‘Homophobic’ first-class passenger arrested in flight attendant assault

[+ Lucky]

From washingtonpost.com:

A Delta passenger sitting in first class allegedly assaulted a flight attendant, calling him homophobic slurs, throwing ice at him and hitting him in the chest with a phone, according to an arrest affidavit.

 

Christopher Alexander Morgan was flying home to Arizona from Atlanta on Friday when the incident unfolded, the FBI report says. The trip was rocky from the start: Before takeoff, Morgan reclined his first-class seat all the way back and refused to fasten his seat belt, the affidavit says.

One of the flight attendants, identified as G.H., had to push the button on the seat to move it upright.

Still, Morgan was able to order an alcoholic beverage. When he asked for a second one, a flight attendant identified as H.D. offered him a nonalcoholic beverage, which “angered Morgan,” the arrest report says. He allegedly threw a glass of ice at the flight attendant’s face and started to use slurs against him.

Another passenger tried to calm the situation, but Morgan got angry and held his glass up to the man’s face, the report says.

The flight attendant identified as H.D. walked to the galley area to tell the pilot by phone what was happening. Morgan allegedly got out of his seat, grabbed the phone and hit H.D. in the chest with it. Another flight attendant was told to stay near the cockpit door for the rest of the flight “out of security concerns for the flight crew,” the report says.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/04/26/delta-unruly-arrest-passenger-assault/

[Guest]

Some people can't handle their liquor. He won't be flying Delta again. Maybe put on the Do Not Fly list?

[+ Pensant]

Definitely on the no-fly list.

[+ sync]

My take from what I read is that first-class disrupters are afforded more tolerance than economy-class disrupters.

[MscleLovr]

It’s astounding what flight crew have to endure. 
 

I find it reassuring that the FAA has a zero-tolerance policy for disruptive passengers and I’m glad that it now levies large fines (IIRC upto $37000 for each violation). I feel it would make more of a difference if criminal prosecutions were sought. 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, sync said:

My take from what I read is that first-class disrupters are afforded more tolerance than economy-class disrupters.

Your take based on what? He was cut off and arrested. What more do you want? That he be thrown off the plane while it was still in the air? I'm not saying you're necessarily wrong, but your statement seems to come out of nowhere. Obviously the airline won't have him as a customer again, so it matters not how good a customer he might have been previously. 

[+ purplekow]

I think he may have been comparing this to events in which the passenger was duct taped to the seat.   Placing him on no fly list will force him to fly private jets, poor baby.      

[+ sync]

1 hour ago, Unicorn said:

Your take based on what? He was cut off and arrested. What more do you want? That he be thrown off the plane while it was still in the air? I'm not saying you're necessarily wrong, but your statement seems to come out of nowhere. Obviously the airline won't have him as a customer again, so it matters not how good a customer he might have been previously. 

There have been many accounts of unruly passengers having been wrestled into submission and put into restraints for some of the same behavior.

A few examples:

• Two "unruly passengers" face more than $150,000 in fines by the FAA - The Washington Post
• Unruly US airline passengers hit with record fines by FAA | Air transport | The Guardian
• Flight crew restrained unruly passenger with duct tape who allegedly assaulted them (wisn.com)
• Flight diverted to Kansas City due to unruly passenger - ABC News (go.com)

[Guest]

1 hour ago, purplekow said:

I think he may have been comparing this to events in which the passenger was duct taped to the seat.   Placing him on no fly list will force him to fly private jets, poor baby.      

 

1 hour ago, sync said:

There have been many accounts of unruly passengers having been wrestled into submission and put into restraints for some of the same behavior.

A few examples:

• Two "unruly passengers" face more than $150,000 in fines by the FAA - The Washington Post
• Unruly US airline passengers hit with record fines by FAA | Air transport | The Guardian
• Flight crew restrained unruly passenger with duct tape who allegedly assaulted them (wisn.com)
• Flight diverted to Kansas City due to unruly passenger - ABC News (go.com)

Could be. I haven't seen video of the incident. It may have been a matter of whether or not they were able to de-escalate without having to physically restrain him. I saw some videos of incidents on TV in which the passengers were quite wild. I'd have to reserve judgment without seeing the behaviors side-by-side.

[jjkrkwood]

7 hours ago, sync said:

My take from what I read is that first-class disrupters are afforded more tolerance than economy-class disrupters.

Well they did Pay 3x as much for their tickets afterall !    🤣

[LookingAround]

23 hours ago, purplekow said:

I think he may have been comparing this to events in which the passenger was duct taped to the seat.   Placing him on no fly list will force him to fly private jets, poor baby.      

