EasyJet Airport Employee Punches Passenger Holding A Baby

An airport worker allegedly punched a passenger in the face while he was holding a baby at Nice airport in France Saturday.

Europe’s EasyJet plane traveled through a storm and after landed, one of Nice airport’s ground staff reportedly punched a passenger. The victim was scheduled to travel on EasyJet flight 2122 from Nice to Luton airport near London Saturday. The flight experienced 11-hour delays.

EasyJet stated the airport employee doesn’t work for EasyJet. Fellow passenger Arabella Arkwright, 49, photographed the incident.

"It was awful the whole thing. I just can't believe people can behave like that," she told CNN Sunday.

It was her husband who subdued the attacker as they waited for police officers to arrive, CNN reported. The victim was taken away, baby in tote, but was subsequently allowed back onto the flight for takeoff. Arkwright told CNN the man had a mark on his face from the attack.

Jean-François Guitard, a director at Nice airport, talked about the altercation. He said the passenger griped about the 11-hour EasyJet delay to a Samsic employee. The employee couldn’t answer the passenger’s questions and then attacked with a punch.

"We had a serious problem with someone of staff from our subcontractor Samsic," he told CNN.

Guitars said the airport communicated with Samsic, informing them they suspended the employee.

"Clearly it is a misconduct situation. We apologize strongly about this situation regarding this passenger. There is no reason for a staff member to fight a passenger," Guitard said.

"EasyJet is very concerned to see this picture and can confirm the person in the photo is not an EasyJet member of staff and they do not work for EasyJet's ground handling agents in Nice," the airline said in a statement. "We are urgently taking this up with Nice Airport and their special assistance provider Samsic who we understand the person photographed works for."

The airline apologized for the flight delay, which it attributed to technical issues. A separate aircraft had to be flown from London.

"We are urgently taking this up with Nice Airport and their special assistance provider Samsic who we understand the person photographed works for," the airline said. "Passengers were provided with updates and refreshment vouchers during this time and the flight landed in London Luton last night."

The airline took to Twitter Saturday and addressed the incident. Regarding the photograph of the altercation, they assured users the staff member does not work for EasyJet.

"We are concerned to see this - it is not an easyJet staff member & they do not work for our ground handling agents," the tweet read.

"We are taking this up with Nice Airport & their special assistance provider Samsic who we understand this person works for," another tweet read.

Passengers also tweeted out messages regarding the altercation.

"@easyjet absolute chaos - member of staff just punched a passenger in the face at Nice airport. Waited for 12 hours for this," Anna McCrum‏ (@CrumAnna) wrote.