Category: American airlines
Airbus Recalls Popular Airliner A320 After Dangerous Midair Incident
‘Operational disruptions to passengers and customers’
‘Disruptive’ woman causes flight with 4 congressmen to divert: ‘We live in a fascist state’
A Tuesday American Airlines flight carrying several members of Congress was abruptly diverted over a “disruptive passenger.”
‘Law enforcement met the flight and removed the customer, and the flight later re-departed for DCA, where it landed normally.’
The flight took off from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona and was en route to Washington, D.C. Roughly two hours and 41 minutes into the flight, the pilots diverted the plane to Kansas City International Airport.
U.S. Reps. from Arizona Greg Stanton (D), Eli Crane (R), Andy Biggs (R), and Paul Gosar (R) were passengers on the interrupted flight.
“Flying to DC rn to vote no on CR that fails to lower health care costs. @RepEliCrane, @RepAndyBiggsAZ & @RepGosar all on this flight,” Stanton wrote on X. “We’re making [an] emergency stop in Kansas City to remove [a] disruptive passenger. None of my colleagues is the disruptor. Freedom Caucus losing its mojo.”
Stanton thanked Kansas City police for “handling the situation professionally and without incident.”
RELATED: FAA cancels hundreds of flights, sparking holiday travel concerns amid ongoing Democrat shutdown
Rep. Greg Stanton. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Adam Burtner, a passenger on the flight, responded to Stanton’s X thread with a video showing an unidentified woman being escorted off the flight by a police officer. Right before exiting the plane, she stated, “Sorry, folks. We live in a fascist state.”
American Airlines confirmed that the flight was diverted due to a “disruptive passenger.” However, the details of the incident are unclear.
RELATED: Trump officially ends ‘pathetic’ Democrats’ record-breaking shutdown
Rep. Andy Biggs. Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
“On Nov. 11, American Airlines flight 1218, with service from Phoenix (PHX) to Washington, D.C. (DCA) diverted to Kansas City (MCI) due to a disruptive customer,” the airline told KSHB. “Law enforcement met the flight and removed the customer, and the flight later re-departed for DCA, where it landed normally. We thank our customers for their patience and our crew members for their professionalism.”
Burtner claimed that the woman said she was removed for taking a photograph of one of the lawmakers.
“Since there is some confusion on what she said, it’s as follows: ‘I took a picture of someone and they didn’t want me to tweet it.’ (Picture of a congressman aboard the flight.),” Burtner wrote.
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FAA cancels hundreds of flights, sparking holiday travel concerns amid ongoing Democrat shutdown
With Americans preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas travel this year, the government shutdown is beginning to affect travel plans. With operation cuts going into effect over the next week, pressure is mounting for Democrats to come to the table and reopen the government.
According to multiple reports, between 700 and 800 flights at major travel hubs have been canceled as a Federal Aviation Administration emergency order went into effect on Friday.
‘This level of cancellation is going to grow over time, and that’s something that is going to be problematic.’
Forty major airports are affected by the order, though increased stress has been noted at other airports as well.
Many people in the transportation sector have expressed their frustration with the shutdown, particularly as the holiday travel season looms on the horizon.
RELATED: CNN analyst: Public opinion has shifted amid shutdown — but not for the party you’d expect
Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
On CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom called the government shutdown’s impact on flights “frustrating”: “What we’ve done today is we tried to minimize the impact on all of our customers. There’s only 220 flights out of 6,200 flights, and we’ve done it in a way that really impacts our smaller aircraft.”
“This level of cancellation is going to grow over time, and that’s something that is going to be problematic,” Isom added.
According to the FAA’s emergency order, cuts in operations began November 7 to ensure the safe and efficient use of airspace and aircraft. The reductions will gradually increase over the next week with a planned 10% reduction at “high impact airports” from Anchorage to Orlando by November 10.
Air traffic controllers have been working without pay since October 3, according to the order.
As of Wednesday, this government shutdown surpassed the previous record of 35 days, which took place in 2018.
On Friday, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy responded to the increased stress on air travel: “I have done all I can to minimize disruption in the airspace. I’m trying to get people where they want to go and to get there safely.”
Noting that the situation is not ideal, Duffy called for the government to reopen: “We are taking unprecedented action at @USDOT because we are in an unprecedented shutdown,” he added.
Democrats have signaled that they are unwilling to cooperate with Republicans to fund the government on Friday without more health care concessions, likely extending the 38-day shutdown.
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