Delta ‘smack down’
Kid’s cell flung
Apparently, even kids aren’t safe from the wrath of airline agents.
A 12-year-old boy waiting to board a Delta flight from La Guardia Airport to Florida with his family had the cellphone smacked out of his hands by an airline employee who didn’t want him filming her excuses to weary passengers after a 17-hour delay, according to a lawsuit filed in Rockland County.
Matthew Boggan was headed to West Palm Beach with relatives on July 1, 2016, when their trip was beset by the nearly daylong delay.
The Boggans say they were forced to sleep on the floor outside the gate for Delta Flight 2370.
After waiting in the terminal for 12 hours, Boggan took his iPhone 6s out of his pocket and started recording on Snapchat.
The preteen wanted to film passengers’ reaction when the Delta agent made the announcement in the terminal at 7:06 a.m. on July 2, according to his attorney, Terrence James Cortelli.
But as he started recording, a Delta employee approached him and “smacked” the phone out of his hand, the suit alleges.
“She just came over and hit me,” the Suffern HS honor-roll student told The Post Tuesday.
“My phone went flying,” he said. “I was in shock.”
In response, passengers started yelling, “This is child abuse,” added the boy’s father, Brian Boggan.
The family eventually boarded the flight, but arrived in Florida so late that they missed most of the bar mitzvah they were scheduled to attend.
The Boggans filed their suit last year, but Matthew said the recent incident in which a Kentucky doctor was bloodied while being dragged off a United flight brought back terrible memories.
He has sworn off flying both United and Delta.
“I’ll only fly JetBlue,” Matthew said.
Delta spokesman Anthony Black declined to comment, but an attorney for the airline said Matthew “interfered with the Delta agent’s ability to communicate an announcement.”