Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Flight attendant ‘tells passenger she has a stupid face’ after using first class overhead bins

Couple claims they were ‘wrongly removed’ from flight

Helen Wilson-Beevers
Friday 10 February 2023 14:10 GMT
Comments
Related: The 3 Best and 3 Worst Airlines in the U.S

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A Delta flight attendant allegedly told a passenger she had a “stupid face” after she went to use the first-class overhead bins.

The incident allegedly occurred during an Orlando to New York LaGuardia flight on 7 November 2022, with the woman’s husband claiming they were both then “threatened”, “verbally assaulted” and “wrongly removed” from the flight.

The pair claim it started when they put their luggage in first-class overhead locker.

They were not seated in this section of the aircraft, but their row didn’t have enough baggage storage, leading the couple to store their bags elsewhere.

Sharing his version of the story online, passenger Thomas Todd tweeted: “This out of control flight attendant verbally assaulted, threatened us, and had us wrongly removed from our flight back in November.”

Mr Todd also attached a video of the flight attendant, which was filmed after an alleged remark about his partner having “a stupid face” and right before the aircraft’s safety briefing was set to start.

“I have you on video saying my wife has a stupid face,” Mr Todd can be heard saying, to which the flight attendant replies: “I don’t care.”

The crew member is also filmed saying: “Don’t do it, because I will turn this plane back and get you off.”

“Don’t press my buttons,” she added.

“You’re being rude. Rude, since the moment at the back”.

Mr Todd told View From The Wing that the member of cabin crew instructed him to watch the safety video saying he “might learn something.”

“I pointed out that I was indeed watching the TV in front of me to the left,” he said.

It was at this stage that Mr Todd claims the flight attendant insulted his wife, allegedly saying: “Don’t look at me with that stupid face.”

“Jen looks at her and asks her what she just said and then the lady says that ‘she is from the Bronx and you don’t want this’. The only thing Jen was doing is smiling,” he alleged.

Mr Todd claims he has been chasing compensation ever since.

“Delta ask us to remove all posts so they could take care of us,” Mr Todd alleged on Twitter.

“We did everything they ask and all we got in return is ‘we appreciate your patience’ and them dragging their feet. @Delta it’s time to do the right thing!” he tweeted.

A Delta spokesperson did not respond to the specific allegations made by Mr Todd, but told The Independent: “We apologize for the delay in travel for all customers on flight 1260 from Orlando to LaGuardia on 7 November, 2022, after the flight crew made the decision to deplane some customers shortly after departure. Those customers were rebooked on another Delta flight and we’ve been in contact with this party with further apologies and compensation.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in