Air rage is nothing new these days. In fact, sometimes it’s hard to know whether we should be shocked at the increasingly bad behavior of passengers on planes or shocked that more people don’t just lose it in the air.
Unfortunately, Americans usually star in most of these incidents. But two RIM (Research in Motion – the company that makes Blackberry phones) executives from Canada proved that our neighbors north of the border are capable of equally bad behavior.
For some reason, this story barely made the U.S. press. But, as reported in Canada’s The Star newspaper, the two put on a performance for the ages. Yes, drunks in business class are nothing new. (Even the television show Pan Am reminds us of them in the 1960s.)
But on this Toronto to Beijing flight, these two idiots apparently (according to their lawyer) mixed alcohol with prescription sleeping pills. Probably significant quantities of each. Because to say they became drunk and obnoxious is an understatement of considerable proportion.
Some passenger statements alleged one man pushed a flight attendant, while the other threatened “to off people when they left the plane.”
The two got so out of control that they had to be put in plastic restraints, and then fought to get out of those restraints.
One man actually chewed through his restraints, and passengers had to help the flight attendants subdue them. Things got so serious that the pilot decided he had to land the flight in Vancouver.
The men WERE vice-presidents at Research in Motion. They were apparently fired days after the incident. A judge sentenced them to probation, and ordered them to pay over $35,000 in restitution to Air Canada. (Maybe they could sell a video tape of the incident to something like “Canada’s Most Embarrassing Home Videos?”)
Not surprisingly, they are also banned from flying Air Canada during their probation. No word if the men have been added to a more general “No-Fly” list. And maybe what they should be on is a “no inflight drinking list.”
I do realize that in many ways this incident is no laughing matter. It certainly had to be a frightening experience for many aboard that plane. Moreso, since Canadians, except when they live in Vancouver and their team loses the Stanley Cup, are usually better behaved.
So what about you, Consumer Traveler readers, especially those of you who fly internationally? Are other countries taking the U.S. title of “Worst Behaved Fliers?” If so, which ones? Or on which routes (Years ago, a Kenyan man told me he wouldn’t take Kenya Air into Nairobi, because they served free Tusker beer, and his countrymen who had been overseas without it, tended to over-indulge.)
Finally, to be fair to Canadians on this one, according to the Star, both of the guilty men in this case were born in Scotland.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
