r/news • u/Big-Heron4763 • 4d ago
Passenger ordered to pay more than $5,000 in fuel costs after flight diverted due to bad behavior
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/13/travel/australian-airline-passenger-fine-cost-fuel-intl-hnk/index.html7.2k
u/Big-Heron4763 4d ago
In 2021, the US Federal Aviation Administration announced that they would be introducing a zero-tolerance policy for fliers behaving badly on planes.
The single highest individual penalty, $40,823, was issued to a traveler who brought their own alcohol on board, was intoxicated, attempted to smoke marijuana in the lavatory, and sexually assaulted a flight attendant – all in a single flight.
What the hell is the matter with people? Seems like the last few years have been nonstop stories of passengers acting up on planes.
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u/rraattbbooyy 4d ago
You’re not wrong. Things have gotten worse since the pandemic.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/unruly-airplane-passengers-post-pandemic-problem/index.html
But it’s good to see action being taken. These fines need to be well publicized. I would put warning signs at the gates of every airport telling people exactly what being an asshole would cost them. I’m not sure what would deter people from acting so poorly but this couldn’t hurt.
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u/SocraticIgnoramus 4d ago
The pandemic definitely broke the people’s brains. I’m sure Covid did a lot of actual brain damage, but I honestly believe it had a lot more to do with lockdowns, restrictions, and everyone realizing just how fragile society is. It certainly exacerbated a lot of underlying mental health issues. One of my good friends from college went full conspiracy nut and absolutely wrecked their own life a full year before actually catching the virus.
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u/TobaccoAficionado 4d ago
It's funny, because people got a glimpse, but they didn't get the full picture of how delicate it all is. To cripple the entire united state's infrastructure, truckers would have to stop driving for 3 days. It would cause literally trillions of dollars in damage. The entire US would take months to recover. We saw shit go down to like 80% efficiency, but we didn't see it stop. It would be really really bad if it stopped.
The more efficient you make a system, the more delicate that system becomes. Our system is extremely efficient, there is very little waste. Things have to function exactly as intended, or the whole thing fucking collapses.
It really is scary.
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u/FlounderSubstantial7 4d ago
Your post made me think of the bronze age collapse.
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u/Weegemonster5000 4d ago
We could use a billionaire collapse. What would they call that?
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u/CaptainPitkid 4d ago
It's fascinating how much this affected the mindset of the current generation. Like our great grandparents were affected by the great depression and it permanently altered the way they handled life. Now we have the lockdowns and shortages and more and it just permanently changes how we consider the world around us.
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u/esines 4d ago
I remember my grandma being obsessively insistant about us grandkids eating enough. Thought it was nothing more than default behavior for grandmas and never considered why. Learned later she grew up food insecure in the great depression as a child of a single mother with 3 kids. She fondly recalled Christmases when they recieved an orange as a stocking gift. AN orange, for them to split amongst each other.
She also was a bit of a hoarder. Could not bring herself to ever throw a single thing away even past the point it had become burdensome.
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u/The_Autarch 4d ago
Meanwhile, my grandparents' reaction to growing up during the Depression was to tightly control all food in the house. I was 100% not allowed to go into the kitchen get myself a snack.
I could certainly request a snack, and if that request was granted, I would be given a carefully portioned amount of Cheez-Its. Dinner was the same way: very modest portions. Although seconds were available if I cleaned my plate.
I always got enough to eat when I stayed with them, but the stereotype of getting stuffed full of food by Grandma wasn't something I ever really experienced.
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u/Drink-my-koolaid 4d ago edited 4d ago
Aw, God bless her. My Baba was the same. Even if you weren't hungry, you forced that soup and sandwich down to make her happy!
edit: Also, I think the Sydney Airport traffic control should totally turn that swirly thing on the tower to a slide that you go down on those burlap sacks. That would be fun after a stressful day at work!
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u/captainb13 4d ago
Canadian railway workers (CN and CP) went on strike/locked out a month ago.
Took less than 12hrs for the govt to force them back to work. Saying it would effect the whole worlds economy.
The month before the govt ruled them non essential thus allowing the strike in the first place.
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u/GogglesPisano 4d ago
Warehousing unsold stock is costly. Many businesses have been streamlined to operate on just-in-time inventory to minimize holding costs. This works when logistics are operating normally, but breaks down quickly if the supply chain is interrupted and goods don't arrive when they're needed, and the breakdown can balloon quickly across multiple markets due to domino effect.
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u/TubaJesus 4d ago
I fought my company over that for years. We have this one item we get deliveries of every two days. We kept a reserve of four days. Last December, we didn't get delivery for five weeks, and we had to use creative measures and some backfilling from other locations. We barely scraped by, and it caused issues; even after that snafu, my complaints about just-in-time delivery have fallen on deaf ears. We had another month of failed deliveries in May. Another location had no deliveries for eight weeks beginning in mid-June, and because of our two instances, no other location had any reserves to help them out, so they just had to do without. My bosses still won't increase the reserve pile. I've ended up having to use creative bookkeeping, where I order more every 3rd delivery to start building a pile and ordering more than we need during the holidays when they don't know how much stock we are expected to go through. My goal is to eventually keep a stash to allow for a month of failed deliveries, but considering the frequency and length of shipping disruptions, if I'm in this position long enough, I wanna try and get a three-month stash up and running.
