Flight attendant loses 2 teeth in violent attack by Southwest passenger, union chief says
An aggressive passenger “seriously assaulted” a Southwest Airlines flight attendant who then lost two teeth and sustained facial injuries in another despicable attack over the weekend, according to the company and a union official.
The assault happened Sunday morning in California after Flight 700, which was traveling from Sacramento, landed at the San Diego airport, a company spokesman told the Daily News. The passenger ignored “standard inflight instructions,” such as wearing his seatbelt and keeping his tray table in the upright position, and became “verbally and physically abusive” toward a flight attendant, spokesman Chris Mainz said.
The unidentified attacker was taken into custody upon landing.
The assault was just one of about 470 passenger misconduct incidents that took place aboard Southwest flights from April 8 to May 15, said Lyn Montgomery, president of the airline’s flight attendants union.
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“This unprecedented number of incidents has reached an intolerable level, with passenger non-compliance events also becoming more aggressive in nature,” she wrote in a letter to Southwest CEO Gary Kelly.
Montgomery urged the company to do more to end “these travesties” and ensure the safety of all Southwest employees.
“Today’s traveling environment requires a new level of firmness in both tone and direction to ensure proper control in the cabin of our aircraft as the attitudes and behaviors of the flying public have, unfortunately, declined,” she wrote in Monday’s letter.
The union chief also asked the U.S. government to increase the number of federal air marshals aboard aircraft from Southwest and other airlines to “ensure safe travel for all.” She said her company should public denounce disruptive and violent passengers, including those who refuse to comply with the federal mask mandate.
Verbal and physical attacks against flight attendants have become routine in recent months. Since Jan. 1., the Federal Aviation Administration has received about 2,500 reports of unruly behavior by passengers, with about 1,900 of those involving anti-maskers, the agency said Monday.
The FAA is seeking fines ranging from $9,000 to $15,000 against five airline passengers accused of interfering with or assaulting flight attendants. One of those people is a JetBlue passenger who was flying from Orlando, Fla., to New York City in March, according to the agency. The passenger allegedly refused to comply with the mask mandate and shouted profanities at a flight attendant who had repeatedly asked him to do so.
“Flight attendants notified the captain, who called for a station agent and ground security coordinator to board the aircraft,” the FAA said in a statement. “When they arrived and asked the passenger to get off the plane, he became combative and irate and loudly refused to get off.”
Law enforcement eventually arrived and escorted the man off the plane as he continued screaming, authorities said. He faces a $10,500 fine.
Another maskless passenger is accused of throwing out a mask that a Southwest flight attendant had given him during a tantrum aboard a Feb. 20 flight from Oakland, Calif., to Houston. The man told the crew he would not comply and that face-masking rules “would not be enforced in Texas,” according to the FAA. He faces a $9,000 fine.
Montgomery asked her airline to be consistent when it comes to punishing disruptive passengers.
“No passenger should be removed from one flight only to be permitted to board the very next Southwest Airlines flight after a non-compliance incident,” she said. “We ask that you take a strong stance to ensure that unruly passengers are not welcome to travel with us, period, full stop. Flight Crews must feel safe and supported when reporting to work.”
Despite relaxing masking and social distancing rules this month, the federal government still requires people to wear masks on planes, buses, trains, airports, stations and any other mass transportation hubs.