TV personality Bill O’Reilly was caught on tape verbally assaulting a JetBlue employee, and he’s not particularly sorry about it…
In this post:
O’Reilly loses it during delayed JetBlue flight
On Sunday, April 3, 2022, Bill O’Reilly was traveling on JetBlue from New York (JFK) to Providenciales in the Turks & Caicos (PLS) on flight 1179. The flight was delayed by around five hours (which I’m sure was frustrating), and it seems that O’Reilly unleashed on the gate agent.
In a video posted to social media that was filmed by someone else in the terminal, O’Reilly can be heard saying the following to a JetBlue employee, among other things:
- “You f*cking scumbag, don’t talk to me like that”
- “You’re going to lose your job”
- “You’re lucky I don’t put my fist through it” (referring to the employee’s name tag)
You can see the video for yourself below.
O’Reilly defends his behavior toward JetBlue employee
O’Reilly accepts that he handled the confrontation “poorly” and chose the wrong language, but he’s not sorry for confronting the worker. According to O’Reilly:
- He was prompted to get to the bottom of the delay by numerous fellow passengers who recognized him
- O’Reilly claims that personally-motivated critics are lying about the interaction (though it’s on video, so…)
- The real story, O’Reilly claims, is that “JetBlue can’t get their flights off the ground”
- O’Reilly argues that JetBlue is committing “fraud in inducement” by selling tickets for flights that the airline knows it can’t complete, without being honest about it
- O’Reilly blames the Biden administration for not getting involved in JetBlue’s operational issues — “for some reason, the Biden administration is not big on solving problems, this is a huge problem”
O’Reilly even Tweeted yesterday that there’s a “character assassination” happening against him.
What O’Reilly is right about
It’s never, ever acceptable to talk to someone the way that O’Reilly spoke to this JetBlue employee. Especially not a frontline worker, who quite literally has no control over the situation, and is probably as frustrated by the delay as passengers are.
O’Reilly is right on a couple of things, though:
- JetBlue’s operational performance is abysmal; the airline is struggling to operate reliably, much more so than competitors
- The United States lacks consumer protection for flight delays and cancelations, unlike what exists in Europe; this isn’t specific to any political party, but rather it’s just not something we’ve seen any administration tackle in a meaningful way
Airline contracts of carriage are totally unfair, and make few promises about the timeliness with which you’ll arrive at your destination. JetBlue can get you to your destination hours late, and you’re not technically owed any compensation. At a minimum, consumers should be aware of JetBlue’s reliability issues when booking a flight, and plan accordingly.
Should the government step in and regulate airline operational issues better? Personally I’d absolutely be in favor of this. But I also think that this is the antithesis of “small government,” for those who care about that.
Bottom line
Bill O’Reilly chewed out a JetBlue employee at JFK recently over a flight delay. The flight was delayed significantly, and O’Reilly called the employee a scumbag, said he’d have him fired, and threatened him with physical violence.
O’Reilly admits he didn’t handle the situation well, but says the real problem is that the Biden administration isn’t regulating airline delays. O’Reilly is right about one thing — JetBlue is an operational mess.
What do you make of O’Reilly’s behavior at JFK?
I understand how upsetting it is to be delayed for hours, having been there. I don't think calling someone names is necessary, just complaint and see if they will do better. If not buy a plane and fly private.
Unfortunately Airline business hardly making money. They are subsidized by the government to be operational. I don't think the consumer protection that is another added cost could be added anytime soon.
If anyone called one of my employee's a "f*****g scumbag" i would immediately stop doing business with them and ban them from all future interactions with the company. Jetblue need to send a message here.
The sooner the airlines clamp down on this kind of behavior the sooner it will stop. People have to realise that the people who work for the airline are doing their best and aren't doing it on purpose.
If I were the gate agent I would've told him that JetBlue decided to f it and do it live.
These are the kind of posts that make me never want to read this blog again. There is literally zero travel, credit card, review or any value whatsoever except to be overtly political, divisive and petty. You lose respect every time you post low IQ posts like this, unless all you want is leftist sycophants telling you how wonderful you are while vacationing in first class to countries with regimes that outlaw and punish homosexuality....
These are the kind of posts that make me never want to read this blog again. There is literally zero travel, credit card, review or any value whatsoever except to be overtly political, divisive and petty. You lose respect every time you post low IQ posts like this, unless all you want is leftist sycophants telling you how wonderful you are while vacationing in first class to countries with regimes that outlaw and punish homosexuality. Oh but I forgot, it's ok because you're raising awareness, right?