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u/msbxii 4d ago
Yeah I am not a prepper by any means but during/after the pandemic I am now keeping two weeks of supplies in my house
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u/Corporate-Shill406 4d ago
There aren't any criteria for being a prepper. It just means you're trying to be prepared for things going sideways, whether that means a big storm, economic unrest, or whatever.
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u/that_baddest_dude 4d ago
I think being prepared and being a pepper are totally different things. It's normal to have some supplies prepared for a disaster or for an emergency. Maybe it's not as common as it should be, but it's normal.
Being a "prepper" is like a lifestyle thing where you're keeping guns and ammo, stockpiles of food, maybe even a bunker and gardening stuff, all for a supposedly impending total societal collapse. That's where it gets nuts.
If you're trying to conflate normal preparedness and being a "prepper", that feels to me like running cover for nutjobs.
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u/Miserable_Archer_769 4d ago
What I always found fascinating is so many "big companies" were so fragile they couldn't function without cash flow.
I would have to go back and look but just remembering hmm I assumed this company would have way more in reserves.
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u/Drink-my-koolaid 4d ago
It was interesting to sit back like an anthropologist to see how everything played out.
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u/ZenWhisper 4d ago
As awful and deadly the pandemic was/is, and I lost people I cared about to it, it reminded me how I thought during 9/11: "This is a life-altering pile of shit. But, it could easily be exponentially more terrible with a small worsening of the scenario. I’ll just keep my mouth shut and be thankful that the level of awful has stopped here.”
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u/intern_steve 4d ago
Honestly, if 9/11 happened today, we'd be extremely lucky if the PATRIOT Act was the worst thing that came out of it. Of course, it's hard to compare the before and after while ignoring everything in between. Maybe we'd still be in a more innocent place if it hadn't happened until now.
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u/Wants-NotNeeds 4d ago
You mean I can’t hunt, shoot and fish my way outta societal collapse? I gotta be nice to people so my charmed life can carry on?
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u/Nonsense-forever 4d ago
I’ve read that the earth could only support 100 million hunter gatherers, and that doesn’t take into account ecosystem changes due to climate change
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u/that_baddest_dude 4d ago
Seems like an awfully low number. I'd wager that means "sustainably", as in, without causing the extinction of megafauna due to over-hunting.
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u/Nonsense-forever 4d ago
I’m assuming so. Non sustainable levels would exhaust available resources and lead to eventual extinction.
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u/GoodLuckCanuck2020 4d ago
I’m sure Covid did a lot of actual brain damage
I think the New England Journal of Medicine agrees.
In this observational study, we found objectively measurable cognitive deficits that may persist for a year or more after Covid-19. We also found that participants with resolved persistent symptoms had small deficits in cognitive scores, as compared with the no–Covid-19 group, that were similar to those in participants with shorter-duration illness.
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u/Babys_For_Breakfast 4d ago edited 4d ago
I think COVID was a real warning to show how fragile some people are. Have to simply stay in your house for 2 weeks? Complete meltdown and panic episodes. I sympathize with some people having mental illness but the majority of people just lost their mind when they were told they just couldn’t eat at restaurants for a few weeks. It really shows how bad it would be in a real apocalypse situation.
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u/monkeypickle 4d ago
It's not just COVID. Jan 6th (and everything that's happened since) drove home just how much our ENTIRE system of goverance, let alone economy is built on handshakes and a tacit agreement to act in good faith.
It's hard to overstate the long term impact of that lesson finally being driven home for a country that hasn't experience anything like it.
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u/unspun66 4d ago
This, though honestly I think it started before that when you had someone who so egregiously broke accepted norms and got away with it by continuing to get public support. Grabbing women by the oussy should have been the end of anyone’s political career. Though Jan 6 absolutely drove that home. I remember how broken I felt afterwards for months.
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u/monkeypickle 4d ago
Post Election (which was a shock to the system all its own), it felt like the checks and balances we'd put our faith in for so long were actually working to keep his worst impulses under control, but COVID was where that illusion got disabused entirely. Jan 6th was one hell of a nail in that coffin.
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u/Chavarlison 4d ago
What was a nail for you was a shining beacon for some other people. While COVID didn't break me, what the people did afterwards did. I am now firmly on the side of fuck it, go ahead, what's the use anyway. Let's all show everyone's true colors.
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u/SowingSalt 4d ago
The social contract is grounded in good faith between members of society.
If someone doesn't want to follow it, there's nothing other people can do other than use force of arms.
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u/ProtoJazz 4d ago
That's really the big thing. People realized that mostly there's no punishment for stuff.
Opposite direction, but similar situation, sometimes you'll see a video of someone saying some shit to an employee or just random stranger. Often threatening or just extreamly offensive. And sometimes, suddenly the person on the receiving end of it will just punch the dick head in the face.
