Woman And 70-Year-Old Father Kicked Off Frontier Airlines Flight [Video]

A woman and her 70-year-old father who were en route to visit an ailing relative Wednesday were reportedly kicked off a Frontier Airlines flight after the two expressed their dissatisfaction with the airline during a private conversation. While the Orlando family maintains they did nothing wrong, the airline claims they were using profanities while talking about flight crew. The airline told International Business Times that an investigation is still underway.

Whitney Miller, 25, and her father, Eric Miller, were discussing how “miserable” they were traveling with the budget carrier but were unaware that a flight attendant behind them was listening to their conversation, local news station WKMG, a CBS affiliate, reported Wednesday. The Millers allege that the flight attendant approached other flight crew who then aggressively asked the family if there was an issue.

“They would lean over the back of the chair in front of us, get their face right up to here and they would simply ask, ‘Do we have a problem?’” Eric Miller told WKMG.

“It was, ‘No, do you have a problem? Do you want to be removed from the aircraft?’” Whitney Miller said. “We responded, ‘No.’ We didn't know what was going on, what's happening. Please tell us what's happening.”

In a phone interview, Frontier Airlines representative Richard Oliver told IBT that the situation escalated after the family was approached about their comments, which were overheard by the flight’s crew. At that time, Oliver said, the Millers used language to refer to flight attendants that included “stupid,” “rude,” and “b-----.”

The Millers were asked to leave shortly thereafter. Frontier Airlines refunded their tickets, and the family is now reportedly planning to drive to their location. The airline told IBT that its account of the incident was corroborated by interviews with several flight attendants and a pilot seated nearby in the cabin.

A video recording caught the few moments after the altercation as the family was being escorted off of the plane. Interviewed by WKMG, the woman who filmed the clip claimed she neither knew the family nor heard the Millers say anything inappropriate. The unnamed woman did, however, claim that the flight attendant was eavesdropping on their conversation.

According to the passenger who recorded the video, clapping heard while the Millers were being escorted off the plane was in support of the family. The airline, however, told IBT that other passengers heard in the video were clapping because the altercation had been diffused and the flight could finally depart.

“Our Flight Attendants are customer service and safety professionals who are trained to recognize situations that may impact comfort and safety of passengers and crew onboard our aircraft,” the airline said in a statement. “The behaviors and comments exhibited by these passengers prior to departure were inappropriate; and as a result they were asked to leave our aircraft. Safety and security of our passengers and crew is our number one priority.”

Frontier Airlines has been one of few carriers that have managed to skirt negative press currently dogging the airline industry. In the last week alone, JetBlue has seen several incidents of crew aboard its flight falling ill as the result of mysterious odors. A 16-year-old girl spoke about being sexually assaulted during a United Airlines flight after which her alleged assaulter walked free. And earlier this week, two planes — Delta Air Lines and American Airlines aircraft — collided on the tarmac at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, causing both damage and delays.