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Southwest Airlines has apologized to customers who witnessed the "unacceptable behavior" of a passenger frustrated over a child crying on a flight.
The incident was captured in a viral video posted on TikTok this week about a passenger who "loses his mind" over a crying baby and allegedly caused the aircraft to be deplaned.
The clip, posted by Mark Grabowski (@mjgrabowski), had more than 216,000 views at time of writing. The plane was traveling across Florida, according to screen grabs of flight tracking information from the airline's website shown in the video. The date of the flight was unclear.
A note at the start of the video read: "Belligerent passenger causes diversion." A child was heard screaming in the background of the clip, which showed the viewpoint of a passenger sitting near where the man was seated.
Appearing to address staff members, a voice in the video was heard saying "calm the child down please...I'm not screaming, you want me to scream? I'll f****** scream. Please stop the baby...please." And the profanity-laced tirade continued.
"We do not have details of this flight to share," a spokesperson for the airline told Newsweek. "We commend our crew for exhibiting outstanding professionalism while handling a challenging situation, and we offer our apologies to the other customers onboard who had to experience such unacceptable behavior."
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, "Incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior are an ongoing problem and airlines have seen rapid growth in occurrences since 2021.
The rate of unruly passenger incidents has declined more than 80 percent since the record highs seen in early 2021. But "there remains more work to do," the FAA says.
Unruly and disruptive passenger incidents are "still rare," the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says. However, they are of "significant concern" to governments and airlines, as they have the potential to impact safety of passengers and airline crew as well as the aircraft.
Most reported unruly passenger incidents are classified as Level 1, which are typically verbal in nature and generally considered "anti-social behavior." Most cases can be addressed by cabin crew using de-escalation techniques and training.
The IATA warned: "That is not to trivialize these incidents, because there is always a danger of incidents escalating, they divert crew attention, and they do impact good order and discipline onboard."
After the passengers were deplaned, two police officers appeared on the scene, then were seen walking with the man through the airport.
A message overlaid across the video read: "Well, that's probably not how his wife imagined their Florida getaway going," before the clip ended.
Several users on TikTok were understanding of the passenger's frustration in the latest video.
Shannon said: "I agree kids screaming and crying on a plane is extremely annoying."
Raphaël Château: "He speaks on behalf of many many many of us who are not commenting here today. Especially when parents try NOTHING to quiet down their baby."
User Angie said "40 mins of crying is exhausting" and Neka agreed, noting "no one wants to hear a screaming kid for hours on end..."
Others were more sympathetic toward the baby's parents.
User Cyrina said "if a person has that big of a problem with a crying baby they should have rented a car and drove, taken the bus or train."
Mandie0143 wrote: "This poor mama. I think we're all so quick to forget 'it takes a village'. I wish I could've helped her."
Momma said: "Awwww what a little baby.... The man that is ...... if you want a screaming baby free flight, then fly privately."
Do you have a video of a similar flight incident to share? Send it to life@newsweek.com with some details and your story could appear in Newsweek.
About the writer
Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more