Man Arrested In Delta Sky Club For Refusing To Leave: “I’m A Member”

I’m not sure what’s more surprising — that someone was so insistent on staying in a Delta lounge that they wouldn’t leave until the cops were called, or that the Sky Club doesn’t actually look that crowded?!

Police called to remove traveler from Sky Club at PBI

This incident happened on July 5, 2025, at Delta’s Sky Club at Palm Beach International Airport (PBI). In body cam footage that has been posted online, the Delta representatives are explaining to the two police officers that the man didn’t have proper access to the lounge, but refused to leave.

So the police officers approached the man, and he was immediately hostile, telling one of the police officers “get away from me, you’re disgusting.”

The police officer explains that “you don’t have the proper identification to get into the club in the first place,” and that “you have to have that card.” He responds by asking the astonishingly stupid question of “where is that in your manual,” as if a police manual contains the Sky Club access rules. They’re simply enforcing the rules of Delta, which runs the space, and can decide who gets access.

These are some no-nonsense cops, and they explain that either he can leave right now, or he’ll be arrested for trespassing. He continues to try to stall and not answer the question of whether he’s willing to leave, so they then arrest him immediately. Go figure that once he’s in the cuffs, he immediately says “my choice was to leave,” and “I said I was going to leave.”

While this was all happening, another guest comes up to one of the police officers, and says “he’s way out of line, insulting them tremendously.”

The traveling public can be a pain to deal with

I don’t know what this guy’s deal was — was he drunk, was he off his medication, or was he just stubborn and not going to be told what to do by anyone? Regardless, my sympathy here is pretty low, given the horrible way he communicated with others. “Get away from me, you’re disgusting…” really?!? What a way to talk to a fellow human…

Admittedly I’m probably at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to my appetite for confrontations or pushing my luck, but I still don’t see how this guy thought this was going to end? When the police said he can either leave voluntarily or get arrested for trespassing, how did he see that playing out, exactly? Did he think the police officers would end up saying “oh, you know, you’re totally right, we’re instead going to compel Delta to actually let you stay in the club, even though they called us to remove you?”

If there’s any silver lining, at least this is better than the situation we recently saw, where a man was arrested for stealing items from others in a Sky Club.

Bottom line

Sometimes people are confused about what it takes to enter an airport lounge. If you end up in a situation where you don’t have access to a lounge, just leave with grace, rather than having the cops called, and being dragged out in cuffs. It’s really not worth it for a $2 glass of pinot grigio, I promise.

What do you make of this Sky Club incident?