'Everyone Is Unhinged': Flyers Curse Each Other Out in Viral Shouting Match

A video showing several travelers cursing each other out at an airport in Cleveland, Ohio has gone viral.

The video was posted to TikTok last week by Jillaine (@itsjillaine), who wrote: "I think we're all a bit cranky from the #travelchaos aren't we?" It has garnered over 781,000 views and hundreds of comments from viewers, many of whom said the clip illustrated why they refuse to travel by plane this summer.

Of course, avoiding air travel this summer may be the right choice, as staffing shortages and bad weather events have already caused hundreds of thousands of flights to be canceled or delayed—a problem that isn't expected to change anytime soon.

Summer Air Travel

As of June 30, 121,918 flights within, into, and out of the U.S. were canceled—more than the total number of flight cancellations in all of 2021. Additionally, the first half of 2022 has already seen more than 890,000 delayed flights.

Experts say these cancellations and delays can be blamed on a variety of factors; however, staffing shortages, specifically, play a large role.

"Certain jobs cannot be filled quickly, nor should they be when it's as critical as, you know, pilots," William McGee, senior fellow for aviation at American Economic Liberties Project, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "And so now we have this shortage. There's just no way it's going to be fixed this summer."

Speaking to NPR, travel analyst Henry Harteveldt added: "Any of us who are planning to travel this summer need to go in with the assumption that something will go wrong and be thrilled when it doesn't."

Naturally, tensions at airports are running high, and Jillaine believed the frustration surrounding the current state of air travel has a lot to do with the fight she witnessed at the airport last week.

Airport Brawl

In Jillaine's brief six-second clip, a group of passengers shouts at each other as they make their way to and from their gates. Jillaine added music to the clip, so it's hard to determine what the passengers are fighting about. However, one traveler can be heard calling another a "punk a** b**ch." In response, someone else shouts, "a**hole."

In an extended version of the video posted without music, one of the flyers can be heard shouting, "You're already going to jail" before challenging someone to follow him to his gate.

"You're a f**cking a**hole," the passenger said as he walked away. "I told you to get that motherf**ker and he followed me all the way down there."

In her original video, Jillaine claimed the incident was the second fight she'd seen at the airport that day.

"If you're traveling this summer, forget everything you knew about traveling—it's chaos everywhere," read the video's text overlay. "There are people everywhere, this was the second fight I saw within 10 minutes."

Viewers React

Interestingly enough, viewers didn't appear to be all that surprised by the clip. In fact, many said the post illustrated why they're not booking flights this summer.

"That's why we're driving," Charlie B said.

"Road trips for me," EMS agreed.

"I work at a hotel, and I've heard from MANY people lately [that] 'if you don't have to fly, DON'T,'" Trece offered.

"Traveling is becoming less and less on my bucket list. I think I'll stay in my little slow, safe corner of this f**ked up country," one user wrote.

Jackie added: "Everyone is unhinged."

Newsweek reached out to Jillaine for comment.

Viral Tips

Given all the chaos surrounding air travel right now, flight attendants have encouraged people to avoid traveling by plane altogether this summer, if possible. For those who can't drive, however, some flight attendants have taken to social media to share their tips for dealing with canceled and/or delayed flights.