Man Holding Baby Punched By Airport Employee (But Is That The Whole Story? Not Quite)

Jul 31, 2017 | Bad Credit Loans, Bank Lending, Business Lending, Business Loans, Finance, Secrets of the Inspired Traveler, Working Capital

Airport delays can bring out the worst in people. So can airlines.

CREDIT: Getty Images

Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek.

It wasn’t enough for a Flight Attendant to merely challenge a passenger to a fight.

That seems so very three months ago.

Given the parlous state of relations between many airlines and their customers, we sensed that a little MMA wasn’t far off.

So it is that at Nice airport in France on Saturday, as passengers waited for their filght back to London-Luton airport, things seem to have turned in that direction.

Take this report from passenger Leo Gupta on Twitter: “After 13 hour delay of an easyJet flight, a Nice Airport employee punches a man with a baby in the face for complaining about the delays.”

And if you don’t believe that one, how about this tweet from passenger Arabella Arkwright: “EasyJet employee hitting man holding baby after delay of over 14hours.”

Oh.

Delays happen. Some are, at least, unavoidable. Flight tracking data shows that the EasyJet flight was delayed 13 hours.

Air traffic delays, mechanical problems and a need to find a new crew all contributed their share.

But when it comes to punches being thrown you wonder how much worse things can get.

You also wonder whether this was an entirely unprovoked attack.

Arkwright told the Daily Mail that the man holding the baby explained to the airport worker that his day hadn’t been his finest.

“He was standing there holding his nine-month-old baby. He didn’t want to have a fight,” she said.

She added: “The worker just smirked at him and he was the other side of the glass barrier so he reached over to hit him. It was one hell of a punch. It was a loud whack and there was no provocation.”

But then footage emerged that appeared to show the passenger and the airport employee having a verbal exchange. The passenger pushes the airport employee with his one free hand. Only then does the airport employee take a swing.

Does that change your view?

But wait, what if I tell you that one bystander said that the airport employee tried to knock the passenger’s phone out of his hand, after the passenger tried to film him.

Yes, we have come to this. Airport fight analysis.

For its part, Easyjet insisted that this wasn’t one of its employees.

“We are concerned to see this — it is not an easyJet staff member & they do not work for our ground handling agents,” the airline said on Twitter. “We are taking this up with Nice Airport & their special assistance provider Samsic who we understand this person works for.”

There are no reports of serious injury, though Arkwright said that the passenger had “a big mark on his left eye.”

Still, some commenters on Twitter believe that even if the airport employee didn’t work for EasyJet, he was still its representative.

What’s clear, though, is that things went awry and there were cameras to show it.

Now, there’s a police investigation.

It’s all exhausting and redolent of a vast airline system that isn’t often functional. Or, at least, not functional with respect to customer service.

I leave the last word, however, to one Twitter commenter, Patsy Stone, who offered the most sanguine perspective: “Watch out @UnitedAirlines , you have some Fight Club competition from @easyJet.”

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.