A Southwest Airlines employee was hospitalized after allegedly being hit in the head by an unruly passenger on a flight from Dallas Love Field Airport.
According to Dallas Police, the passenger stepped aboard at 12:40 p.m. on Saturday and had a verbal argument with an operational agent after being asked to disembark. When the passenger disembarked, she allegedly had another verbal argument with another Southwest Airlines operations agent who, according to Dallas police, hit the passenger on the head.
The operative was rushed to the hospital and is in stable condition and the passenger has been taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault, according to Dallas police.
Southwest Airlines spokesman Chris Mainz said the agent was released from the hospital on Saturday night and is at home in peace. Southwest is still clearing reports about the nature of the altercation.
“Our entire Southwest family wishes her a speedy and full recovery as we send her our thoughts, prayers and love,” said Mainz. “Southwest Airlines has a zero tolerance policy for any form of harassment or attack and is fully committed to our employees in working with local authorities on this unacceptable incident.”
In May, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant was attacked by a passenger and lost two teeth, according to a letter the flight attendants union sent to the airline’s CEO asking for more security when the trip recovers.
In February, a passenger allegedly refused to put her hand luggage in the overhead bin on a Southwest Airlines flight from Boston to Chicago. She was then said to have been “held by the armrest, yelled loudly and aggressively” after being told she could not continue the flight and used derogatory language and obscene gestures towards a crew member. When she got off the plane, she is said to have spat on a crew member. Police met them at the gate.
These incidents are only a fraction of the harassment and violence that aircrew has faced over the past year as mask requirements and flight restrictions have brewed resentment towards airlines and their employees.
So far this year, the Federal Aviation Administration has reported 5,114 troubled passenger incidents, 73% of which were mask-related. More than 100 reports related to physical assault, according to a press release last Wednesday.
►Unruly airline passengers: These “unruly” passengers spit, hit and step on the airline’s crew members. Now they face hefty fines.
After the US introduced a mask mandate for airplanes and airports on February 1, cases of recalcitrant passengers increased. The mandate is to remain in force until at least January 18th.
While the FAA cannot prosecute unruly passengers, it can impose fines of $ 37,000 per violation in these cases.
Dawn Gilbertson and Bailey Schulz contributed to this. Michelle Shen is a money and tech digital reporter for the US TODAY. You can reach her at @ michelle_shen10 on Twitter.
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