And you get to see their mind trying to process what just happened like a dialup modem. It's either never happened to them, or it's been so long, that they just forgot that even if it's technically illegal maybe someone can in fact just punch you if you're threatening or yelling at them.
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u/visionsofblue 4d ago
This is probably a lesson that people would do well to remember.
The only thing keeping other people from doing the most depraved things imaginable is the illusion of consequences when caught.
Well, and any personal morality they may have.
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u/SyntheticGod8 4d ago
It should be seen in a similar light to Tiananmen Square. Remember the Tank Man photo? I've heard that he stood in front of those tanks because he couldn't believe that the Red Army, the People's Army, was being deployed against their own people.
We need to recognize that there are people in this country who have consistently shown they have no interest in acting in good faith, have only the worst criminal intentions, and are basically elected terrorists with no interest in governance. They're worse than dead weight or conservative; they're regressive.
Progress cannot be stopped, only delayed.
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u/jackkerouac81 4d ago
I don't think we know enough about Tank Man to ascribe motives to what he did... not saying it isn't correct... but he wasn't identified, didn't write a manifesto, wasn't on 60 minutes...
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u/BisquickNinja 4d ago
And it's usually the people who say that they are strong and can take anything.... Make them stay in their house and watch TV and they completely fall apart....
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u/NotCandied 4d ago edited 4d ago
I had a friend tell me about the coping mechanisms they used during lockdown. I was like that’s all well and good but unfortunately I was already getting through regular life using multiple coping mechanisms.
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u/notjfd 4d ago
You accidentally a word there.
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u/Beautiful-Grape-7370 4d ago
Apropos of nothing, but you started it, I have a eye/brain thing that causes my vision to jump words like that. And also I don't, and never have, read words in their entirety. I my brain sees the first and last part of the word and then defines that word in relation to the sentence and structure. I never actually learned to spell, I just got better at knowing what word was probably being used by simply having more experience with what words are usually used in that context. I can't fix it, no one can fix it. Exactly like my compensation for dyslexia I have a lot of practice in reading, looking away, reading again, but that has its own problems. I keep having to break up my attention and then forget all kinds of things. Like a point that I already made. I don't care to be defensive so I don't bother to explain it when my brain does the jiggly hop and pop. 1) no one cares about a reason and 2) it doesn't help to care when the situation becomes obvious. They can't read what I wrote and I can't change what my brain sees so I can figure out how to rephrase. No criticism of you pointing out the mistake. If someone can tell what I'm trying to say enough to correct me I consider that a good day. Anyways. Just musing. And practicing. :-)
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23294-dysgraphia
I was diagnosed in 85 for anyone who cares how long dysgraphia has been a thing that was well known by the medical community. Also, if you met me in real life you probably wouldn't know - because me talk real pretty. And too damn much.
Edit- well that's appropriate for an example
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u/TatteredCarcosa 4d ago
For me my coping mechanisms were often to deal with shit that completely went away during "lockdown" (which really didn't happen in America, but what we called lockdown at least). People not crowding me in stores, every restaurant being take out, lots more staying home and delivery. . . It was great. If we could live that way at all times I'd consider it a massive, massive improvement for society, the environment, everything.
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u/Panda_hat 4d ago
I think for some people it was the first time in their lives they'd truly been 'told what to do', and they didn't like it at all.
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u/OrionSouthernStar 4d ago
I didn’t experience many changes during the pandemic other than having to wear a mask. Dining out with the family was a rare thing already due to costs. Sure, the kids started doing remote learning, which they didn’t seem to mind. I think it lasted only a few months before they were back in school. I traveled a lot for work between 2020 and 2023, at least 10 flights a month and some road travel. Oddly enough that was the easiest time to fly since the pre-9/11 days. Outside of being away from my family a lot, it wasn’t a rough time for us. I realize it hit many other people and families pretty hard so I do feel very fortunate.
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u/ajn63 4d ago
Imagine how these people would handle an apocalyptic event that forced serious lockdown where you can’t open windows (think nuclear fallout), or are forced into staying in underground shelters for weeks or months.
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u/Idiot_Savant_Tinker 4d ago
It's mah RIGHTS to drive around a blasted radioactive hellacape in mah truck, you keep telling me there is some "radiation" you can detect with your little clicks things but I can't SEE it so I'm not gonna worry.
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u/CatCatchingABird 4d ago
I'm so glad we have the rapid research development and were able to get a vaccine as fast as we did. If we were in a different time, it could have taken even longer for us to get back to some sort of normalcy and even more people would have died. It's just a shame that so many people rejected masks at the height of it all. I try to respect people's beliefs and reasoning as much as possible, but I really hope more people become more accepting to vaccines whenever the next pandemic happens.
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u/Hollowsong 4d ago
COVID made me realize just how many people I can actually hate. Like literally loathe their existence.
I'm normally a relaxed individual, but there's a new level of stupid that is actually depressing to think I'm sharing the same planet as them.
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u/jaymzx0 4d ago
I can see it. Personally, I was laid off and spent several months without a job. So it was me, my dog, and the four walls. It was cool at first but eventually all the days began to run together, punctuated by Amazon deliveries. Some weed, some booze.
