Angry Fort Lauderdale passengers detained by cops after flights canceled
Several irate passengers were arrested at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport in Florida as tempers boiled over amid widespread flight cancelations by Sprit Airlines.
Cancelations sparked angry scenes caught on video on Monday, with the airline pinning the blame squarely on its pilots.
Several people were taken away by law enforcement officers who were called and lined up at Spirit ticket desks to maintain order.
Up to that point nine flights were cancelled stranding hundreds and the airline promptly filed a lawsuit against the pilot union ALPA for what it calls an ‘unlawful slowdown.’
"We are disappointed that ALPA has decided to engage in this unlawful slowdown. This has led to canceled flights and prevented our customers from taking their planned travel, all for the sole purpose of influencing current labor negotiations. So we reluctantly filed this suit to protect our customers’ and our operations," said spokesman Paul Berry.
The pilots association responded with its own statement.
"The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l and the Spirit pilot group it represents are not engaged in a job action. Rather, ALPA and the Spirit pilots are continuing to do everything possible to help restore the company’s operations, which have experienced significant problems over the past several days," it said via CBS News.
"While we will continue these efforts, we will actively defend the association, its officers and its member pilots against the unwarranted and counterproductive legal action."
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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