And yet you are still here? Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out Mantis :)
I'm pretty dang leftist and I still don't like that he does that.
I am extremely disappointed in this piece by Ben, full of errors. I expect better from you!
Bill O'Reilly was flying from JFK (not Newark for flight 867) to PLS on Sunday, April 3 (not 17th) on JetBlue flight 1179 (not 867). It was scheduled to depart at 6:59am and arriving at 10:24am (according to flightradar24). It finally departed JFK at 12:34pm (according to flightradar24), that is 5 hours and 35 minutes delay, not 3...
I am extremely disappointed in this piece by Ben, full of errors. I expect better from you!
Bill O'Reilly was flying from JFK (not Newark for flight 867) to PLS on Sunday, April 3 (not 17th) on JetBlue flight 1179 (not 867). It was scheduled to depart at 6:59am and arriving at 10:24am (according to flightradar24). It finally departed JFK at 12:34pm (according to flightradar24), that is 5 hours and 35 minutes delay, not 3 hours). It finally arrived at PLS at 3:35pm, over 5 hours late. Also, let's remember for international flights, one would show up at the airport a couple hours early in the minimum; thus, we are talking about over 7 hours stuck at JFK.
Now, let me go over his side of the story, which is missing in here as well.
According to O'Reilly, the first delay (an hour delay) was explained as towing the plane to the gate was late. The second delay (another hour) was announced without an explanation. The third delay (another hour delay) was also announced without an explanation. This is when he walked up to the supervisor and demanded an explanation. He claimed that the supervisor is being a "wise guy," and refused to provide any explanation. Many passengers switched to fly Delta on the same route by that time. He later found out that the flight did not have a pilot, and JetBlue had to drag one of their pilot out of his/her day off to fly the flight, resulting in 5+ hours delay. He argued that JetBlue knew this in advance and intentionally withheld that information from paying customers. After O'Reilly made a big deal out of this, JetBlue has announced cutbacks in their summer schedule (you can find that news item by search).
The rest is Ben's opinions, so I don't have problem with. However, with over 45,000 employees at the FAA, I am astonished by that lame excuse of "small government."
Now, let the partisan garbage fly!
Exactly what does any of that have to do with the fact that one human being should never ever treat another human being the way he did. Also when he refers to 'small government' he means limited government. The small refers to the scope of actions, not the actual size in number of employees.
Because this is a travel blog, and we are talking about how airlines' operation affecting paying customers. No one is giving O'Reilly excuses, but if one wants to talk about this story, one must give readers what happened with accurate facts and both sides of the stories, period! "Small government" is used by the author, and I'm responding as such. You can certainly interpret it differently, that's your opinion. It is ludicrous to suggest that...
Because this is a travel blog, and we are talking about how airlines' operation affecting paying customers. No one is giving O'Reilly excuses, but if one wants to talk about this story, one must give readers what happened with accurate facts and both sides of the stories, period! "Small government" is used by the author, and I'm responding as such. You can certainly interpret it differently, that's your opinion. It is ludicrous to suggest that people who believe in "small government" or "limited government" shouldn't complain about ineffective government. It's like for telling someone who believed in green energy shouldn't criticize the toxic waste from solar panels.
BTW, thank you Ben to update the story with accurate information!
Again - nobody deserves to be treated like that - no matter the reason. When you state 'lets go over his side of the story' you're implying that has a connection to his behavior. It doesn't - period, end of story. His behavior is really the take away from the story here - I could care less about this type of airline oversight - humans behaving appropriately is much more important. Bill is a horrible...
Again - nobody deserves to be treated like that - no matter the reason. When you state 'lets go over his side of the story' you're implying that has a connection to his behavior. It doesn't - period, end of story. His behavior is really the take away from the story here - I could care less about this type of airline oversight - humans behaving appropriately is much more important. Bill is a horrible human being - he's proven it time and time again. Also, you knew exactly what he meant by 'small government'.
The "implying" is purely your opinion. Please don't put your words in my mouth. This shows more about you than me!
Wait! @Eskimoo didn't attempt to link this incident with the Holocaust again, or absolve Putin of warmongering?? I'm almost disappointed...
So Bill O'Reilly--earning frequent flyer miles on Irony-Free airlines--told an employee whose fault it was NOT that he was about to lose his job if he didn't provide some answers?
This is the same Bill O'Reilly who lost his job for sexually harassing women over a period of years?
