Garion Frankel August 8, 2021 at 1:02pm
Even under the best of circumstances, flying isn’t easy. From having your back constantly kicked, to seats that are too small, even a normal flight can leave you exhausted.
Add unruly passengers and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
Unfortunately, passengers on a July 31 Frontier flight from Philadelphia to Miami were forced to endure one particularly unruly passenger.
According to a video of the incident, which was posted on Twitter by ABC’s Sam Sweeney, the passenger — 22-year-old Maxwell Berry of Norwalk, Ohio — chanted expletives at other passengers and boasted about how his parents are worth more than $2 million.
This was after Berry allegedly grabbed the breasts of two flight attendants.
Afterward, according to the video, Berry allegedly threw a punch at another flight attendant and had to be restrained by other passengers. As he was clearly out of control, Berry was, to the laughter of passengers around him, duct-taped to his seat by crew members until he could be taken into custody upon landing.
Frontier passenger allegedly touched 2 flight attendants breasts, then screamed his parents are worth $2 million, before punching a flight attendant. Frontier suspended the crew for duct taping the passenger to his seat as they landed in Miami. 22 yr old Max Berry is in custody. pic.twitter.com/4xS9Rwvafx
— Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) August 3, 2021
Berry was charged with three counts of battery, according to WPVI-TV.
Have you flown since the start of the pandemic?
Frontier quickly came out with a statement that addressed the odd nature of the incident, but the airline also announced that the flight attendants were being suspended pending further investigation because “the proper policies for restraining a passenger were not followed,” according to Sweeney.
— Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) August 3, 2021
But the Association of Flight Attendants, one of the largest flight attendant unions in the country, quickly stepped in and defended the Frontier flight attendants.
Subsequently, Frontier quickly changed its tune, reiterating that the airline maintains “the utmost value, respect, concern and support for all of our flight attendants, including those that were assaulted on this flight,” though they did not go so far as to end the investigation.
Within hours of the largest flight attendant union demanding support for the suspended crew, Frontier is out with a new statement. Frontier says their first statement was rushed, but still will not say if the flight attendants were initially suspended for violating policy. pic.twitter.com/uTyvEWczda
— Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) August 3, 2021
However, Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, tweeted Tuesday that the issue had been “resolved.”
UPDATE: Issue resolved.
Appreciate all of the supporthttps://t.co/zQd97G5XGq
— Sara Nelson (@FlyingWithSara) August 3, 2021
While I’m typically not a fan of unions, one proved to be extremely valuable on this occasion. Proper policies aside, the Frontier attendants had to use what was available in an emergency to deal with an unruly passenger.
Flight attendants have a hard job to begin with, but passengers have not been behaving themselves lately (though that does not absolve attendants of their own missteps). Berry got exactly what he deserved.
Much of this, I think, is due to the pandemic. None of us are in our right minds. Hopefully, assuming that states stay strong and continue to stay open, we’ll soon be back to normal.
I’m glad the people taking this flight were able to make the best of a stressful situation.
Garion Frankel is the senior policy advisor for the Texas Federation of College Republicans. He enjoys and has published articles and academic works on public policy, philosophy and political theory.
Garion Frankel is the senior policy advisor for the Texas Federation of College Republicans. He enjoys and has published articles and academic works on public policy, philosophy and political theory.
Languages Spoken
English, some Spanish