Wild TikTok footage captured an irate United Airlines passenger’s foul-mouthed meltdown after her flight was delayed amidst the government shutdown last month.
The viral incident unfolded on the tarmac of Newark Liberty International Airport and ended with the passenger being removed from the plane, according to a November 10 TikTok.
“This woman went absolutely nuts and we had to return back to the gate to remove her,” the passenger who took the video wrote in the caption.
Video shows a blond passenger exiting her window seat and stopping in front of a flight attendant, who she snaps at.
“I’m getting up. I’m allowed to stand. When you keep us on the tarmac for an hour, I’m allowed to stand up,” the woman rants.
The flight attendant nods and calmly tells the fuming passenger it’s “not a problem.”
“Not a problem at all. Really not a problem for me to want to f****** stand. F******c****,” the irate passenger spits as the flight attendant walks away.
Immediately after the testy traveler realizes she’s being filmed, and goes silent.
In a follow-up video, the passenger who recorded the tirade explained how their flight to Charleston, South Carolina, had been delayed for three hours before they even boarded – and then was held again on the tarmac for over an hour.
“So at this point, everyone’s just over it. You can feel the collective exhaustion. And then this woman just loses it and starts screaming the c-word over and over and over again. And everyone goes silent,” the TikToker who shared the video said.
A passenger sitting in the row behind them tried to put things into perspective, telling the irate passenger, “We all have somewhere to be, my mom’s funeral is tomorrow,” the TikToker added.
“That just kind of put everything into perspective for everyone. We’re all stressed, we all have our own things going on,” she said.
However, the well-intentioned comment wasn’t enough to calm her down – and she was soon escorted off the plane, the TikToker added.
The TikToker retelling the story said the flight attendants “were actual angels” and helped everyone else stay calm during a very stressful time.
The video was posted on TikTok last month when the Federal Aviation Administration cut flights at major airports and air traffic controllers went without pay because of the government shutdown, which ended on November 13.
Thousands of flights into, out of, and within the U.S. were delayed or canceled that same weekend. The day before the video was posted, November 9, was the worst day of air travel amidst the government shutdown, with more than 11,000 delays and nearly 3,000 cancellations.