He's totally blind to the optics of his own behavior.
Comical, Bill O'Reilly calling other people "scumbag
“So anyway I'd be rubbing your big boobs and getting your nipples hard, kinda' kissing your neck from behind... and then I would take the other hand with the falafel [sic] thing and I'd put it on your pussy but you'd have to do it really light, just kind of a tease business....“
Bill O’Reilly
The person who took the video is certainly biased against O'Reilly. He taped only a part, skipping the most important part on why he started the conversation. If the quoted words that O'Reilly really said, of course, it is not nice and he apologized for that (the recording though is not clear so I can't hear that he really said that). What I heard is O'Reilly said to the employee "you gonna do that...". What...
The person who took the video is certainly biased against O'Reilly. He taped only a part, skipping the most important part on why he started the conversation. If the quoted words that O'Reilly really said, of course, it is not nice and he apologized for that (the recording though is not clear so I can't hear that he really said that). What I heard is O'Reilly said to the employee "you gonna do that...". What preceded this conversation? Maybe the employee refused to provide additional information or help....Since O'Reilly is a conservative figure, it is not difficult to hear those libs find any opportunity to post something against him, such as this partial video and blew it up as his fault. Too bad, this country has become too polarized politically..........
Not terribly different from what Project Veritas does, I suppose...
Bill O'Reilly doesn't give a hoot about the flight delays that plague passengers on a regular basis. He only care when it affects him! He has an inflated sense if himself when he blames the Biden Administration for his own personal discomfort.
Imagine being worth > $80M and still acting like you have nothing to lose.
What a Putz.
–JRL
Or the worst offense: Not flying private
@Justin
I’m imagining being worth over 80M right now . I’m waking up at 530am going to an office wearing jeans and a black t shirt everyday. Agreed. Money doesn’t buy class or manners. Those skills must be acquired over time.
gate agents are now frontline workers? what....
So frontline workers are now military, fire, police, hospital staff and Jetblue gate agents haha lol.
A frontline worker, meaning someone who faces the public.
It is a good job you Americans have a good high speed railway network.
Otherwise it would mean the airlines have no need to compete and can keep these crazy terms, but seriously I do think you should do something about this, even if not as generous to the consumer as the EU passenger rights.
I thought threatening violence against any employee of an airline was considered a serious federal offense. Jet Blue needs to stand behind that young man and bring charges on his behalf against O'Reilly and put him on their no fly list and suggest he be banned from flying any airline. I wish the people who were watching this disgusting display would have called security on O'Reilly, I would have ,saying I was scared to get...
I thought threatening violence against any employee of an airline was considered a serious federal offense. Jet Blue needs to stand behind that young man and bring charges on his behalf against O'Reilly and put him on their no fly list and suggest he be banned from flying any airline. I wish the people who were watching this disgusting display would have called security on O'Reilly, I would have ,saying I was scared to get on this flight with this aggressive madman. I am sick to death with these entitled pieces of human garbage.
What if it’s a weather delay ? That’s not their fault. A three hour delay versus the situation in Ukraine. Sadly this is what the world has become, selfish idiots who think of nothing of being abusive to front line staff. He should have been offloaded.
Turning to passenger rights, it’s true in the US they are almost non existent. EC261 aircraft change reduced capacity, denied boarding and rebooked, you get compensated. However if the...
What if it’s a weather delay ? That’s not their fault. A three hour delay versus the situation in Ukraine. Sadly this is what the world has become, selfish idiots who think of nothing of being abusive to front line staff. He should have been offloaded.
Turning to passenger rights, it’s true in the US they are almost non existent. EC261 aircraft change reduced capacity, denied boarding and rebooked, you get compensated. However if the same happens in the US, nothing. Even if you’re rebooked and arrive several hours later. No right to cover overnight costs, which is mandatory under EC261 even if the disruption is outside the airlines’ control
The big story here is that he has to fly coach on Jetblue. What a schmuck.
Old angry racist white guy talking down to a person of color. Nothing new here.
Is that who he is
I’ve never heard of him
He used to be -the- guy at Fox News many years until he ran into a #metoo situation and aws forced out. Kind of a dbag also.
He's a serial sexual predator who used his position at Fox Entertainment to sexual harass numerous women. It finally caught up to him and he was fired. He's a total DB, just as you see in the video. That is who he is.
Wait you mean movies FOX Entertainment owned by Disney
Had nothing to do with race. The guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bill's poor behavior would have happened to any person that was there no matter what color they were.
