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AirTran Kicks 101 Brooklyn Yeshiva Students Off Plane For Not Turning Off Cellphones, Refusing to Stay In Seats
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 4, 2013
Modified Jun 4, 2013
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 4, 2013
Modified Jun 4, 2013
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Have you ever wondered it would be like to fly on a plane with a 101 teens from a Brooklyn yeshiva? Well, for some passengers on an AirTran flight to Atlanta from LaGuardia, they never got to experience that—because the students were kicked off the plane before it took off for allegedly not turning off their cellphones and not staying in their seats. Now the Yeshiva of Flatbush is investigating—and one student says, "They treated us like we were terrorists. I think if it was a group of non-religious kids, the air stewardess wouldn't have dared to kick them off."
According to CNN, "Southwest, which owns AirTran, said the group of 'non-compliant passengers' would not stay seated, and some were using their mobile devices after being asked not to. When the students failed to comply with requests from the flight crew, including the captain, they were asked to leave the plane, delaying the AirTran flight for 45 minutes, said Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins." The school's entourage also included eight chaperones, one of whom said that only some students weren't listening to the crew at first, but they did comply.
Marian Wielgus said, "It blew out of proportion. It was a mountain out of a molehill... They certainly did not do what the stewardess was claiming they did. That's what was so bizarre." She added the flight attendants were "nasty," "overreacting" and "created an incident when there didn't have to be one."
However, Brad Rinschler, who was traveling on business, 10 students were ignoring the crew's repeated orders to follow instructions, "They pilot warned them. They did not comply. They thought it was a joke. You know, it wasn't a joke." He didn't observe any anti-Semitism, "If they were adults, they wouldn't have even had that many chances. That's the bottom line."
Some students were put on flights with many transfers, like to Milwaukee. The original LGA-ATL flight was delayed by 45 minutes. The school issued a statement, "We take this matter seriously and have already opened our own investigation. We will continue to speak with the chaperones and students and reach out to Southwest Airlines to determine the facts. Preliminarily, it does not appear that the action taken by the flight crew was justified. We acknowledge that Southwest Airlines has offered vouchers for future air travel to faculty and students."
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air travel
Airtran
brooklyn
of flatbush
yeshiva
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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