A story I heard today, regarding American Airlines.

[shrike3]

I got my haircut today. My stylist told me one of her clients recently flew American. Before departure, the captain got on the intercom and said: "If you harass, menace or so much as touch any of the crew, the police will be waiting for you when we land."

Sad it has to come to that.

[róisín_dubh]

1. Same.

I’ve flown a few times since August and I’ve heard variations on that theme.

[MissB]

2. That's a heck of a Welcome Aboard

But yes sadly necessary

[JanMichael]

33. This is your Captain speaking - Welcome aboard, buckle up, but don't screw up! You will be...

...arrested when we land and beaten until we land. Have a great flight and enjoy the complementary salted nuts and duct tape.

[Irish_Dem]

3. About damn time the captain gets control of the aircraft.

Way over due.

[Aussie105]

17. Dad is driving this car . . .

and you kids in the back had better behave, or it will go bad for you once we stop.
You been warned, ok? No stuffing around!

Happens all the time.

[Irish_Dem]

21. Much needed since more and more Americans are acting like oppositional and defiant children.

[Tetrachloride]

4. Are the vast majority of these airline incidents due to Americans ?

[Elessar Zappa]

7. Yes.

It’s mostly been Americans who throw a fit of having to wear their mask. Bunch of whiny toddlers.

[Hekate]

8. Homeland Security would have been all over it if they were foreigners. Homegrown thugs...

Ain’t we proud.

[ShazzieB]

30. Especially if they were *cough* brown foreigners!

[IronLionZion]

13. The US should have a travel ban for violent dangerous Americans

oh wait...

[COL Mustard]

22. Let 'Em Travel

They can ride in the hold with the pets.

[niyad]

34. What do you have against pets?

[COL Mustard]

40. Guess I Deserved That One!

I'll go poop in the corner now.....

[KS Toronado]

68. LOL, great response!

[geardaddy]

70. I say put the pets in first class

They deserve it!

[niyad]

71. Absolutely agree!

[Hekate]

5. About damn time. I hope the passengers broke out in applause...

I remain afraid to fly — and potential violence is right up there with COVID. This has got to end.

[DeeNice]

6. I was just about to say I would've applauded. Standing O if not for the seat belt...

[Walleye]

10. Me too. Nephew getting married in Alabama next week. I'm staying home there's also Covid

[nilram]

23. My sister's 70th is in about a week. Across the country.

Thinking I'll spend my flying money on a big bunch of roses for her--and maybe one for me, too.

[Walleye]

31. Sounds like a very sensible plan to me

[niyad]

37. Most wise!

[COL Mustard]

24. Where In Alabama?

Just curious since I grew up in Mobile.

[Walleye]

28. That's it, Mobile his fianc is from there. Going to be a big wedding been planned for over a year

My brothers are going, one is my nephews father. But I am not that long past chemo, even though I think I’m cancer free now, I just don’t wanna risk it especially since I’m not into formal occasions. I will be interested in hearing from my brothers what Mobile was like. I went through there when working for the newspaper and covering the Katrina aftermath, so it’s hard to tell at that point when everything was out of power. But the people were wonderful and the churches were out right away taking care of families

[leftinalabama]

32. Glad you escaped Mobile

Col Mustard. I live in Mobile and you aren’t missing much except the crazies are even more brazen now. Great place to live really being on the gulf and the bay, but the political atmosphere is as you would expect it to be in south Alabama.

[COL Mustard]

39. I Was There Over The Summer

Visiting my 90-something mother. Most of the people were fine, but I'm sure were not vaxxed, and no masks anywhere.

What part of town are you in?

[trof]

41. Hey left

I'm in Foley.

[robbob]

64. Has to be done:

[BlueIdaho]

9. They should be charged with a Felony

That could follow them for the rest of their lives.

[Rebl2]

18. Absolutely!

[Silent3]

46. It certainly causes felony-level damage

Hundreds of people arriving late, possibly missing connections, and all of the inconvenience and expense that can follow for both airlines and passengers after that, these hissy fits (even when non-violent) aren't mere misdemeanor-level offenses by those standards.

People can end up missing important business or family events. Whole vacations can be ruined by a missed flight.

[dickthegrouch]

47. Not to mention the expense to the airline

Of an unscheduled landing and takeoff again. It takes thousands of pounds of fuel to get an airplane into the air. A relatively small amount is used either in stable flight or landing.

[ProfessorGAC]

67. It's Already A Felony

Federal law. I looked it up out of curiosity.
Apparently, enforcement isn't as strict as it could be.
AAL publicly stating they will press charges may help.
Buttagieg needs to stop threatening using yhe no fly lizt, & just do it.
I've flown over 1,200 times and still would find it high stress to be on a plane with an OOC passenger on board.

[DFW]

11. I'd be happy if American Airlines checked us in for the flight we were booked on

The last time we tried (2 X $7000 business class fares Frankfurt-Dallas, this was the return leg) to fly American, they deliberately ignored us for almost 2 hours at the check-in counter (flight probably overbooked), and told us to get lost and come back the next day. We would have been better off on Albanian Airlines, and I don't even know if there IS an Albanian Airlines!

