Airline Apologizes After Video Captures Alleged Assault of Mom With Baby

It seems like airlines just aren’t getting it right these days. Last Friday, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 591, from San Francisco to Dallas-Ft. Worth was apparently hit in the head by an American Airlines employee, as documented by a video a fellow passenger took.

The harrowing video was posted by Surain Adyanthaya, which shows a mom with her baby crying after getting into an altercation with a flight attendant. Adyanthaya wrote on Facebook:

“OMG! AA Flight attendant violently took a stroller from a lady with her baby on my flight, hitting her and just missing the baby. Then he tried to fight a passenger who stood up for her.”

While the video misses the actual altercation, and only gets the aftermath, what is shown on video is extremely disconcerting–and inappropriate, as assault is always wrong. It’s especially astounding that an employee would react in such a violent way. The video also shows another passenger coming to the woman’s defense, only to nearly get in a fight himself.

Since the incident, American Airlines has suspended the person in question, apologized, and is currently investigating the incident. American Airlines spokesperson Leslie Scott told The Washington Post:

“We have seen the video and have already started an investigation to obtain the facts. What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers.”

I’m glad the airline is taking the incident seriously, since assaulting a passenger is unacceptable behavior. Watch the video here:

Joanna C. Valente

Joanna Valente is the former Staff Writer at Kveller. Joanna is the author of Sirs & Madams, The Gods Are Dead, Xenos, and Marys of the Sea, and received an MFA at Sarah Lawrence College. You can follow @joannasaid on Twitter and @joannacvalente on Instagram.