We see quite a few people having meltdowns on planes (not as many as earlier in the pandemic, but still). This one is oddly satisfying, in terms of the person getting what they deserve…
American Airlines passenger goes on racist & homophobic rant
On Tuesday, a man was traveling on an American Airlines flight from Philadelphia (PHL) to Dallas (DFW). He ended up being removed from the plane, as he was allegedly “inappropriate” toward the woman seated next to him.
When it was decided that he would be removed from the plane, the man had a meltdown. He allegedly repeatedly and loudly used the “n-word” toward the flight attendant, and that’s when the video recording started.
The guy went on an epic rant at this point, while acknowledging that he was a “little” intoxicated:
- “Are you going to kick me off this f*cking flight with all these f*ggots?”
- “It’s a black f*cking bag, yeah obviously I’m a white man who picked a black f*cking bag because I’m racist.”
- “I’ll get off the f*cking plane with you liberal f*ggots.”
- “I hope all you liberal f*ggots f*cking crash the f*cking plane you f*cking f*ggots.”
- “I’m a chemical engineer, I work for GlaxoSmithKline. I’m about to quit the f*cking job this week, reach out to the company, one of the f*ggots companies in the world.”
You can see the video for yourself below (though it obviously has bad language, so watch it at your own discretion).
My two takeaways from this incident
Huge credit to the American Airlines flight attendants for how they handled this situation. They deescalated the conflict and were incredibly calm, even though this guy continued to cross the line, verbally assaulting the flight attendant.
All too often we see crews escalate situations or get on the passenger’s level, but that’s not the case here. I hope American recognizes the flight attendants for how they acted here, and uses this as an example of how crews should handle situations.
Next, it’s interesting that within a few days of the incident, GlaxoSmithKline announced that this particular employee is no longer employed at the company. Admittedly he claimed he was planning on quitting the following week — whether or not that was true is unknown.
In general I’m hesitant to share stories like this, since often people have some sort of mental health situation that causes them to act out of order.
In this case the guy acknowledges he’s “a bit drunk,” and at the end of the day alcohol often brings out the truth. I’m pretty confident that his hate speech reflects how he really feels, even if he has to cover it up most of the time. You don’t just go on homophobic and racist tirades for no reason. That’s not normal.
I also don’t understand when people try to “flex” their jobs while going on an embarrassing rant like this? Like, is he trying to point out he’s a classy and well-paid racist and homophobe, or how exactly is his career choice a defense for his actions?
Bottom line
A man was removed from an American Airlines flight after making several racist and homophobic comments. While the man admitted he was drunk, that of course doesn’t excuse his behavior, and clearly he has some issues related to race and sexual orientation.
This guy deserved to be fired. He claims he was planning on quitting anyway, though hopefully this behavior is brought to the attention of wherever he works next.
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.