Southwest Airlines claims that a female passenger verbally and physically harassed a member of their staff on Saturday, resulting in the employee being transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Earlier in the day, Flight 4976 was set to depart Dallas Love Field Airport and had to arrive at New York’s LaGuardia Airport when the incident occurred..
The airline acknowledged that the customer had been arrested by authorities in his or her own country.
Southwest has underlined that they have a zero-tolerance policy against any kind of harassment or violence and that they fully back our employees as we engage with local authorities to resolve this unacceptable situation.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, airlines have recorded more than 5,000 occurrences of boisterous passengers since the start of this year.
Passengers who seem to be under the influence of alcohol have verbally abused, shoved, and punched airline employees, kicked seats, thrown rubbish at them, and desecrated the restrooms while on flights, according to reports.
Earlier in 2021, a passenger attacked a Southwest flight attendant on a journey from Sacramento, California, to San Diego, California, on May 23. According to court filings, the flight attendant suffered facial injuries and lost two teeth.
After the event, the head of the flight attendants’ union called for additional federal air marshals aboard flights, which indicated an upsurge in belligerent passenger conduct.
