A female passenger seated aboard a Frontier Airlines jet headed from Cincinnati to Tampa yesterday was removed from the flight for refusing to wear a mask.
Of course, someone sitting in the cabin managed to capture the incident in a video, which he afterward posted to Twitter. The flight attendant, noticing that this woman was bare-faced, can be seen in the footage to approach her and request that she put a mask on, per the airline's mask policy.
Evidently, the woman at first attempts to ignore the flight attendant, who continues to address her, saying, "Ma'am, I'm speaking to you. Ma'am?" Meeting resistance from the passenger, she follows up firmly with an ultimatum. "You have to wear your mask the whole entire flight. If you're unable to do so you will be removed from the flight," she explains.
Things go downhill when, as the flight attendant turns around to help someone else, the offending passenger tosses a choice insult after her: "Thanks, a-hole," she can be heard to say. That bit of profanity aimed at a crew member, paired with her continued refusal to put a mask on, clinched the deal.
The flight attendant isn't about to take the abuse. "Okay, you're done. Let's go," she immediately responds. "You're getting off the aircraft. You're done, you're not going to speak to me like that. You have to comply. You agreed to this when you checked into our flight and when you bought your ticket, so I need you to get off the aircraft at this time."
A security officer is called over to escort the woman off the aircraft, as seen in a second video posted by the same Twitter user. He and the flight attendant remove her luggage from the overhead bins and calmly ushered her out of her seat and down the aisle, where she passed by her fellow travelers, still maskless.
Her fellow passengers clearly didn't appreciate her discourtesy in refusing to follow health and safety procedures, as many of them can be heard cheering as she exits the plane. Someone evens taunts, "Bye, Karen!" as she is led away.
Fox News reported that it wasn't clear whether the anti-masker faced any repercussions following the incident, such as being banned by the airline from future flights, or whether the disturbance resulted in any significant flight delays.
Frontier Airlines offered the following comment to TravelPulse regarding the incident: "Frontier Airlines' face covering policy is clearly explained during the reservations and check-in process, during boarding and onboard the aircraft. Face coverings are required throughout a traveler's journey when flying with Frontier."
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