s Onboard Together campaign, which aims to stamp out an industry-wide surge in offensive behaviour on flights. Details of the incident emerged only a few days after the airline reported that it had banned another man, 21-year-old Jamie Ferguson following anti-social behaviour on a Glasgow to Ibiza flight.
The airline is also pursuing Mr Ferguson in the Spanish courts , claiming he jumped out of his seat and ran aggressively towards a female member of cabin crew who was strapped in, ready for landing.
It is alleged he then started shouting in her face that he needed to use the toilet, using foul and abusive language, and only calmed down when he was restrained by friends. Spanish police then boarded the plane and he was arrested.
Phil Ward, the airline’s managing director, said: ‘Aggressive behaviour will simply not be tolerated.
‘Families and friends travelling on any airline should have an enjoyable time from the moment they step on to the aircraft.
‘They should not have to experience aggressive behaviour, nor should our dedicated cabin crew.
‘These are clear examples, indeed some of the worst I have come across, of why we need a national shared database of passengers that have been banned for disruptive behaviour, for the airlines to tackle the growing problem together.’
‘Vulgar sexual gestures’