Green Day singer booted off flight because of saggy pants

[Deberg_1990]

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-...622?source=rss



Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong was booted off a Southwest Airlines flight Thursday night in Oakland for wearing his pants too low.

The Oakland punk rocker was traveling from Oakland to Burbank on a 6:40 p.m. flight when he was ordered off the plane after a heated argument with a flight attendant, a witness said.

"Just got kicked off a southwest flight because my pants sagged too low! What the (expletive)? No joke!" Armstrong tweeted that night.

Cindy Qiu, an Oakland resident flying south for the three-day weekend, had just settled into her aisle seat about 10 rows from the back when the exchange happened.

"It was a quick argument. A very tense 30 seconds," said Qiu, an associate producer for news website 7Live.

A male flight attendant in his 50s tracked down Armstrong and a male companion as they attempted to stow their bags in the overhead bins, she said.

"The flight attendant walked up to him and said, 'Pull your pants up,'" she said. "And (Armstrong) said, 'Don't you have more important things to do?'"

The male flight attendant again asked him to pull his pants up and warned him he would be kicked off the flight if he did not.

"I'm just trying to get in my (expletive) seat," the rocker responded Qiu said.

And just like that, the musician, a Rodeo native, and his friend were escorted off the plane with the flight attendant. Once the steward returned, the flight left, about 20 minutes late, Qiu said.

Southwest Airlines responded to the incident in an email late Friday.

"As soon as we became aware of what had happened, we reached out to apologize for this customer's experience," said Brad Hawkins, a Southwest spokesman. "He elected to take the next flight. We followed up with this customer and involved employees to get more details and, in our latest conversations, understand from the customer the situation was resolved to his satisfaction."

Calls to Armstrong's management were not immediately returned. Alameda County Sheriff's spokesman J.D. Nelson said his agency, which staffs Oakland airport, never responded to the Thursday night incident.

The argument was tense enough that Qiu, who did not immediately recognize Armstrong, said she avoided eye contact and never fully saw the rocker's alleged saggy pants a few feet away.

During the short flight, rumors circulated that the Green Day frontman was the ejected sagger and Qiu said she only realized who he was when she checked his Twitter page when she reached her destination.

It was not the first Bay Area airport saggy-pants imbroglio.

On June 12, a University of New Mexico football player was kicked off a U.S. Airways flight bound for Albuquerque from San Francisco over his saggy pants. Deshon Marman is now suing the airline over the incident.

Some critics said Marman, who is black, was targeted because of his race, particularly after photos emerged of a white man dressed in woman's lingerie who was allowed to board a U.S. Airways flight days before.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Backwards Masking

"As soon as we became aware of what had happened, we reached out to apologize for this customer's experience," said Brad Hawkins, a Southwest spokesman. "He elected to take the next flight. We followed up with this customer and involved employees to get more details and, in our latest conversations, understand from the customer the situation was resolved to his satisfaction."

That's called PR, not admitting that they were wrong.

[007]

They apologized for his "experience" not their policy. Unfortunately, they might as well have apologized for policy since they ultimately let him fly with them.

[Backwards Masking]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

That's called PR, not admitting that they were wrong.

That's not an apology? Its the closetest thing behind only the SW Corporate Office growing arms and legs and a mouth, walking over and standing by the Statue of LIberty, and annoucing it across New York City then.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Guru

They apologized for his "experience" not their policy. Unfortunately, they might as well have apologized for policy since they ultimately let him fly with them.

Like i said earlier, he ultimately got booted because things got overheated with the backtalk.

[Bowser]

And really, I believe Bille Joe can afford to fly United first class. Not only would they not have said anything about his pants, they would have given him a glass of champagne with a smile.

[WhiteWhale]

There seems to be a lot of people in this thread equating 'baggy pants' and 'sagging pants'.

Baggy pants are loose fitting pants.

Sagging your pants is wearing them low off your waist.

Don't hate on me for baggy pants. I don't like having my junk crushed by my apparel.

[stevieray]

...people really care about this shit?

billy joe picked his nose and wiped it on the seat.

film at 11.

[007]

Originally Posted by stevieray

...people really care about this shit?

billy joe picked his nose and wiped it on the seat.

film at 11.

It annoys the crap out of me when I see kids with their underwear hanging out.

[Third Eye]

I wish they would've kicked him off from 30,000 feet.

[007]

American Idiot

[Okie_Apparition]

The base of your johnson holding your pants up or wearing a bolo tie. It's a toss up

[Dartgod]

There is nothing in SWA's contract of carriage that forbids passengers wearing baggy pants. They were in the wrong, period.

6. Acceptance of Passengers

a. Refusal to Transport

General. Carrier may, in its sole discretion, refuse to transport, or may remove from an
aircraft at any point, any Passenger in any of the circumstances listed below. The fare of
any Passenger denied transportation or removed from Carrier‟s aircraft en route under the
provisions of this Article will be refunded in accordance with Article 9 of this Contract of
Carriage. The sole recourse of any Passenger refused transportation or removed en route
will be the recovery of the refund value of the unused portion of his Ticket. Under no
circumstances shall Carrier be liable to any Passenger for any type of special, incidental, or
consequential damages.