Ultimately it wasn't a good time at all. I'm sure some people who were on the edge could snap.
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u/Sourpowerpete 4d ago
Lets not pretend it was just a "couple of weeks". Hell, it's still difficult to find nearby events for my hobbies that haven't gone fully online meetings only.
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u/Sythic_ 4d ago
It would have been had everyone followed the plan. Not following the plan is what made it take so long. Thats the reason there was a plan in the first place.
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u/SocraticIgnoramus 4d ago
I agree that it was frustrating how all the adults in the world behaved like kindergarteners with a substitute teacher, but I am unwilling to pretend that the “plan” was ever rigorous & robust enough to deliver what it promised. Let’s just be honest and accept the fact that we as a society were and still are unprepared for global pandemics with 8 billion people on earth. We’re but clever apes, at the end of the day.
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u/Poundaflesh 4d ago
President Trump dismantled the Pandemic Response Department built by President Obama just to shit on him. I was a front line nurse. There were stores of ventilators and PPE all over the nation when Obama served. Where’d they go? We wore garbage bags and used masks meant to be discarded after every patient for a week or more! There’s no accountability for this (criminal act, imho). Nothing investigated. Just watched us die. Trump is a mass murderer and you’ll never convince me otherwise.
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u/SocraticIgnoramus 4d ago
After 9 years of this shit and yet it’s still true of Trump that literally every new fact I learn about him sounds like the worst possible thing and yet the next one will feel like that too. It’s exhausting just trying to keep receipts on how absolutely morally bankrupt a POS he actually is.
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u/Sythic_ 4d ago
I can agree with that but it wasn't a decision individuals should have made for themselves against the advice of experts. They only made the opposite choice on purpose out of spite for being told what to do even though it was the better choice. If everyone worked together things would work out better for everyone. The fact it was painful to them while not complying is a feature not a bug.
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u/PhilosoFishy2477 4d ago
our family was always conservative, but they started chugging the kool-aid past few years... grandpa had a bad medication reaction and they told us we killed him with the "poison jab". years later, he's still very much alive and our relationship with those family members is irreparably damaged.
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u/Joe_Kangg 4d ago
This is why people should not exacerbate in public.
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u/SocraticIgnoramus 4d ago
Just the other day I saw a guy masticating in a public park where children were playing.
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u/fardough 4d ago
I agree Covid had a big impact, but I also think the airlines treating people more and more like cattle is having an effect as well.
Flying for the most part is no longer fun. Getting nickeled and dimed for everything makes people unhappy. Going through security is not pleasant. Airport goods are overly expensive. Planes are cramped. Only can order food or beverage at scheduled times 1-2 times a flight.
So you have many people on edge and mix that in with the random distribution of people, and doesn’t seem surprising you get some crazy outliers.
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u/dadingading 4d ago
And maybe the fact that airlines keep treating people like sardines for the extra $5 of profit and people just snap in other ways.
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u/M_H_M_F 4d ago
I forget where I read it, but mixed with the stress of all of that; being in an airport is one of the few situations people don't really have control. They can control certain aspects (reducing stress by arriving early) but as they check in, they're at the mercy of the airline.
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u/ManiacalShen 4d ago
True! Even when public transit jerks you around, there are other options. You can't use them all the time, but if you were in a situation as dire as making a connecting flight is, you can throw your credit card at an Uber.
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u/SteveTheAmazing 4d ago
This is definitely the other side of it. Pack a ton of people in an uncomfortable space and people get irritated. And after the events of the last four years, people are more likely to lash out about things. It's a bad situation made worse by the "fuck your feelings" crowd throwing fits at the slightest grievance.
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u/Heroscrape 4d ago
The pandemic showed how fragile the systems that protect us are. It’s only going to get worse.
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u/sundays_sun 4d ago edited 4d ago
I kinda wonder if it's as much a post-Trump-presidency thing as it is a post-pandemic thing. For a segment of the population, Trump normalized acting entitled and behaving badly.
I was on a flight last year where we returned to the gate because a couple of passengers were acting like brats and ignoring the flight attendants. These adults were oblivious to how shitty and unnecessary their behavior was... Reality truly didn't seem to kick in until law enforcement boarded the plane and pulled them off.
I feel like I started noticing more adults acting like babies during Trump's campaign and presidency and unfortunately it seems to have stuck around.
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u/jaymzx0 4d ago
I saw a woman escorted from the plane by security because she refused to acknowledge she would help people exit the plane if needed because she was seated in an exit row. She wouldn't move unless they put her in first class. She asked for the captain, who was absolutely not in the mood for it, who told her to follow the instructions of the cabin crew or be removed before heading back up front. She was even talking to customer service on her phone the entire time and had the purser talk to them at one point.
Not tense or anything. Just annoying. Her grandson flying with her stayed on the plane. He wasn't having any of her shit, either.
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u/Starfox-sf 4d ago
Ya, captain on a vessel has final say on all matters on that vessel.
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u/Daft00 4d ago
And tbh you give those people one BRIEF opportunity to correct their behavior. If they double down you immediately make the call to swap their seat with someone who wants the legroom. And if they argue that they get the boot.
