This is a lot to type so I appologize in advance for any typos or spelling errors. That being said let me begin:
I was returning home (Connecticut) from Jacksonville last Friday and I had a flight on Delta to LGA. Due to the combination of hurricane whats-its-name and lightinng in New York my flight got cancelled and then next available flight was 4pm on Saturday.
Not wanting to spend the night in the airport I called my travel agent and asked them for alternatives. They said there was a flight on Air Tran that was leaving in 45 minutes. I knew that Air Tran was a discounted airline (read crappy service) but at that point I didn't care and just wanted to get home on time.
Here's where the fun started. As I'm sitting by the gate waiting for the plane, which got delayed by 1 hour, I noticed a gentleman behind me yelling at the airline employee. Apparently he was angry that the flight was delayed. It got to the point where there were three cops around him, trying to calm him down.
He kept saying how "they told him the flight would leave at 7:15 and now they're saying it's 8:00 and that's unacceptable". He added "This is America!. I'm from Africa - we don't have laws in Africa but when I came to America I thought there'd be laws!" Then he adds that "He's going to fight the cops" at which point all three reached for their guns. But then he added "... I'll fight you with words". So the airline employee says "You mean you'll argue with us?" "Yes, I'll fight you with words!" "Sir, in America wall call that arguing".
Anyhow I thought for sure they won't let him on the plane, but apparently threatening police officers and airline employees, as well as being high (his eyes were red) isn't enough of a reason for Air Tran to take somebody off the flight.
Fast forward 30 minutes, we're finally on the plane and getting ready to take off. There was a lady 2 rows in front of me with a dog. The flight attendant asked her to zip the dog carrier bag and place it under the seat. The lady started saying that she won't because the dog will die. At that point the pilot stops the plane in the middle of the runway and flight attendant starts threatening the lady w/ legal action and callinig the cops and FAA. Now the funniest thing happened, the drugged-out guy from Africa comes running from the front of the plane offering his help (to whom, I have no idea). The entire plane burst out laughing.
We finally ended up taking off but due to all the delays I ended up missing my connecting flight. Long story short I asked an airline employee to let me board a plane to Newark (last plane to NY area that day). She wasn't supposed to do that since it's a different destination but I guess she felt sorry for me. I ended up getting home at 4am (6 hours later than expected).
Cliff Notes:
1) Don't fly AirTran
I was returning home (Connecticut) from Jacksonville last Friday and I had a flight on Delta to LGA. Due to the combination of hurricane whats-its-name and lightinng in New York my flight got cancelled and then next available flight was 4pm on Saturday.
Not wanting to spend the night in the airport I called my travel agent and asked them for alternatives. They said there was a flight on Air Tran that was leaving in 45 minutes. I knew that Air Tran was a discounted airline (read crappy service) but at that point I didn't care and just wanted to get home on time.
Here's where the fun started. As I'm sitting by the gate waiting for the plane, which got delayed by 1 hour, I noticed a gentleman behind me yelling at the airline employee. Apparently he was angry that the flight was delayed. It got to the point where there were three cops around him, trying to calm him down.
He kept saying how "they told him the flight would leave at 7:15 and now they're saying it's 8:00 and that's unacceptable". He added "This is America!. I'm from Africa - we don't have laws in Africa but when I came to America I thought there'd be laws!" Then he adds that "He's going to fight the cops" at which point all three reached for their guns. But then he added "... I'll fight you with words". So the airline employee says "You mean you'll argue with us?" "Yes, I'll fight you with words!" "Sir, in America wall call that arguing".
Anyhow I thought for sure they won't let him on the plane, but apparently threatening police officers and airline employees, as well as being high (his eyes were red) isn't enough of a reason for Air Tran to take somebody off the flight.
Fast forward 30 minutes, we're finally on the plane and getting ready to take off. There was a lady 2 rows in front of me with a dog. The flight attendant asked her to zip the dog carrier bag and place it under the seat. The lady started saying that she won't because the dog will die. At that point the pilot stops the plane in the middle of the runway and flight attendant starts threatening the lady w/ legal action and callinig the cops and FAA. Now the funniest thing happened, the drugged-out guy from Africa comes running from the front of the plane offering his help (to whom, I have no idea). The entire plane burst out laughing.
We finally ended up taking off but due to all the delays I ended up missing my connecting flight. Long story short I asked an airline employee to let me board a plane to Newark (last plane to NY area that day). She wasn't supposed to do that since it's a different destination but I guess she felt sorry for me. I ended up getting home at 4am (6 hours later than expected).
Cliff Notes:
1) Don't fly AirTran
