I’ll tell ya – while some airlines are playing passive-aggressive games of “If you refuse to wear a mask during the flight, we won’t confront you about it, but we’ll add you to our ‘Do Not Fly’ list,” Spirit is showing that they’re not playing around.
A man was scheduled to fly on Spirit Airlines from LaGuardia (LGA) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) from on Spirit on July 3rd. He apparently had a face covering on when he boarded the plane but once he got in his seat, he took it off and refused to wear it. Flight attendants alleged that the man was becoming disruptive over the issue.
Port Authority police were called and the following video was taken by a fellow passenger (as one does):
Breaking from a friend: on a @SpiritAirlines flight @LGAairport to @FLLFlyer #fortladerdale this man refuses to wear a Face Covering – man being #arrested for unruly behavior (Video: copyright) #WearAMask pic.twitter.com/eJQo1toQXW
— Martin Ogawa (@martinog) July 3, 2020
Officer: “They’re telling me… that you got in their face a little bit.”
Passenger: “Did I get in anybody’s face? I didn’t get in nobody’s face. I’ve been sitting here waiting for you to come.”
Another Passenger: “Let this man fly. That’s racism.” [Note from Sharon: the passenger was a POC but based on the video, nothing suggested that his race was involved. He was just being a jerk and we all know that jerks can come in any demographic label.]
Passenger: “I’m going home to see my father who had a stroke.”
Officer: “I’m asking you, what would you like me to do?”
Passenger: “I’d like to stay on the flight.”
Officer: “I can’t force them to let you stay on the flight.”
The passenger in question insisted that he was staying on the flight, but as it turned out, he was wrong. Another video time-stamped 15 minutes later shows him off the plane and surrounded by Port Authority police:
Update: The man refusing to wear a face cover on the @LGAairport @SpiritAirlines Flight to Fort Lauderdale @FLLFlyer is now being arrested @nbc6 – the passengers had to get off the plane. #WearAMask pic.twitter.com/kmbuJ0RR0f
— Martin Ogawa (@martinog) July 3, 2020
Spirit Airlines later released a statement about the incident. A spokesperson for the airline said:
“Spirit Airlines asked police to intervene after a man boarded flight NK197 from LaGuardia to Fort Lauderdale, took off his face covering and refused to put it back on.
“Ultimately, the man chose to deplane on his own instead of risking legal consequences
“Spirit will always err on the side of caution when it comes to the health and safety of our Guests. Wearing a face covering is simple, it’s easy, and it’s critical to Spirit and the airline industry as a whole. We thank the thousands of Guests and Spirit Team Members who do their part each day to protect each other, and we will continue to enforce the use of face coverings on board our aircraft.”
Our take on this:
All I have to say is BRAVO to Spirit Airlines!
I’ve made it clear for years that I’m not a fan of Spirit’s nickel and diming people for every little thing (including, nowadays, these). I know a lot of people swear by Spirit, but that sort of payment system just isn’t my style. But to each his/her own. That set aside, I strongly advocate Spirit sticking to their guns, not waffling about the issue, and protecting their staff and passengers when a passenger refused to wear a facing covering.
*** Feature Photo: Spirit
#stayhealthy #staysafe #washyourhands #wearamask
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
3 comments
Nice to see an airline doing something besides mouthing platitudes.
“I’m a Purple Heart, I gave my life for this country”….lol. He looked pretty alive to me. The fact that he carries his ribbon around in his pocket tells me that thing gets flashed around a lot. I hate it when people use their military service as a justification for their shitty behavior. Lots of us were in the military. So what. What a schmuck!
Kudos to Spirit for sticking and enforcing their rules. Everyone would appreciate feeling safe during the flight. Especially now that the evidence is more than clear that masks help significantly decrease transmission of the virus.