No point in playing games, I absolutely do not want someone with that mentality sitting in my exit row and depending on how worked up they get they could be a safety risk in general once you get airborne.
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u/Gortex_Possum 4d ago
Had the same thing happen on a flight to LA. Older couple, well dressed too, husband decides he doesn't need to help people or listen to the FA despite being in an exit row.
Literally turned a 2 minute brief into a 30 minute ordeal. And what did he accomplish? Absolutely nothing. Everyone's time was wasted and he looked like a petulant man child.
Literally all you need to do is nod your head and say yes and you have extra leg room the whole flight but noooo that's not enough, we have to make it a scene.
I'm so over it. I was expected to behave appropriately as a child and now the geriatrics that chided me back then are all now behaving like entitled fools and imbeciles.
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u/rraattbbooyy 4d ago
I think there’s a lot to what you say. Trump normalized a lot of bad behaviors during his term.
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u/suzanneov 4d ago
People don’t read. Signs are for the person posting the sign, not the target who should read the sign. 😬🙄
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u/PandaJesus 4d ago
I’m inclined to agree. Raging shit heels aren’t going to see a sign and think “oh, guess I’ll be a polite member of society for this 4 hour flight”.
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u/Jimthalemew 4d ago
What I hated, is during Covid, the airlines shared a list of blocked people due to bad behavior. Once Covid restrictions were lifted, they dropped the lists and let everyone return.
Oh you think they’re reformed and better people now?
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u/WackyBones510 4d ago
I’m sure in 2021 it wasn’t related to any specific group of douchebags creating tons of chaos on planes.
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u/cmcewen 4d ago
Bingo. Certain groups of people somehow began feeling like airplanes where the place they needed to pick a hill to die on.
Also cameras have become much more common so people get video taped doing things and it goes viral much easier with tik tok.
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u/axonxorz 4d ago
And as "in the past" as it is to bring it up, I feel like most Americans in specific have 🆉🅴🆁🅾 tolerance for in-flight shenanigans post 9/11. Phones come out at the very least.
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u/gdj11 4d ago
A lot of times people take pills to help them get sleepy or to make the flight less stressful, and then have some drinks. The mix causes them to get weird.
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u/octopop 4d ago
PSA: do not combine alcohol and ambien
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u/fiah84 4d ago
in fact I think people should just stay the hell away from ambien in general. Not that alcohol is any good, but ambien somehow has that extra magic that makes reasonable people do completely insane things
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u/octopop 4d ago
agreed lol, im definitely never taking it again. Ended up blacking out and waking up in the hospital with a DUI. thank god nobody else was involved, I'd never forgive myself.
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u/Beard_o_Bees 4d ago
Ended up blacking out and waking up in the hospital with a DUI
Holy shit! I'd ask for more details, but I doubt you'd remember them.
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u/octopop 4d ago edited 4d ago
well, the summary of it is that I drank one night, but definitely didn't think i was drunk. I stayed up until about 7 AM and took an Ambien so that i could sleep during the day and work a night shift. Apparently I had woken up at some point and started pounding vodka and tried to drive somewhere. I have zero memory of it. I totaled my car but I was ok, and thankfully nobody else was involved. I was technically arrested, but they said that i had alcohol poisoning, so they had to have an ambulance take me to the hospital.
I still feel so guilty at how badly things could have ended up. I would have killed myself if i had hurt somebody. Never took Ambien again after that.
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u/Beard_o_Bees 4d ago
Damn.
Ambien worked pretty well for me for about 3-4 days. Then it just stopped working at all, and I had 'rebound' insomnia for a couple of weeks. No Bueno.
It sounds like you've really taken that lesson to heart, though. That's good.
I made a deal with the universe back in my 20's after being pulled over at ~2 a.m. going home from a party, where I was most certainly drinking.
I said... 'please, if I get to make it home tonight rather than jail - I will never, ever, drink and drive again'. I was certain that I was going to get arrested.
The cops asked me straight away if I had been drinking, and I said 'a little bit. Had my last one a couple of hours ago' - They then field tested me, and to my utter surprise I passed(?).
There also seemed to be something else going on that had them distracted (something they were hearing on their radio), so that may have played a part, too.
Anyway, i've kept my end of that bargain. As you know, a DUI can really fuck with your life. Glad you're ok.
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u/EmbraceReason 4d ago
Roseanne Barr has entered the chat
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u/rustylugnuts 4d ago
In her case significant head trauma in her teens was a contributing factor as well.
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u/Rickshmitt 4d ago
Idk the obsession with drinking before or during your flight. Can't handle being sober for a few hours ffs.
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u/Airbus320Driver 4d ago
We got an email years ago at my airline. If there is ANY doubt of a passengers sobriety, they’re to be removed. No negotiation, no “I promise I’ll behave”. Just OFF.
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u/filthy_harold 4d ago
That's just them putting out a CYA policy so they can immediately kick off anyone acting belligerent. You can be drunk as hell on a plane as long as you're quiet and polite.
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u/Airbus320Driver 4d ago
You’re correct
I’ve boarded a flight as a paying customer exactly like that. Just stared straight ahead repeating in my head, “hold it together.. don’t make eye contact.. don’t speak..”.
