Life

Star Issues Apology for Airplane Argument

iStock

Last Updated on February 12, 2022

Actor Alec Baldwin made an apology — sort of — after allegedly being escorted off a plane for refusing to turn off his cell phone. The apology was directed at his fellow passengers, but he did not apologize to the flight attendant who he claims “singled him out.”

In his lengthy apology titled, “A Farewell to Common Sense, Style and Service on American Airlines,” published on Huffington Post, he claims to have been brand-loyal to that airline for 20 years. He describes deteriorating airplane conditions that would “make Howard Hughes red-faced.” He blames the 9/11 attacks for the development of a “paramilitary bearing.”

Of the specific incident, he did go into some detail, claiming that while sitting at the gate for 15 minutes, already 30 minutes behind schedule, he pulled out his cell phone to “complete any other messaging” he had to do before taking off. He claims that in the past, this was never a problem, but that this time, “while other people were still manipulating their own phones,” a flight attendant singled him out by asking him to put his phone away.

Afterward, he says, they still sat at the gate, so he pulled out his phone again, “while others did the same.” And again, he says he was singled out by the same woman “in the most unpleasant of tones.”

If he felt he was being singled out to begin with, he has no one but himself to blame for the second instance of such, since he’s the one who chose to repeat the same behavior for which he had been chastised already.

No matter what “others” were doing with their phones, the flight attendants have to start somewhere when they go down the aisle. I’ve never once been on a flight since 9/11 in which the flight attendants didn’t go aisle by aisle, making sure everyone is complying.

No singling out.

Baldwin had already issued numerous tweets about being removed from an American Airlines flight.

“Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving #nowonderamericaairisbankrupt”

That hashtag, “No wonder American Air is bankrupt” is a nice little dig, but the question is, why did he choose them in the first place if that’s an issue for him? Shouldn’t he be able to afford passage on an airline that isn’t bankrupt? All of the “filthy planes, barely edible meals and cuts in jet service to less-traveled locations” he gripes about at HuffPo didn’t just start on the day he got fussed at. That’s been going on for years.

And I can’t help but wonder why he mentioned “Words with Friends” on Twitter, but redefined his tasks as “completing any other messaging” that he had to do in his Huffington Post essay.

The airline issued tweets of its own and posted a response on its Facebook page, in which it explained the situation, without naming Baldwin:

“The passenger was extremely rude to the crew, calling them inappropriate names and using offensive language. Given the facts above, the passenger was removed from the flight and denied boarding.”

Given the facts above, the passenger should have been removed from the plane. And he should have had to reimburse all of the other passengers for their lost time during which he threw his alleged tempter tantrum and had to be led off of the plane.

I don’t care who you are: rich or poor, famous or unknown; when you’re on a plane, you listen to the pilot and flight crew. You do what they say. Period.

Don’t like it? Then don’t fly. See how far you get walking.

All of us have to turn off our electronics when the captain says so. Most of us aren’t happy about it at the time. But we do it, because we understand that we have to.

If you’re so famous, so rich and so important that you feel immune to the same rules that other people have to live with, you ought to be flying in your own private jet where your flight crew has to live with your every whim.

Celebrities who can’t do that need to learn to live in the real world with the rest of us.

the authorPatrick
Patrick is a Christian with more than 30 years experience in professional writing, producing and marketing. His professional background also includes social media, reporting for broadcast television and the web, directing, videography and photography. He enjoys getting to know people over coffee and spending time with his dog.

1 Comment

  • It’s a good thing you blog about all this stuff or I would never know about it. I never watch the news. But why are you surprise? The unbelievably rich and famous are not normal people!

    How’s that? The shortest post ever!

Comments are closed.