by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:06 PM ET, Thu October 29, 2015
On Tuesday, a family of nine was reportedly kicked off a JetBlue plane before it departed after several verbal confrontations with one of flight attendants.
According to Greg Keraghosian of Yahoo Travel, a family from New York has filed a complaint claiming that they were boarding a plane to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, when an allegedly short-tempered flight attendant started provoking the group.
One of the family members-Tal Kimchy of Palisades, New York-stated that his brother was reportedly standing in the aisle to allow his pregnant wife to sit down first when the flight attendant asked him to step aside to let other passengers pass.
When Kimchy's brother responded that he would move as soon as his wife was seated, the flight attendant allegedly began to give the passenger grief. The verbal confrontation included the crew member reportedly threatening to have the man removed from the flight if he continued to disobey the attendant's requests.
The situation settled down once the family was seated, but the flight attendant once again prodded the man by asking if he would continue to cause issues. When Kimchy's brother responded he was fine, the flight attendant reportedly said, "I need to know if I need to throw you off the plane."
While another crew member came over to diffuse the situation, the original attendant reported the incident to the captain and Kimchy's brother was told he would have to leave the plane. The rest of the family was going to stay on the flight, but JetBlue officials and airport police informed them that they too would have to be removed from the plane, according to Kimchy.
The family also reported that when they were leaving the plane, the attendant called them animals. No other witnesses interviewed by Yahoo Travel corroborated that claim, though.
The attendant involved in the incident was removed from the flight in order to not delay the flight any further while all parties involved provided statements to the police. No charges have been filed against any of the parties.
The group was permitted to fly on a JetBlue flight to Punta Cana the following day.
Yahoo Travel contacted JetBlue and was told the flight attendant involved would not be punished. The airline also released a statement, saying, "We love welcoming families on JetBlue, and we do so for thousands of families every day without incident. The decision to remove someone from a flight is never taken lightly and happens only if it is clear that the customer poses a risk to the safe and comfortable operation of the flight."
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
