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.

[rocknrolla]

Originally Posted by lcarus

The real question is, would the airline have even cared enough to issue an apology if this guy wasn't famous?

Hell no!

[Backwards Masking]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Big deal, those "some" people are primarily punk-ass bitches who likely don't have well-paying jobs and rarely use air travel anyway. I don't see the problem.

yeah, but when and if they do get good paying jobs and start using air travel theres a chance theyll remember the way their "punk ass" role model Billy Armstrong was treated and choose a different airline. 90 percent of my graduating class had the baggy jeans look in high school, now they're all accountants and insurance salesmen with kids and spouses. if you dont think this airline will wind up losing business because of this youre mistaken.

[Backwards Masking]

Originally Posted by KurtCobain

You didn't wear your red hat backwards, did you?

no i never went that far, i did have a good friend i still hang out with that had the iridescent yellow baseball jersey though that reflected in the light though.

[rocknrolla]

Would he have been kicked off a regular airline flying first class?

[KurtCobain]

Originally Posted by Backwards Masking

no i never went that far, i did have a good friend i still hang out with that had the iridescent yellow baseball jersey though that reflected in the light though.

Nice.

I died my hair blonde. I'm a bit younger than you, though.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by Backwards Masking

yeah, but when and if they do get good paying jobs and start using air travel theres a chance theyll remember the way their "punk ass" role model Billy Armstrong was treated and choose a different airline. 90 percent of my graduating class had the baggy jeans look in high school, now they're all accountants and insurance salesmen with kids and spouses. if you dont think this airline will wind up losing business because of this youre mistaken.

People who see dipshit pop singers as role models rarely end up with good paying jobs.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Backwards Masking

yeah, but when and if they do get good paying jobs and start using air travel theres a chance theyll remember the way their "punk ass" role model Billy Armstrong was treated and choose a different airline. 90 percent of my graduating class had the baggy jeans look in high school, now they're all accountants and insurance salesmen with kids and spouses. if you dont think this airline will wind up losing business because of this youre mistaken.

I used to walk around wearing nothing but a diaper when I was 18 months old, but I wouldn't expect to be able to do so on an airline.

The airline will not lose business over this. They would lose business if they let people dress this way and gave people the image of them being a low-class operation.

[007]

good. I'm sick of people thinking that is OK.

[Backwards Masking]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

The airline will not lose business over this. They would lose business if they let people dress this way and gave people the image of them being a low-class operation.

Yes, they will. Hundreds of thousands of "low class" 22-25 year olds graduate college and get 30-40k starting jobs every day. If 100 of them see this article and decide to fly somewhere else, 100 people x 100 $200 tickets equals $20,000 lost. I'd venture to guess this one little incident could wind up costing them hundreds of thousands, maybe more.

[Backwards Masking]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

People who see dipshit pop singers as role models rarely end up with good paying jobs.

than i guess theres only 10-100 million plus pleople IN THIS COUNTRY with good paying jobs. a dipshit pop singer is far more admired as a role model than a "good husband" or "good father" is any day.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Backwards Masking

Yes, they will. Hundreds of thousands of "low class" 22-25 year olds graduate college and get 30-40k starting jobs every day. If 100 of them see this article and decide to fly somewhere else, 100 people x 100 $200 tickets equals $20,000 lost. I'd venture to guess this one little incident could wind up costing them hundreds of thousands, maybe more.

For every person who isn't going to fly on an airline that won't let you walk around with your pants around your knees (spoiler alert, that's every airline), there are 10 people who won't fly on an airline that has a bunch of trashy people dressing like thugs. This isn't complicated.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by Backwards Masking

than i guess theres only 10-100 million plus pleople IN THIS COUNTRY with good paying jobs. a dipshit pop singer is far more admired as a role model than a "good husband" or "good father" is any day.

By other dipshits only.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by Backwards Masking

Yes, they will. Hundreds of thousands of "low class" 22-25 year olds graduate college and get 30-40k starting jobs every day. If 100 of them see this article and decide to fly somewhere else, 100 people x 100 $200 tickets equals $20,000 lost. I'd venture to guess this one little incident could wind up costing them hundreds of thousands, maybe more.

People fly based on price, period. You have no idea what you're talking about.

[lcarus]

If the guy doesn't "wanna be an American idiot", maybe he shouldn't try so hard to look like one.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Brock

People fly based on price, period. You have no idea what you're talking about.

Every single post he makes is stupid. Maybe he can start up welfairlines and cater to that demographic. They can be the airline that corners the market on people who stand in welfare lines.