American Airlines issues apology for onboard incident

American Airlines says it has suspended the employee who was recorded taking part in a heated onboard confrontation with a passenger on Friday, according to CBC. The staff member was reported to have challenged the man to ‘hit me’ after the passenger came to the assistance of a crying woman and her small children.

The confrontation took place on American Airlines Flight 591 as the plane prepared to take off from San Francisco to Dallas; the flight attendant reportedly grabbed a stroller from the woman, who was carrying baby twins.

Recorded video footage from onboard the flight showed tense moments on the plane as the crying woman asked for her stroller back and the employee got into a heated argument with another passenger, warning him to ‘stay out of this’ and inviting him to ‘hit me. Come on, bring it on.’

A statement released by American Airlines said the company was ‘deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident.’ It said that it was in the process of conducting an investigation to ascertain the facts of what happened.

‘What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers,’ the statement continued. ‘The actions of our team member captured here do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care. In short, we are disappointed by these actions.’

The incident is the latest in a series of controversies to hit the airline industry, coming shortly after the forcible removal of a customer from an overbooked United Airlines flight in Chicago just weeks ago.