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u/Chaosmusic 4d ago
I don't fly often, but when I do I just try to go to sleep. Who are these people who have the energy to be such dickheads?
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u/mortalcoil1 4d ago
My reaction in real time:
"was issued to a traveler who brought their own alcohol on board,"
eh
"was intoxicated,"
uh oh
"attempted to smoke marijuana in the lavatory,"
what the fuck?
"and sexually assaulted a flight attendant"
Jesus!
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u/Aleucard 4d ago
All on the same damn flight no less. That boy was trying to set a record. That or get his ass beat like an Apache war drum.
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u/kracer20 4d ago
When we've seen multiple examples of people acting like complete A-Holes, and their like minded counterparts group cheering them on, in just emboldens more to do the same.
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u/EnVeeZy 4d ago
I do wonder if it’s actually a very large surge or if it’s just that these kinds of things are reported on more. I mean twenty years ago, hell 10 years ago, “Local drunkard does foolish thing” wouldn’t even warrant a snippet, but now we’re hyper aware of how crazy the world has been getting (or has been?)
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u/headphase 4d ago
It has been a well-documented increase within the industry as communicated by airlines themselves as well as employee unions. You can also ask nearly any flight attendant and they will likely share anecdotal evidence as well.
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u/drunkbusdriver 4d ago
It’s not just planes it’s anywhere in public. Movies, restaurants, public transportation etc.. there was always a small part of the population like this but shit had gotten so bad. I went and saw beetlejuice and this dude sat on his phone behind me talking to someone at full volume talking about the fucking movie. The normal “turn around give a dirty look” move did not work and I eventually had to tell him take it outside or I’m going to go get someone to kick him out. He got off the phone but fuck, man why do people think they are the center of the universe. Did you really forget how to act after being in isolation for a year?
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u/etzel1200 4d ago edited 4d ago
Millions of people fly every day. I’ve flown hundreds of times and never witnessed any incident. It’s the law of large numbers and that it’s a bit more sensational because it’s on a plane.
As far as bad behavior when lots of people come together in a confined space and there’s alcohol, planes are pretty good.
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u/millionsofmonkeys 4d ago
You try to do one measly Wade Boggs challenge and people start overreacting
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u/I_Push_Buttonz 4d ago
Adjusted for inflation, airfare has been getting cheaper and cheaper for decades. Its like 40-50% cheaper to fly now than it was in the mid to late 90s. Thus flying has become more and more accessible to lower class people over time.
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u/ConsciousMuscle6558 4d ago
They used to have to take the bus 😂
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u/alexm42 4d ago
"Lower class" people do not have a monopoly on bad behavior.
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u/LucyFerAdvocate 4d ago
Lower class people have less value tied up in their reputation. Behind closed doors, all "classes" of people are as bad as each other - heck upper class people are probably worse. But if a McDonald's worker behaves badly on a plane their boss won't know or care, if a lawyer does they're going to see a real impact on the clients they can get.
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u/pgold05 4d ago edited 4d ago
Eh, I think the simple solution is stress makes people act out (not to mention damages the brain) and financial duress is the #1 cause of stress. Combine that with anxiety caused by everything involved with air travel and it's a pretty perfect cocktail. It's no wonder why it might affect people with less financial stability more acutely.
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u/comewhatmay_hem 4d ago
Except in Canada because we pay more for everything you can think of and we like it goddamnit! /s
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u/Daren_I 4d ago
The fines need to be higher with a 5 year flight ban, even for private chartered flights; bus, car, train or ship travel only. I would also love it is they were made to be responsible for the time they wasted of fellow passengers. From the time where the plane turned around until it is back up in the air at the same spot, the offender must pay every passenger a hourly fee commensurate to what they normally earn (e.g., my wasted time is worth a minimum of $50/hour).
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u/Ughhhhhh10 4d ago
As an ex flight attendant that got out before covid…. I’ve never been happier
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u/octopop 4d ago
damn, you seriously dodged a bullet. I could not imagine what flight attendants have been going through since COVID started
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u/Asleep_Management900 4d ago
Current flight attendant chiming in. Human beings right now are the worst they have ever been. I think I know why. Imagine if every day all you have to do is turn on a screen, plug it in, and get hours of enjoyment with zero overcoming of any obstacles.
Then you get thrust into the real world. Other people tell you NO. People watch you think through the smallest of tasks and fail, and watch you get frustrated and lash out. I saw a guy pull and pull on a locked overhead bin before shouting at me. I told him 'Did you read the little sign?' He turned, saw that right where the latch was, is indeed a sign, that says "Crew Luggage - LOCKED". This is the real issue. People aren't understanding LIFE. No ability to think through problems because they are never challenged. Turn on the internet, and that's it. When it's ugly, you turn it off. Real people you can't turn off like a screen and so people go from 0 to 100 because they don't know any other way to react or show emotion or overcome the simplest failures. I watch people fail to read the sign on the door that says 'Push Here' and instead they grab the ashtray. You push right where it says PUSH. Not to the left, not to the right, right where it says push here. We are truly getting dumb thanks to social media.