He was obviously an upgrade and no he won’t be in any private jet. He is represented by a public defender. No money for a private jet. 

[+ purplekow]

Heaven have mercy if we do not indulge the bad behavior of the rich in this country.   As to his having a public defender, that may be a temporary situation depending on how far the airline goes with this.      

I was wondering what made it obvious that he was an upgrade.  I must admit that I have not thoroughly observed these goings on.  And if he does go to the no fly list, he will have no choice but private air transportation.....maybe not a jet,. perhaps a chaise lounge with balloons attached.  

 

 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, LookingAround said:

He was obviously an upgrade and no he won’t be in any private jet. He is represented by a public defender. No money for a private jet. 

That sounds super weird. How does an indigent person end up in first class? I have had Platinum Pro status on American (2nd highest level) for the last 4 years, and I haven't been upgraded a majority of the time. I'll make the highest level, Executive Platinum, this year, and hope to be upgraded more routinely, but it takes quite a bit of spending on AA to get Executive Platinum! 😬

Edited April 29, 2022 by Unicorn

[mike carey]

11 hours ago, purplekow said:

And if he does go to the no fly list, he will have no choice but private air transportation.....maybe not a jet,.

Perhaps he'll be able to transfer his elite status from Delta to that well known low-flying specialist Greyhound Lines.

[+ sniper]

As for not restraining him...the first class seats don't typically have the type of armrests you can tie someone to.

[+ purplekow]

4 hours ago, sniper said:

As for not restraining him...the first class seats don't typically have the type of armrests you can tie someone to.

I am sure there are some of us posters who could easily tie a man to any type of chair you might present to us.  

Edited April 30, 2022 by purplekow

[+ Charlie]

I am not indigent, but I have been upgraded to First Class a few times for different reasons (e.g., I had voluntarily given up my seat on a sold-out earlier flight for someone who needed it). I also remember a time when my partner and I were the only booked passengers in First Class on a long distance flight, and they upgraded some other passengers to First Class in order to balance the weight load (at least, that's what the flight attendant told us when they moved people to seats behind us).

Edited April 30, 2022 by Charlie

[Boink]

On 4/28/2022 at 7:26 AM, MscleLovr said:

It’s astounding what flight crew have to endure. 
 

My heart goes out to anyone who has to deal with the public population for a living in any way, shape or form.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Charlie said:

I am not indigent, but I have been upgraded to First Class a few times for different reasons (e.g., I had voluntarily given up my seat on a sold-out earlier flight for someone who needed it). I also remember a time when my partner and I were the only booked passengers in First Class on a long distance flight, and they upgraded some other passengers to First Class in order to balance the weight load (at least, that's what the flight attendant told us when they moved people to seats behind us).

I wonder how long ago those situations were. Most airlines now have systems in place ranking their passengers in a strict priority level in order to determine who gets upgraded. The main wrinkle I can remember is that it at least used to be the case that employees and their relatives could go on standby for first class and pay only the tax. I remember not feeling too happy once when the passenger next to me bragged that he only paid the tax because his sister-in-law was a flight attendant. 

The other situation which has changed over the last several years is that First Class or Business seat prices have come down, often less than twice the price of Economy, which encourages more people to buy the more expensive tickets. When my partner "Chris" and I recently went to Houston from Burbank for a medical conference, we had 4 legs on our flights: BUR-DFW-HOU, then IAH-DFW-BUR. Even with my Platinum Pro status on AA, the only segment any of us got upgraded on was myself from IAH to DFW, a 1-hour flight. At DFW, they listed upgrade list to BUR: I was 3rd after the seats had been filled, and he was something like 31st (has Gold status). 

Even if they had to go beyond Gold customers, subclass fares are taken into account, so that the least expensive tickets, Basic Economy, would be in Group 8. So I'm curious as to how this passenger, who claims to be too poor to afford a lawyer, got into 1st class. If it was because he's the brother-in-law of a flight attendant, maybe the airlines will take a look at the rules in the next round of union negotiations. Letting people into 1st class who can't handle their liquor can be a dangerous proposition. 

Edited April 30, 2022 by Unicorn

[+ Charlie]

My experiences were all at least a dozen years ago, so I would not be surprised if a lot has changed. I believe there are also fewer First Class seats on most flights than there used to be.

[Rudynate]

1 hour ago, Unicorn said:

I wonder how long ago those situations were. Most airlines now have systems in place ranking their passengers in a strict priority level in order to determine who gets upgraded. The main wrinkle I can remember is that it at least used to be the case that employees and their relatives could go on standby for first class and pay only the tax. I remember not feeling too happy once when the passenger next to me bragged that he only paid the tax because his sister-in-law was a flight attendant. 

