Airline Slaps $106,000 Bill On Woman For Trying To Open Door During Flight

Abusive or disruptive behavior on planes will cost dearly. This was the “stark warning” the Jet 2 Airlines gave to a woman by slapping $106,000 bill for her violent ruckus inside a plane including attempts to force open the jet’s doors mid-flight.

The woman's commotion on board forced the flight to reroute back to the Stansted airport where the flight originated.

It had to be escorted by two RAF Typhoon fighter planes, because of her behavior, the airline alleged.

The female passenger, 25-year-old Chloe Haines, was on board a flight to Turkey when she tried to open the aircraft’s door “threatening to kill everyone” along with herself.

The incident happened on June 22. An aggressive Haines tried to break open the plane’s door when the flight was cruising between London’s Stansted Airport and Dalaman in Turkey.

Other passengers and crew tried to restrain Haines as pilots brought the plane back to Stansted through a different route.

Fighter jets had to escort the aircraft

According to the airline, the U.K. Royal Air Force scrambled two Typhoon fighters to escort the aircraft and in their rush to follow the plane raised a sonic boom.

The airline alleged that the woman displayed a “catalog of aggressive, abusive and unsafe behavior” and had to be restrained by staff and passengers.

Jet2 banned Haines for life.

In his reaction, Jet2's CEO Steve Heapy said: “As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive behavior and hope that this sobering incident, with its very serious consequences, provides a stark warning to others who think that they can behave in this fashion.”

Heapy warned that the airline would “vigorously pursue to recover the costs that we incurred as a result of this divert, as we do with all disruptive passengers.”

The CEO noted that the female passenger’s behavior had been “one of the most serious cases” the airline ever experienced and she will have to pay for her actions.

Jet2’s statement added that airport police boarded arrested Haines at Stansted.

According to Essex Police, the woman was arrested on charges of “two assaults and endangering an aircraft.” But she has been released on bail until July 30.

However, Thomas Budd, a lecturer in airport management at Cranfield University in England called the airline’s response as “unusual.”

“To my knowledge, it is rare for an airline to pursue the passenger in this way and to do so publicly,” Budd observed.

Punishment for disruptive behavior on planes

Noting the sharp escalation in disruptive behavior on planes, Sarah Stewart, a London-based aviation lawyer said the costs from forced plane re-routings range from $12,400 to $99,300, and “depends on the size of the aircraft and where it diverts to.”

Stewart said offenders face large fines, lifetime bans, and in some cases imprisonment as well.