All of these airline problems with be resolved if airlines actually got back into the airline business, not the credit card mill business, cut capacity and charge fares that enable the airline to adequately handle operations and make a profit. I remember when that was the standard. But then the airlines weren't charging $59 fares to Orlando so retail workers could afford to fly to Disneyland with their children.
The same people that think $59...
All of these airline problems with be resolved if airlines actually got back into the airline business, not the credit card mill business, cut capacity and charge fares that enable the airline to adequately handle operations and make a profit. I remember when that was the standard. But then the airlines weren't charging $59 fares to Orlando so retail workers could afford to fly to Disneyland with their children.
The same people that think $59 fares should be a "gimmie" are the first ones to complain about airline meltdowns.
Actually, it seems like Bill O’Reilly was the first to complain about this meltdown.
Re: credit cards vs. flying planes - you favor regulation then? Just checking….
I favor stopping all the business bailouts and letting zombie companies get together through the Chapter 11 process.
It is American culture not just the hypocrisy of the conservatives. The majority of Americans (95% of the population) has zero comprehension of what socialism is. Especially when Reagan declared that the government is the problem not a solution. Look at the Scandinavian countries, which are all socialist, and we know their countries rank on the top 10 countries of " Best countries to live in the world" consistently for decades. The list has 5-6...
It is American culture not just the hypocrisy of the conservatives. The majority of Americans (95% of the population) has zero comprehension of what socialism is. Especially when Reagan declared that the government is the problem not a solution. Look at the Scandinavian countries, which are all socialist, and we know their countries rank on the top 10 countries of " Best countries to live in the world" consistently for decades. The list has 5-6 main criteria to judge on. Those who bitch the loudest about government intrusion in private businesses and lives who the first in line to receive government handouts. We have no doubt that we all receive social security in retirement. Why the unemployment benefits are still relevant here when the majority is adamantly anti-socialist? The lawmakers enjoy the Cadillac medical coverage financed by tax payers when the main cause of the majority of bankruptcies is medical expenses.
95%. Far far more understand fully what it is if you consider all the immigrants from socialist countries. That’s quite naive. It’s like saying Americans don’t understand the metric system when 100 million plus come from countries where the system is used
"Look at the Scandinavian countries, which are all socialist"
False
"The majority of Americans (95% of the population) has zero comprehension of what socialism is"
True, globetrotter belong to the 95%, of course.
I receive Social Security payments because I paid my share and the employee paid the same amount instead of giving the total amount to me in salary.
No one paid in for me.
Did you migrate from CNBC or something? What does this have to do with anything?
That’s not how the system works but if you want to believe it, you are entitled. But know you must have either been stoned or dropped out of high school.
It's NYC. What do you expect from the rudest city in the US.
Ignorant comment.
OK Boomer.
Let’s just spend the rest of their days laughing at these lukewarm IQ morons; they’ll all be dead soon, anyway.
Who is he?
Why is he important?
Mr Oreilley needs to shut his big mouth and get a real problem to get upset about. Really?? A flight delay?? Oh I guess he was going to miss beach or some golf time. That’s far more important than what’s going on right now in our world. Children, pregnant women and just everyday innocent citizens being bludgeoned in Ukraine. Oh and I guess it doesn’t occur to him in his bubble that some kid within...
Mr Oreilley needs to shut his big mouth and get a real problem to get upset about. Really?? A flight delay?? Oh I guess he was going to miss beach or some golf time. That’s far more important than what’s going on right now in our world. Children, pregnant women and just everyday innocent citizens being bludgeoned in Ukraine. Oh and I guess it doesn’t occur to him in his bubble that some kid within a 2 mile radius of where he is standing may not eat tonite!!! And he’s worried about beach time. What a selfish, greedy creep!!!! What a cheapskate!! Fly private if it’s so important to you. Nothing but a bully and a whiner.
You are making so much guessing, so much assumption, and so much judgement. You, too, should shut your big mouth!
But we can't have customer protections like they do in Europe, @Lucky - THAT WOULD BE SOCIALISM!!!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!!!
Classic American Conservative...willing to do anything to fall on the swords that are "small government" and "pro-business" yet, when Capitalism bites back, it's just too hard to look in the mirror.
Nobody notice Bill violated the mask mandate.
Or his defense is he was actually eating the JetBlue employee alive.
Well, to be fair, one can lower one's mask to eat or drink...;).
Nobody notice Bill violated the mask mandate.
