DENVER — A Tampa-bound flight delay turned into a screaming match between passengers and airport staff in a TikTok video that has since gone viral.
The part of the St. Patrick's Day interaction that was captured started with an employee telling passengers he would call the police. It's not clear what happened right before that statement.
The user who posted the video, Daniel Lemon, wrote that Frontier Airlines flight 2746 was delayed several hours before 25 passengers were "'involuntarily bumped' and sent to customer service." He said there were no agents when the travelers arrived, so they returned to the gate.
"The gate attendants [sic] scattered so someone knocked on the door to see whats [sic] going on and this ensued," the caption read.
An airport staff member told the passengers that the agents were "busy," prompting a response from one person: "There's six phones, where the f*ck is anybody?"
The employee slammed his hands on the desk before repeating that the staff was busy. He clarified that he was not an airline agent but worked in "operations."
Lemon can be heard in the video expressing that the airline should have communicated the situation better, rather than leaving the group of travelers without an explanation as to why no one was available to help them.
At the same time, someone else was repeating the word "liar" to the operations worker.
The argument went on for some time before a Frontier employee stepped in.
"Get your sh*t together," one woman said.
"Don't worry about her," the employee said, pointing towards the passenger. "I'm going to have her escorted out."
The Frontier employee then apologized to passengers and explained the airline was short-staffed. The video ended with her telling the group she would return in 25 minutes.
In a statement, Frontier Airlines apologized and said an employee not employed by the company will no longer be associated with the airline.
"A recent flight from Denver required an aircraft swap prior to departure that resulted in a smaller plane than originally scheduled, necessitating that several customers be moved to a different flight.
"While waiting for assistance at the service counter, a verbal exchange ensued between customers and an employee of a third-party business partner who is not part of Frontier’s customer service team. That individual has been removed from his duties associated with Frontier. We extend our sincere apologies to our customers involved in this matter.
Data from FlightAware shows the plane took off two hours later than what was originally scheduled and landed at Tampa International Airport about five hours later.
