Three women were recently deplaned from a Spirit Airlines flight after picking a fight with the cabin crew and refusing to stow their luggage under the seats. The confrontation delayed the New York-bound flight by more than an hour as the police were called in to escort the group off the aircraft. Videos of the interaction have since gone viral on social media with many wondering why it was difficult for people to “just follow rules”.
The video was initially shared on TikTok and showed three women seated together in a row as they argued with the flight attendant. One of them can also be heard insisting that the crew member did not know where the flight was headed as she mistakenly cited New Orleans as the destination instead of New York.
“You don’t know where the flight is going. First of all, you don’t know…You told so many times that is New Orleans. So first of all you have to know where we are going,” they can be heard saying repeatedly while ignoring calls to put their luggage under the seat.
The flight attendant was seen acknowledging the error and apologising before urging the group to put their bags away. This appeared to go unheard as the women continued to reiterate the New Orleans mix-up — eventually prompting the crew member to lose her patience and issue a warning.
“Okay, you know, just for that, I’m going to make sure you guys get off. This is easy for me. Watch,” the Spirit Airlines staffer can be heard saying before walking away.
A follow-up post on TikTok revealed that the plane was held up for over an hour as the police arrived and eventually threatened to use physical force to remove the group.
The incident sparked widespread outrage online with many condemning the ‘disrespectful’ behaviour of the women.
“When you get on a plane, it’s really simple – do whatever they tell you to do. That’s it. No other option. Don’t like it? Don’t fly!” fumed one X user.
“I am a flight attendant, the amount of disrespect with which we are treated is unacceptable. Furthermore, here is a bit of info- if we go through and do our cabin checks and people are noncompliant it falls on us- YES. If FAA happened to be on board, we would be held accountable!” revealed another.