Travel agent jailed for air rage on Jet2 flight
A business travel agent has been jailed for four months after shouting and swearing at cabin crew on a Jet2 flight and upsetting other passengers.
A court heard that the behaviour of David Blicharz, 36, reduced children to tears on the flight from Antalya to Manchester.
The agent, from Manchester, called an air hostess a ‘motherf*****’ and ‘f****** stupid’ when she refused to serve him more alcohol.
A statement from one crew member said it was the worst abuse they had ever encountered.
Blicharz has lost his job over the incident, which happened in November.
He had been on holiday with his girlfriend and her two teenage children, said a report in the Manchester Evening News.
Prosecutor Zoe Dawson told Minshull Street Crown Court Blicharz was moved by crew several times during the flight but continued to upset other passengers with his abusive language and behaviour.
Cabin staff said children were ‘upset and crying’ and one flight attendant was called a ‘trolley dolly with stupid red lips’. When she asked for his passport he called her a ‘motherf*****’.
The Captain considered diverting the flight but eventually crew were able to take him to the back of the aircraft and sat with him for the rest of the flight.
He was arrested on arrival.
Blicharz, whose partner has since left him, admitted being drunk on an aircraft.
His defence lawyer Simon Blakebrough told the court there had been arguments during the holidays, particularly when they were planning to go home to the UK.
"He was working for some years in a business travel agency…. he has lost his current job because of these offences, he has lost his good character and his relationship is over," he said.
Judge Andrew Nuttall told Blicharz said children on board would have been frightened by his behaviour.
"People are entitled to have an uneventful flight which they have usually paid a great deal of money for," he said.
"In cases like this, courts make clear a punishment of immediate imprisonment should reflect a deal of deterency."
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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