Needless to say, it would never have occurred to us to harass, menace or touch the crew. Too bad the airline had no such inhibitions about harassing us.

[bahboo]

14. every once in a great while, I have to fly American....

instead of my usual airline. And EVERY damn time, something goes wrong with the flight, either a big delay, something in flight....whatever. The hell are the odds of that? I think they're a disgrace....

[tavernier]

65. Yup.

Agree, based on experience.

[LittleGirl]

16. We've had good results with Swiss air. Eom

[shrike3]

25. Yikes. I had something similar happen with United.

I let the clerk know how I felt. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't. That was in the good old days, when no one thought about punching a flight attendant.

Sorry that happened to you.

[IronLionZion]

45. I hate the practice of overbooking

they're trying to squeeze as many as they can and frequently overdo it and could care less if their passengers are stranded or face expensive problems. I've been kicked off an AA flight after boarding, because those idiots gave boarding passes to too many people knowing it was overbooked. My luggage went without me.

They should have given you a voucher or put you on a later flight. Sounds like the staff at the counter were bad.

[trof]

48. Yeah, flying pretty much sux now.

I was an airline pilot for 30+ years in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
It really saddens me to see what's happened to air transport.

[BlueMTexpat]

12. During my recent

visit to the US, I flew on eight different flights within the US (sorry about the carbon footprint, but my family are scattered about). Four were American Airlines flights.

I am happy to report that ALL passengers on every flight, as well as those I dealt with in the airports - four flights were in "red" states - were courteous and followed the rules.

While I am sorry to hear about ANY incidents where passengers have behaved otherwise - and yes, IMO such individuals should be banned from flying altogether - I would like to believe that they are in the minority. Per my own experiences, they are.

[Aussie105]

19. It might help . . .

to stop serving alcohol on planes?

Juicing up people who are constrained inside a tin can for hours always seemed a bad idea to me.

Or add a mild sedative to the plane's air conditioning.

Just putting the ideas out there.

[shrike3]

26. I've thought myself, re alcohol.

A sedative in the air conditioning, interesting idea, hmmm.

Air travel has not been very pleasant in a long time. But then, the last international flight I took was to Africa. Arduous.

[NJCher]

60. in almost every instance I've heard of

alcohol was a factor.

They should just try it, saying it's for the short-term, and see how it works.

This is probably the fastest, least expensive (partial) solution to the problem.

If it only worked 80% of the time, that would be a significant improvement.

[BlueMTexpat]

61. No alcohol was served

on any domestic flights that I was on.

They only served water or soda.

Alcohol was served on both my transatlantic flights. The flight to the US was absolutely full.

The flight from the US had lots of room and was one of the most comfortable flights I have taken in a long time.

[LittleGirl]

15. I flew recently

But international flights seem really civilized compared to these reports.
Those entitled brats need to grow up.

[róisín_dubh]

76. Exactly.

I've flown Delta, British Airways and United between London and New York or Washington recently.

No alcohol has been served on ANY domestic flights I've been on in recent months. They are on the TransAtlantics. Lots of incidents with violence on domestic flights (no booze) but rare, if any, on TranAtlantic flights (with booze).
So I don't blame all of this on alcohol.

[Lonestarblue]

20. I was on both domestic and international flights on American this past summer.

All flights were calm, but the pilots did make announcements about behavior. No one objected to wearing masks, and I was lucky that no flights were cancelled or delayed. I flew American a lot in past years (mostly for work then) because they offer more flights and if one gets cancelled there was usually another flight I could get on. I even had a gate agent greet me at the end of a flight that had been delayed leaving LaGuardia for Dallas and I had only a few minutes to catch the flight to Austin. The agent escorted me to my gate and said they were holding the plane. I think those days are completely gone!

[shrike3]

29. That happened to me once, too.

My flight from Rome came in late. I was told the plane was being held for me. I was like those old Hertz commercials, running through the airport. I think those days are gone, yes.

[W T F]

27. Not surprised, I had to remove a non compliant passenger yesterday for not wearing a face mask.

[keithbvadu2]

35. Yet they had to wear one to get onto the plane.

Yet they had to wear one to get onto the plane.

And to get to the ticket gate before that?

Then they get nasty.

[wryter2000]

36. What I heard about United Airlines

Heard on Stephanie Miller: pilots have permission to set down at the next airport if a passenger refuses to wear his/her mask.

[keithbvadu2]

54. And charge that passenger for the extra cost of diverting the plane.

And charge that passenger for the extra cost of diverting the plane.

[vapor2]

56. These people need to go on the NO FLY lists period

[ShazzieB]

38. I am glad they're doing this!

As some have said, it's sad that they have to do this. But I am very, very glad to hear it's happening.

It may be time to start doing this on all domestic flights in the U.S., as well as international flights leaving or returning to the U.S. Since the idiots that are losing whatever's left of their freaking minds on airplanes are evidently mostly Americans, an extra measure of caution on flights that are apt to have a lot of American passengers seems reasonable to me.

