By Kay Jones and Amanda Jackson, CNN
A Southwest Airlines employee was rushed to a Dallas hospital on Saturday after being assaulted by a passenger at Love Field Airport, the airline and Dallas police said.
The passenger attacked the agent “verbally and physically” shortly after being asked to disembark the flight she had just boarded from Dallas to New York City’s La Guardia Airport, Southwest told CNN in an email.
Dallas police said in a statement that shortly after boarding, 32-year-old Arielle Jean Jackson had a verbal argument with an operational agent in the back of the plane and was then asked to disembark.
When she got out, Jackson got into another verbal argument with a second agent and hit her on the head with a “closed fist,” the statement said.
Jackson was charged with aggravated assault, Dallas police say. The prison records indicate that she is being held on a $ 10,000 bond. CNN has currently not been able to identify an attorney for Jackson.
The employee was transported to a local hospital and discharged on Saturday night, the Southwest email said. She is resting at home, the airline announced.
“Southwest Airlines has a zero tolerance policy for any form of harassment or assault and is fully committed to helping our staff work with local authorities on this unacceptable incident,” the email read.
The incident is one of many verbal and physical attacks on flight crews reported during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, flight crews have reported 5,114 troubled passenger incidents since early 2021. FAA data shows that more than 70% of incidents occurred through masks.
The incidents ranged from screaming and spitting to physical fights with airline staff.
In May of this year, a Southwest Airlines passenger who allegedly hit a flight attendant was fined more than $ 26,000, the FAA said.
The agency announced earlier this month that it had fined 10 violent air passengers totaling nearly $ 250,000.
The CNN Wire
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CNN’s Pete Muntean and Gregory Wallace contributed to this report.
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