(1) Safety. Whenever such action is necessary, with or without notice, for reasons of
aviation safety.

(2) Force Majeure Event: Whenever advisable due to Force Majeure Events outside of
Carrier‟s control, including, without limitation acts of God, meteorological events,
such as storms, rain, wind, fire, fog, flooding, earthquakes, haze, or volcanic eruption.
It also includes, without limitation, government action, disturbances or potentially
volatile international conditions, civil commotions, riots, embargoes, wars, or
hostilities, whether actual, threatened, or reported, strikes, work stoppage, slowdown,
lockout or any other labor related dispute involving or affecting Carrier‟s service,
mechanical difficulties by entities other than Carrier, Air Traffic Control, the inability
to obtain fuel, airport gates, labor, or landing facilities for the flight in question or any
fact not reasonably foreseen, anticipated or predicted by Carrier.

(3) Government Request or Regulation. Whenever such action is necessary to comply
with any Federal Aviation Regulation or other applicable government regulation, or to
comply with any governmental request for emergency transportation in connection
with the national defense.12

(4) Interference with Flight Crew. Passengers who interfere or attempt to interfere with
any member of the flight crew in carrying out its duties.

(5) Search of Passenger or Property. Any Passenger who refuses to permit the search of
his person or property by Carrier or an authorized government agency for explosives,
hazardous materials, contraband, or concealed, deadly, or dangerous weapons or
articles.

(6) Proof of Identity. Any Passenger who refuses upon request to produce positive
identification acceptable to the Carrier.

(7) Incompatible Medical Requirements. Carrier will refuse to transport persons requiring
the following medical equipment or services, which either are not authorized or cannot
be accommodated on Carrier‟s aircraft: medical oxygen for use onboard the aircraft
except FAA-approved and Carrier accepted Portable Oxygen Concentrators (POCs),
incubators, medical devices requiring electrical power from the aircraft, or travel on a
stretcher.

(8) Comfort and Safety. Carrier may refuse to transport, or remove from the aircraft at
any point, any Passenger in any of the circumstances listed below as may be necessary
for the comfort or safety of such Passenger or other Passengers and crew members:

(i) Persons whose conduct is or has been known to be disorderly, abusive, offensive,
threatening, intimidating, violent, or whose clothing is lewd, obscene, or patently
offensive.

(ii) Persons who are barefoot and older than five years of age, unless required due to
a disability.

(iii) Persons who are unable to occupy a seat with the seatbelt fastened.

(iv) Persons who are unwilling to comply with seating requirements under Carrier‟s
customer of size policy as specified in Article 4a(3)(i). Carrier‟s failure to
enforce or decision not to enforce its customer of size policy for a Passenger
traveling on a given flight does not preclude Carrier from enforcing the policy
with respect to that Passenger on a subsequent flight.

(v) Persons who appear to the Carrier to be intoxicated or under the influence of
drugs.

(vi) Persons who are known by the Carrier to have a communicable disease
or infection and whose condition poses a direct threat as defined in
14 CFR § 382.3 to the health or safety of others..

(vii) Persons who have an offensive odor, unless caused by a disability.13

(viii) Any person who cannot be transported safely for any reason.

(9) Weapons. Persons who wear or have on or about their person concealed or
unconcealed deadly or dangerous weapons; provided, however, that Carrier will carry
Passengers who meet the qualifications and conditions established in
49 CFR § 1544.219.

(10) Prisoners. Prisoners (persons charged with or convicted of a crime) under escort of
law enforcement personnel; other persons in the custody of law enforcement personnel
who are being transported while wearing manacles or other forms of restraint; persons
brought into the airport in manacles or other forms of restraint; persons who have
resisted escorts; or escorted persons who express to Carrier an objection to being
transported on the flight.

(11) Non-Smoking Policy. Persons who are unwilling or unable to abide by Carrier's nonsmoking rules, and federal laws prohibiting smoking onboard the aircraft as
established in 49 USC § 41706.

(12) Misrepresentation. Persons who have made a misrepresentation which becomes
evident upon arrival at the airport, and the misrepresentation renders the Person
unacceptable for Carriage.

(13) Prohibition on Solicitation. Persons who refuse to comply with instructions given by
Carrier prohibiting the solicitation of items for sale or purchase, including airline
Tickets, reduced-rate travel passes, or travel award certificates.

http://www.southwest.com/assets/pdfs...f-carriage.pdf

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

There is nothing in SWA's contract of carriage that forbids passengers wearing baggy pants. They were in the wrong, period.

As has been said, I think he got the boot for lipping off to the male stewardess.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by Bowser

As has been said, I think he got the boot for lipping off to the male stewardess.

True, but the flight attendant had no right to ask him to pull them up in the first place.

That said, cussing at the flight attendant for any reason will get you booted off any plane in a hurry.

To be honest, I don't care about any of this. I'm flying SWA tomorrow, and I'll fly them again, because they give me the best value for my money.

[Okie_Apparition]

Baggy pants may have caused the plane to break in half mid-air