[LiberalFighter]

42. Passengers should understand violence is not acceptable behavior.

[Kablooie]

50. The MAGA contingent would beg to disagree with you.

Or rather they would scream at you to shut up.

[uponit7771]

43. K&R, Just flew on AA ... they are not going to take any more crap from stupid assed anti maskers

[calimary]

44. GOOD!

Maybe that has to be part of the fasten-your-seatbelts-and-here’s-where-the-oxygen-mask-is speech now.

[Kablooie]

49. Welcome to the wonderful world of Donald Trump.

And Fox News.

And soon SCOTUS may soon make it legal for anyone to carry a gun anywhere in the US.
Wheee.

[Deep State Witch]

51. Good

One of my friends is a flight attendant on American. I'm worried for her.

[Skittles]

52. did you see this

https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/cm/southwest-pilot-flight-attendant-fought-145435048.html

[CaptainTruth]

53. We applauded the captain on our recent flight from Milan to Newark.

Before we pushed back from the gate he spelled out the mask policy & said that if anyone had a problem with following those requirements they should press their call button now so that they could be escorted off the plane.

Then he added "We'll be happy to find another way for you to get to Newark but it will not be aboard this aircraft."

I started clapping & about half the passengers joined in the applause.

[shrike3]

59. Wow, that's great. He handled it very well.

[Cryptoad]

55. Here is novel idea,,,

No vax, No Fly!!!!!!! that would cure that, ,,,, but now their being batshit crazy

[ancianita]

57. The soul of America is oppositionally defiant adolescents fearful of having to grow the fuck up.

It only takes one to spoil anything for the rest of us. And they know it. And media feed that drama.

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)[1] is listed in the DSM-5 under Disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders and defined as "a pattern of angry/irritable mood, argumentative/defiant behavior, or vindictiveness".[2] This behavior is usually targeted toward peers, parents, teachers, and other authority figures

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppositional_defiant_disorder#Social-cognitive_factors

ODD. That's what it is.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

58. Reminds me more of a trip on a Greyhound bus...

... that I took a few years ago.

The (black) driver was immediately on the intercom describing what he'd do if any of the passengers were caught shooting heroin, smoking, etc.

He also said that he'd slam on the brakes, even on the interstate, if anyone dared to approach him as he was driving. If a passenger crossed a particular line on the floor near him, he'd hit the brakes to throw them through the windshield.

After that, I pretty much EXPECTED to see that kind of behavior. (But it never happened.) And I never rode a Greyhound bus ever again.

It was a bus trip from Dayton OH to Indianapolis IN, by the way.
EDIT: From Trotwood OH, actually. This "hub" which doesn't allow people to stay inside the building:
https://www.whio.com/news/local/concerns-voiced-over-trotwood-greyhound-bus-station/DK4J2IESBJFV7CC7KLKG3VDB24/

[whathehell]

62. "Fly the friendly skies"!

[The Jungle 1]

63. What does it mean for our society when we have to have armed guards in churches and schools?

[tavernier]

66. I personally know one of their pilots.

He controls his plane like that. Nothing wrong with that, except he has told me that since Biden gave so much money to “certain people”, his flights are now filled with “these trash”… people on welfare who now suddenly don’t have to work and have extra money to take trips.

From his stories I get the feeling that he isn’t alone in that attitude amongst AA pilots.

[shrike3]

77. I guess your friend hasn't noted yet that these people are often anti-maskers.

And thus MAGA people for the most part.

[tavernier]

81. I did not say he was a friend.

He is the son of a friend who is very anti trump, but is pretty sure son is a trumpee because his wife is bat shit crazy and kind of calls the shots in that family.
He is rabidly anti Hillary so I’m betting his idea of “trash” isn’t white skinned fascists.

[shrike3]

82. I see. I'm sure white-skinned fascists aren't his idea of trash, sad to say.

[sheilahi]

69. the good old days

Remember the good old days when all we had to worry about were terrorists? Now it's that blue eyed boy sitting next to you or that Karen sitting in the third row.

[packman]

72. Booze, 30,000 ft in the air, no escape - maybe loosened up with pills for flying anxiety

Yah, sounds like something I'd like forward too. Throw in an anti-masker asswipe for good measure.


Airlines need a universal no-fly list.

[Aristus]

73. Meanwhile Redneck Southwest Airlines is still saying "We're looking into it..."

[shrike3]

78. I sent them a nice note telling them I will never fly their airline again.

Made me feel better, at least.

[jcgoldie]

74. Just flew back from LA on spirit

Funny but smart ass steward in the preflight speech announced on the intercom: "If you don't want to wear your face covering that is fine I can find you a comfortable seat back inside LAX for the duration of the pandemic"

[Orrex]

75. This is why passenger jets should have ejector seats

[7wo7rees]

79. Don't make me come back there!

I will stop this plane and whip the tar outta you little shits.

Now...BEHAVE!

[appleannie1]

80. I just flew AA to visit my daughter. That was my only concern about flying.

The flight went well and they had a wheelchair escort waiting at the gate for me at every stop. No one on any of my flights argued about masks and everyone was helpful and polite to me. I honestly believe that even though there are a lot of them, the asses are in the minority.