Or his defense is he was actually eating the JetBlue employee alive.
Bill O'Reilly flies commercial?
That's a steep drop from the good old days, innit?
Old Man Yells At Cloud
The bigger question is why anyone would fly JetBlue if they have any expectation of arriving anywhere close to schedule. JetBlue has been 9th or 10th of 10 US airline systems for years. B6 management is trying to cut enough capacity in order to restore their operation but their finances will get even worse; the whole reason they have overscheduled is because of a misguided belief that selling more tickets will solve their financial problems....
The bigger question is why anyone would fly JetBlue if they have any expectation of arriving anywhere close to schedule. JetBlue has been 9th or 10th of 10 US airline systems for years. B6 management is trying to cut enough capacity in order to restore their operation but their finances will get even worse; the whole reason they have overscheduled is because of a misguided belief that selling more tickets will solve their financial problems. Now that fares and demand are stronger, their reputation is in tatters and they will not be able to participate in the industry's recovery near as much as other airlines that have been much more operationally conservative.
There is no excuse for treating frontline customer service employees like that but there is even less excuse for buying something that there is abundant evidence won't be delivered as sold and then expecting anything different.
He probably read TPG and OMAAT continually gushing about Mint.
It humours me how American conservatives insist on the government playing a small role and not interfere in the private sector until oop, suddenly it’s the President’s fault!
White privilege. He threatened an federal employee, why weren't the cops called?
JetBlue customer service reps are not, in fact, federal employees.
I hear that. Still could have called the cops.
For context- JB Flt 867 on April 17th was actually from Newark to Providenciales. Also it departed EWR 2 hours 44 minutes late and arrived PLS 2 hours 46 minutes late. If this were Europe- it wouldn’t even qualify for compensation. I’m not dismissing JetBlue’s operational performance here- it’s been pretty bad. Just pointing to the fact that Bill O’Reilly had quite the distorted conception of time! Oh- also he is a self entitled prick!
My only news sources are Fox News , Flyer Talk , and One Mile At a Time.
DYKWIA? Yes, and IDGAF!
This is some real Live and Let’s Fly content here.
This guy is a bag on wind. Most of the time you on your own can figure out why a flight is late and what's going on although I suspect he'd have an issue with even logging into gmail.
And why would he think Biden has anything to do with JetBlue operations?
Blaming Biden keeps his moronic audience angry. Operating in a constant state of anger mitigates one’s ability for rational thought. Trumplican party is really good at it.
“ The real story, O’Reilly claims, is that “JetBlue can’t get their flights off the ground”
Ladies & Gentlemen, join us for today’s episode where Mr. Bill O’Reilly learns about Jet Blue’s terrible operational record first hand.
Bill “Karen” Orally is likely one of those entitled aholes who craps on service staff at restaurants.
Perhaps he can borrow some money from one of his sexual assault victims to whom Fox paid millions in hush money; maybe that would allow him to fly private in the future and leave gate agents unmolested by dementia-addled morons like him.
And goodness, unemployment, shunning, and ignominy seem to have aged him decades.
“ And goodness, unemployment, shunning, and ignominy seem to have aged him decades.”
You confuse all that with the lack of professional makeup.
Right on!! 1000%!! Bill O. is a PERVERT SCUM BAG!!
Seriously, the guy looks like he is 90.
Amazing how the whole "small government" thing gets forgotten when a problem affects Bill O'Reilly personally. Then it's "why isn't the government doing something about this?" Come on Bill, I'm sure the invisible hand of the market will take care of the problem eventually.
“I'm sure the invisible hand of the market will take care of the problem eventually.”
I’d argue it already has.
I never fly Jet Blue when there’s a comparable alternate.
"You're lucky I don't put my invisible hand through it" - Bill O'Reilly, probably
Slow news day so far? Stick to news and reviews not gossip no one cares about.
You must be new here. Welcome!
How can something documented on videotape be considered gossip? If you don’t want to ever see any criticism of a conservative go back to Newsmax or Fox.
Ben is not making any judgement here. He just posted the video which is presenting partial situation and with very unclear conversation.
@ Jeanne Crombie. You are making so much guessing, so much assumption, and so much judgement. You, too, should shut your big mouth!
1) It's not "gossip" when there is verifiable video of the assault.
2) Go somewhere else if you don't like the posts on this website.
Mate, 99% of us love Ben and his blog and have been voraciously reading it every week for the last decade. Seriously, if you don’t like what he’s putting up then don’t read it. Then piss off.