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u/hopefullyrare 4d ago
Therapist chiming in, and I agree with you 100%. Also, I think some people are watching/reading things on their screens that are addictive because they are angering (due to algorithms)…and this is raising their stress levels 24/7. Makes it really easy to snap due to being so constantly dysregulated.
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u/Uncommented-Code 4d ago
Highly recommend usubscribing from subreddits that make you feel enraged on that note.
Not gonna lie, I do enjoy myself some outrage every now and again, à la 'gosh can you believe the audacity of that guy? Or 'geez I'm glad that's not my boyfriend, I'd dump him'.
But I make it a point to go to these subs whenever I remember that they exist and I feel like being angry a little bit. I don't need every third post on my feed to make me angry.
Reading has also helped. It was hard getting back into it again, since phones are so much more instant in their gratification, but as time passes and the more I read, the more pleasant reading becomes again, and the urge to pick up my phone and doomscroll declines.
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u/whilst 4d ago
Like, and I hate to say it, this thread, and much of reddit. It's so easy to read reddit and think the world is going to hell and everyone's terrible and just get mad about it. And maybe things are getting worse, but we probably don't benefit by seeking out that anger and frustration and pushing that button again and again. We could be reading books.
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u/itchyivy 4d ago
I feel like people have always been this stupid. But i do agree that their emotional control is worse. Speaking as a medical staff
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u/dysthal 4d ago
please let this be the start of The Age of Accountability.
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u/GRAND_INQUEEFITOR 4d ago
Please please please. Let's make this the century of "what the fuck made you think you were getting away with this shit."
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u/LiveLaughLoveRevenge 4d ago
People talk on and on about their freedoms, but are silent about their responsibilities.
As a society, we need to be better.
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u/sciguy52 4d ago
Yes. You have the freedom to do a lot of things you shouldn't, but there should be consequences for doing so. Fines are a good start.
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u/kinkySlaveWriter 4d ago
"You mean now I get canceled for groping flight attendants' boobies BUT gay people are allowed to exist? Radical leftism strikes again!"
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u/Odd_nerves 4d ago
Another great thing is that at the end of October the airlines are going to be more accountable for their flights and passengers. As seen here
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u/fulthrottlejazzhands 4d ago
$5000 is a paltry amount compared to the hourly running costs of a commercial flight, not to mention the severly inconvenienced passangers.
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u/Maxpowr9 4d ago
It's also getting put on a "do not fly" list. That's a much bigger punishment than the fine.
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u/nutitoo 4d ago
They should introduce something like that to cars, if you cause harm to others because you got angry at someone and break checked him, you should be banned from driving vehicles for at least 5 years
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u/Maxpowr9 4d ago
Road ragers should be treated as harshly as DUIs.
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u/Kaexii 4d ago
Have you seen DUI punishments recently? The number of drunk drivers who end up killing someone and who also have NUMEROUS prior convictions for driving intoxicated is ridiculous. I just did a search and this article is like half an hour old. Guy had 3 priors? 4? And then killed a grandma while he was driving around in a pile of empty beer cans.
My point is just that drunk drivers are treated with entirely too much lenience and I wouldn't want to see road rage handled similarly.
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u/vodkaismywater 4d ago edited 4d ago
But it's a huge amount to your average airline passenger.
Charging the actual cost would likely place most people in years-long debt. I don't know if thats proportional.
Edit: thanks for all the replies—I don't care. I'm not a punishment fetishist.
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u/APCookie 4d ago
Then don't act like a dickwad on a flight. I couldn't care less about proportional responses, I'd rather see 0% of passengers being tools on flights.
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u/vodkaismywater 4d ago
Study after study shows that severity of punishment has a very small influence on people's behavior. The perceived likelihood of being caught, or being held accountable is primarily what modifies behavior.
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u/Array_626 4d ago
What do you mean it's not proportional?
The passenger that caused the disturbance was 100% responsible for all of the additional costs in fuel, delays, if necessary hotel accommodations for passengers that missed connecting flights. I don't see why being forced to pay for all of it would be considered unfair or a disproportionate punishment if there was intentional neglect and breaking of rules. The fact that the dollar value is high doesn't make it disproportional to be forced to pay for all of it, it just means you managed to do some real damage with your actions.
Maybe if a passenger had a medical emergency and the flight was forced to divert, I would say it's unfair to charge them for it. But in this case where they were intentionally being disruptive? I think it's completely fair.
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u/tama_chan 4d ago
Act like an asshole, get treated like one. I’m fine with this. Fine and 10 yr flying ban, these idiots need consequences.
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u/sun_tzu29 4d ago edited 4d ago
Neither the man nor the airline was publicly named, nor was it specified exactly what he did to earn such a hefty penalty.
Does CNN do no fact checking? It was a Jetstar flight, his name is Wade Corbett, and he was drunk and disruptive.
Edit: I mean Jesus Christ CNN, at least put some effort in. Even the Daily Mail can do better
During the flight, Corbett was refused more alcohol due to intoxication before he intimidated cabin crew. He then refused the pilot’s orders to fasten his seatbelt before locking himself in the toilet, where he refused to come out.
