Violence Erupts at a Florida Airport After Multiple Flight Cancellations -
By JONAH ENGEL BROMWICHMAY 9, 2017
Passengers at an airport in Florida protested on Monday night after the cancellation of multiple flights, leading to a confrontation with airline employees
and sheriff’s deputies who arrested three travelers while attempting to restore order.
The airline filed a lawsuit in federal court on Monday against the Air Line Pilots Association, International, accusing it of coordinating a “pervasive illegal work slowdown”
that it said had led to the cancellation of about 300 Spirit flights since the beginning of May and had interfered with the travel plans of over 20,000 passengers.
According to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the arrests were made after customers screamed at
and threatened Spirit Airline employees, inciting unrest in a crowd of about 500 people at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
He blamed the cancellations on airline pilots who he said were engaged in “unlawful labor activity”
that was “designed to disrupt Spirit operations.” But the pilots’ union disputed that statement.
Flight Aware, a flight-tracking site, indicated that 11 Spirit Airlines flights were canceled at the airport on Monday and that 30 were delayed.
Their anger was set off by the flight cancellations, the sheriff’s office said in a statement, and deputies were sent in to calm the crowd.