Apparent first-time flyer won’t silence their device
Shout out to the great job by the FA’s on this morning’s Chicago to Cleveland (UA 1488) flight. Guy in 22F playing his movie or whatever at high volume. We asked him to turn it down or off, it finally took 2 FA’s and the captain making an announcement to get him to turn it off.
Threats to turn back to the gate and remove the guy were issued. Among his several comments: “you got AirPods I can use? I’ll give them back.”; “I ain’t bothering no one” and “since when do I need headphones on an airplane?” He’s currently pouting. I’m excited to hear his comments when we land, and I’m not ruling out some midair excitement with him.
Update: my expectation of drama was fulfilled. After 2 FA’s and the pilot on the PA informed him of the FAA’s requirements, he silenced his movie. Then made a phone call. We still took off and the flight was mostly uneventful. Upon landing, he made another phone call, prompting me to look back at him in disbelief.
When we got to the gate, he popped up and made sure to take photos of me and my family on his way out. We spoke to the FA’s on the way out and they suggested we speak to the gate agent. We got to the agent to find our man already there, accusing me of feeling “some kind of way” b/c he spoke in a foreign language on his call. Played the race card heavily and gave a fully revised version of everything. We gave our version to a supervisor and before we left, an airport security guard and 2 Cleveland police officers arrived.
The supervisor couldn’t have been nicer and said that this stuff happens several times a day, every day.
No perpetrator photos available, but I wish I could’ve taken some.