Not sure how to categorize this story. It’s not about politics. It’s not humor. You could call it about heroism. It’s about some flight attendants and an out-of-control 22-year old male passenger, who had one too many drinks and started acting rowdy on a Frontier Airline flight from Philadelphia to Miami on Saturday. The flight attendants had to restrain him somehow, after he groped two female flight attendants, threw a punch at a male one and was shouting and screaming at everyone. So, they duct taped him to his seat!
Here is a video of the scene. Please do not watch if these things bother you; it contains scenes of ugly verbal and physical behavior.
Maxwell Wilkinson Berry of Norwalk, Ohio was booked into a Miami-Dade County area jail and was charged with three misdemeanor counts of battery, according to the police report. The arrest report states that Berry had had two drinks on the plane, spilled a third on himself, then went to the lavatory to change; he emerged shirtless and proceeded to wander the aisles for 15 minutes before allegedly molesting the two crew members.
Miami-Dade County court records show that Berry’s bond was set at $1,500.
Frontier Airlines has suspended the flight attendants pending an inquiry into the incident. Many folks on the Internet are up-in-arms over this action; there is almost unanimous agreement that the flight attendants deserve a pay raise if not a parade. But I suspect it is standard procedure after such incidents to ground such personnel temporarily and reinstate them after the lawyers have covered their bases against potential lawsuits.
Sara Nelson, President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, issued a strong statement scolding Frontier for suspending the flight attendants, pointing out the safety requirements of flight crew.
An epidemic of unruly passengers?
According to www.npr.org/…, the FAA reported 3,271 cases of unruly behavior by passengers in the first half of 2021. This included some 2,475 instances where passengers refused to comply with the federal face mask mandate.
The FAA said it has proposed more than $682,000 in fines against unruly passengers in that same six-month period, with fines ranging from $7,500 to $21,500.
In recent months, an uptick in violence against flight crews has resulted in some airlines suspending onboard alcohol sales.
Southwest Airlines suspended alcohol sales after Vyvianna Quinone, 28, punched a flight attendant in the face, knocking out two teeth, NPR previously reported.
Epilogue
Perhaps, Max is just one of many spoiled privileged young men, who in this case got his just deserts. Perhaps, he is just an ordinary 22-year old, who needs some alcohol counseling. Maybe, this was a teaching moment for him, maybe not. We do not know. Does our judgment of him, harsh or otherwise, reflect on his character or ours?
Certainly, the flight attendants are heroes in the eyes of most who watched the video. We have seen many incidents recently of unruly behavior and violence on airlines, mainly related to mask-wearing. Max Berry was wearing a mask (he probably was required to) although it was not covering his face while he was shouting. How does this incident compare with sober MAGA hatters throwing tantrums against mask requirements on flights, possibly spreading infections?
But, at least in this case, all’s well that ends well, except for Max Berry, who might be facing some jail time or community service instead of a day on the beach.
Perhaps, this will set a new standard for restraining unruly passengers. Perhaps, this method of restraint is not OK. How else does one control such people, who may cause harm to others? Are there any prescribed airline procedures for handling drunks and a$$holes?
Have you experienced anything like this? I mean watching someone else get taped on a flight. What would you do in a situation like this?
Are there any lessons to be learnt here? What should be done to minimize such incidences? What do you think?
Update
Here are some post-duct-tape late-night tweets by Max Berry. Ugh!
The following tweet has now been deleted.