An American Airlines passenger says a flight attendant 'snatched' a 3-year-old's snack box, so she had to throw it all away

18.08.2023 - 21:45 / insider.com

An X user who goes by @dynamicallydara says she was on an American Airlines flight when she opened her 3-year-old nephew's snack box they brought from home.

The lucite box appeared to contain Cheerios cereal, cheese crackers, small muffins, and a PB&J, a photo included in her August 11 post shows. According to the aunt, a flight attendant spotted the homemade snack box, "snatched it," and took it to the front of the cabin to "show a friend seated near the front of the plane." 

According to the passenger's post, while the flight attendant was gone for a few minutes and brought back the box, the passenger ultimately decided she "had to throw it all out."

"I'm incensed!" she added on the social media platform. 

The passenger tagged American Airlines, and the airline responded, saying: "What an adorable snack box! Our apology the crew member took it from you without asking first."

American Airlines and the X user did not respond to Insider's request for comment. 

After the response from American Airlines, the X user wrote that "American Airlines does not perceive the incident to be worthy of addressing."

As a result, she decided to share more details about what happened. 

The aunt said she was flying from St. Louis, Missouri, to Dallas, Texas, when the flight attendant approached her. She said the flight attendant wanted to show the box to her friend, who was a new grandmother. Before the passenger had time to stop her, the flight attendant had the box in her hand and was walking to the front of the plane, she wrote on X. 

According to the X user, she decided to toss the food because it had left her sight: "I have no idea who or what his food was exposed to while out of my sight & had to throw it all away when she finally returned with it," she wrote. 

The aunt said she didn't want to address the flight attendant in mid-air out of fear of "further agitating the situation." 

Instead, she said she asked to speak to the flight attendant once they landed. 

"Words can not adequately express how emotionally and physically draining it is to have to quell an immediate reaction to condescension and microaggressions in order to avoid consequences from people who abuse their authority," she wrote.

The X user said the flight attendant apologized but tried to justify her actions. 

The flight attendant's "response was the justification of, 'Oh I had just washed my hands.' I told her that was not the point at all. She should not help herself to people's personal items," the X user wrote. 

It's just the latest example from a summer filled with chaotic travel stories, whether it's tricky passengers, airlines losing tickets, or other airline meal drama, including a United Airlines passenger who said he was almost put on