An Emirates employee is recovering after an unhinged traveler threw a tantrum, attacking her. Video footage captured the incident at Mexico City International Airport, showing the traveler jumping on the airline kiosk counter, shouting expletives, and throwing a luggage bag.
The viral video surfaced online on November 1st, the day the incident occurred, according to a Fox News report.
Moments leading up to the attack
The traveler was denied boarding after reportedly arriving late to check in for her flight and attempting to use an expired passport. When refused travel, the woman was angered and began to attack the employee, as seen in the video.
The passenger punched the Emirates agent and threw several items, including a laptop and an opened suitcase. Another airline employee tried to calm the passenger but could not stop her, prompting the employee to call for security.
At one point, the woman stood on the counter and screamed more expletives at other passengers in the area.
Emirates sounds off
Emirates commented on the incident in a statement to Fox News.
“We can confirm that on November 1, an incident occurred at the check-in counter at Mexico City International Airport, in which a passenger who arrived late at the check-in counter was also discovered to be traveling with an expired passport,” the airline said.
The woman’s extreme behavior also prompted law enforcement to be involved. Emirates condemned the behavior, stating that,
“The customer was refused travel and became unruly and physically abusive to the ground staff — making it necessary for airport security and the police to intervene. The safety of our passengers and crew is of critical importance and will not be compromised.”
The traveler was reportedly detained by airport security guards and was arrested when police arrived at the scene.
Does Mexico take unruly passengers seriously?
The incident is not the first time Mexico City International Airport’s operations have been affected by unruly passengers this year. In March, a Mexico City-bound Aeromexico flight was diverted after three disruptive travelers onboard. Simple Flying previously reported that a Mexican source with industry knowledge said the country has a different approach to unruly passengers because disruptions that cause diversions can be a nightmare for passengers and crew.
The source said that while the United States and Canada have a strict policy toward disorderly passenger behavior and take incidents very seriously, Mexico needs to develop a more stringent regulation.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a zero-tolerance policy for passengers with exceptionally unruly and dangerous behavior toward airline crew members. The agency doubled down on its disruptive behavior policy in April with record-breaking fines after incidents on American Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
The US has also considered implementing a nationwide no-fly list to combat unruly and dangerous behavior. Last year, Delta banned more than 900 passengers from flying on the carrier again.
The FAA has investigated many unruly passenger incidents this year, but still not as much as in 2021. As of November 1st, the agency has recorded 2,178 disorderly passenger reports, 767 investigations, and 517 enforcement action cases initiated.
Source: simpleflying.com