A video showing a man listening to a Delta Airlines gate agent auctioning cash vouchers to bump passengers off a flight has gone viral, and people online say that it's a good deal.
27.07.2023 - 18:23 / smartertravel.com / Ed Bastian / Donald Trump / Tim Winship
While the Thanksgiving travel period was mostly uneventful, thankfully, at least one plane-full of holiday flyers got more than their fair share of inflight drama.
On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, aboard Delta flight 248 between Atlanta and Allentown, PA, a belligerent male passenger stood up in the aisle, arms raised in triumph, and harangued his fellow travelers. Among his hectoring remarks: “Donald Trump, baby! That’s right. This man knows what’s up. We got some Hillary b****es on here. C’mon baby, Trump!”
The incident was captured on video, which quickly went viral.
Related:Delta Raises 2017 Lounge Membership Prices by 10%It’s unclear whether the passenger was inebriated or just lacking in civility and self-control. In either case, it was an ugly scene, that could easily have become uglier still. It was also preventable.
Apparently the Trump supporter, whose name hasn’t been released, exhibited similarly combative behavior prior to boarding the plane. Delta gate personnel spoke to him, but allowed him to board anyway. That, obviously, was a mistake.
In a memo to Delta employees from Ed Bastian, the company’s CEO addressed the subject of “Disruptive Passenger on DL248”:
In addition to banning the perpetrator, Delta also took the highly unusual step of reimbursing the flight’s customers.
Bastian ended his memo with a call for decency and decorum: “The heightened tension in our society means that now more than ever we must require civility on our planes and in our facilities.”
Amen to that.
Reader Reality Check
Have you noticed a decrease in travelers’ civility since the election?
More from SmarterTravel: United’s New Bare-Bones Class Makes Economy Look Good McDonald’s Coffee On Board: Upgrade or Downgrade? Free Uber Rides from the Airport. Happy Holidays!After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.
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