The other situation which has changed over the last several years is that First Class or Business seat prices have come down, often less than twice the price of Economy, which encourages more people to buy the more expensive tickets. When my partner "Chris" and I recently went to Houston from Burbank for a medical conference, we had 4 legs on our flights: BUR-DFW-HOU, then IAH-DFW-BUR. Even with my Platinum Pro status on AA, the only segment any of us got upgraded on was myself from IAH to DFW, a 1-hour flight. At DFW, they listed upgrade list to BUR: I was 3rd after the seats had been filled, and he was something like 31st (has Gold status). 

Even if they had to go beyond Gold customers, subclass fares are taken into account, so that the least expensive tickets, Basic Economy, would be in Group 8. So I'm curious as to how this passenger, who claims to be too poor to afford a lawyer, got into 1st class. If it was because he's the brother-in-law of a flight attendant, maybe the airlines will take a look at the rules in the next round of union negotiations. Letting people into 1st class who can't handle their liquor can be a dangerous proposition. 

I'm surprised at how relatively inexpensive first class is now.  I loathe air travel and only use it when I have a very good reason to.    The greater availability of first class is changing my attitude the tiniest bit.   Now if I can just get TSA to stop requiring me to submit to a frisk because of all the hardware I have inside.

[+ azdr0710]

my Dad was a captain from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s for a now-gone major airline.......he had a few stories, of course......

one time during a flight, a middle-aged Asian took off all his clothes and sat back down in his seat......the FAs had my Dad come out and all he could do was throw a blanket over him.....I think?? the Asian was just doing some sort of "cleansing"/freeing-himself thing........

another time during a flight, a few business guys traveling together all got very drunk in first class and got very rowdy, enough so that the FAs had to have Dad come out......flying over NM at the time, Dad said that if they didn't shut up and stay seated, he'd land at ABQ and turn them over to the NM State Police......the flight calmly proceeded with everybody behaving.......

another time, Elizabeth Taylor was onboard his flight........the most beautiful and perfect skin he'd ever seen.....

airline deregulation was necessary, but we get what we ask for........

 

[Rudynate]

When I went to Dallas last week, the guy next to me had 4 drinks.  He could obviously hold his booze - didn't misbehave or anything, but I thought "4 drinks in two hours?  Kind of a lot." But then, I don't drink, so 4 drinks might not seem much to somebody who drinks.  But I doubt whether he would have passed a breathylzer after he deplaned.

[+ sniper]

19 hours ago, Unicorn said:

I wonder how long ago those situations were. Most airlines now have systems in place ranking their passengers in a strict priority level in order to determine who gets upgraded. The main wrinkle I can remember is that it at least used to be the case that employees and their relatives could go on standby for first class and pay only the tax. I remember not feeling too happy once when the passenger next to me bragged that he only paid the tax because his sister-in-law was a flight attendant. 

The other situation which has changed over the last several years is that First Class or Business seat prices have come down, often less than twice the price of Economy, which encourages more people to buy the more expensive tickets. When my partner "Chris" and I recently went to Houston from Burbank for a medical conference, we had 4 legs on our flights: BUR-DFW-HOU, then IAH-DFW-BUR. Even with my Platinum Pro status on AA, the only segment any of us got upgraded on was myself from IAH to DFW, a 1-hour flight. At DFW, they listed upgrade list to BUR: I was 3rd after the seats had been filled, and he was something like 31st (has Gold status). 

Even if they had to go beyond Gold customers, subclass fares are taken into account, so that the least expensive tickets, Basic Economy, would be in Group 8. So I'm curious as to how this passenger, who claims to be too poor to afford a lawyer, got into 1st class. If it was because he's the brother-in-law of a flight attendant, maybe the airlines will take a look at the rules in the next round of union negotiations. Letting people into 1st class who can't handle their liquor can be a dangerous proposition. 

I'm not sure they means test you whether to provide a lawyer. I think you have the choice of paying for one or taking the one they give you. Most people with the means and reasonable judgment would choose to pay for their own, but this is a guy who has already demonstrated poor judgment. 

[OCClient]

Everyone acts like they're on reality TV these days, and in a sense they are.  All these perps get their names splashed all over the news and on entertainment TV.    Whether they deserve it, one must admit, this is what drivers hit counts and Nielsen ratings.

But seriously, can one truly fathom pining for this kind of attention.  Sad, sad world.