Jet2 passenger fined for being aggressive and abusive
A passenger whose aggressive and abusive behaviour forced a Jet2 plane to divert to Toulouse has been fined £3,200 and given a lifetime ban by the airline.
Liam McKeown, 25, from Cumbernauld, pleaded guilty to being drunk and acting in a disruptive manner on the Glasgow to Ibiza flight last July and was fined by Paisley Sheriff Court .
The diversion resulted in a delay for customers and crew after French police had to board the aircraft to remove McKeown, at which point he became physically violent.
McKeown also hit out at the overhead lockers and made physical threats towards the crew.
Jet2.com also took civil proceedings against McKeown to recover losses caused by the divert, with the court judgment awarding in the airline’s favour.
It did not disclose how much the losses were.
"This shows that there are serious consequences if you act in an aggressive fashion onboard an aircraft," said Jet2 managing director Phil Ward.
The airline’s Onboard Together initiative means it adopts a zero tolerance stance against disruptive passenger behaviour, including banning the sale of alcohol onboard all flights before 08:00BST.
Since launching, more than 600 disruptive passengers have been refused travel and 75 of these have received lifetime bans.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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