An elderly passenger was reportedly kicked off the Allegiant Air plane for “repeatedly disrupting the pre-flight safety” by asking the flight attendant to wear a face mask.
The incident occurred at Punta Gorda Airport in Florida where an old man allegedly complained to the staff about an Allegiant Air flight attendant who failed to wear a face mask.
While the airline’s website insists that “all crew members are required to wear a face covering at all times and gloves during inflight service,” one flight attendant removed their face mask while performing the safety demonstration.
Unpleased by the actions of the flight attendant, the senior man, who was later caught on camera as he was being removed from the plane, repeatedly complained about the staff not wearing a face covering.
Eventually, the staff decided to kick the man off the jet and threatened to call for security if he refused to comply with their orders.
“The passenger was removed for repeatedly disrupting the pre-flight safety briefing which includes reiteration of our inflight face-covering policy,” Allegiant Air said in a statement to Newsweek after the incident.
The airline also went on to defend the staff’s decision by insisting that “the flight attendant giving the safety briefing lowered their mask for speaking into the PA so the briefing could be understood.”
According to the airline, this was done after several passengers complained about not being able to hear the flight attendant.
Following the incident, the video of the senior getting thrown off flight has been circulating social media whereas people have rushed to the passenger’s aid and defended him for attempting to enforce the airline’s own rules.
Replaced!