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u/jaywinner 4d ago
Thank you. OP's article had lots of examples of other people misbehaving but nothing on the actual case they are reporting.
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u/kamgar 4d ago
So the airline gets to recoup damages from the diverted flight but none of the passengers do?
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u/rosen380 4d ago edited 4d ago
If something like regulation 261 exists in Australia, then the other passengers
gothad access to compensation.When our flight from Heathrow to Newark had to turn around, the airline:
- booked us a replacement flight the next day
- booked us a hotel room near Heathrow for the night
- paid for our taxi ride from from Heathrow to the hotel (and a shuttle back the next day)
- paid for our breakfast (at the hotel) and lunch the next day (after we got back to Heathrow)
- 550€ for each passenger (about $610)
1a) it took us to JFK instead of Newark, so they paid for the Uber we took to get back to Newark
1b) we were supposed to get into Newark around 7pm and we were going to do a 2.5 drive home that night, but between the different flight time and the long Uber ride, we didn't get there until almost 11pm so stayed for the night at the hotel our car was at. The airline paid for that hotel room.
And it was quick. My wife submitted the receipts on Monday and the money was in her account on Tuesday.
Assuming that maybe half of the ~300 folks on board claimed what was owed to them (the airline did not announce most of this-- it was on you to figure out everything but the local hotel, transportation to and from, breakfast the next morning and the replacement flight), turning around that plane probably cost them around $200-300k
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u/AlsoCommiePuddin 4d ago
You think you're getting 6-7 figures out of some random jamoke?
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u/anooblol 4d ago
Part of the compensation package is almost certainly going to be coming from passengers requesting refunds & additional costs, directly to the airline.
So indirectly, they probably will have access to compensation that way.
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u/mn540 4d ago
Other passengers should be able to sue the disruptive passages for the cost of their time time too!
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u/Guckalienblue 4d ago
Seriously what if they missed something important and not just a simple vacation. (Which is still justified) Also people I wanna add- my ex and his family member got kicked off a flight before take off and were fined 10k. Do not screw around on flights.
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u/clburton24 4d ago
Theoretically you can sue anyone for anything in this country. It really comes down to the judge wanting to take the case, and the ability to find the person you want to sue.
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u/marklein 4d ago
I'm pretty sure that you could, but suing people is expensive and complicated and so usually not worth it unless the compensation is big and the target is rich enough to pay it right away.
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u/Azazael 4d ago
The bloke was on the flight Perth to Sydney to be sentenced on previous charges (apologies for the Daily Mail link). If he'd made it to court originally I'm sure he would have assured the magistrate he'd learned his lesson and would follow the path of righteousness if given another chance.
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u/c_c_c__combobreaker 4d ago
Good, fuck these entitled people who act out on airplanes and think they can get away with it.
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u/Quantinnuum 4d ago
Fuck these disruptive entitled asshats.
If you can’t behave yourself for a few hours on an airplane, place their asses on the “no fly list” and be done with these pathetic children.
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u/bennitori 4d ago
Perfect example of the punishment perfectly fitting the crime. You wasted time and resources due to your stupidity? You get to pay for that time and those resources.
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u/geek66 4d ago
They should be on the hook for the same Inconvenience costs that the airlines have to pay the passengers when they are delayed ( not that the airline had to pay passengers in this case - just using that as a refrence point )
In addition to the full operating cost of the flight - much more than the fuel cost.
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u/Glittering_Lunch_347 4d ago
Need more of these consequences. I can’t imagine having a flight averted and missing my connection because an adult couldn’t control their behavior.
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u/spherocytes 4d ago
Good.
There has been far too many instances of passengers’ bad behavior on aircraft. Especially after the pandemic. These people put so many others’ safety at risk with their entitlement and recklessness. Hopefully real, severe consequences will help cut this down.
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u/Forward_Collar2559 4d ago
As long as this doesn't get weaponized by flight attendants, purely a shield for passengers and crew, this should be a fine counterbalance.
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u/Mr-Klaus 4d ago
I'm surprised they haven't been doing it from the start - normally if it's a customer's fault that a company gets hit with an unexpected cost, they will bill that customer.
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u/jessicatg2005 4d ago
Good. Sounds fair to me. I think the person should pay each passenger a penalty for wasting their time as well.
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u/JubalHarshaw23 4d ago
In addition to the fine they should be put on the no fly list immediately no matter where they were kicked off the plane.
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u/hackerfactor 4d ago
Was anyone else surprise when it said the man was from Australia and not Florida?
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u/iamzombus 4d ago
I hope he gets added to a no-fly list too.
Getting across Australia will be a huge pain in the ass for him in the future.
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u/cslackie 4d ago
God forbid we hold people accountable for their actions. Maybe this will make people stop acting up!
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u/Marokiii 4d ago
They had to dump fuel. So that means they dropped over 1200 gallons of aviation fuel while in the air. The passenger should have to pay more than just the cost of the fuel, they should be fined for the overall environmental damage.
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u/murderedbyaname 4d ago
It was actually close to $12,000 after adding an additional fine. Good for them.