In case you missed the news, Alec Baldwin was denied travel on an American Airlines flight earlier this week for failing to follow the safety instructions of a flight attendant. Not content with being called out for his boorish behavior, he took the fight public on his Twitter account and the backlash was severe enough that he decided to close his account. In a rare move, American Airlines released a statement about the event on their Facebook page – a statement picked up by the national media that provides more detail on the extremely inappropriate behavior Mr. Baldwin exhibited that led to his removal.
Apparently still not getting the message that making an arse of yourself on a planeload of people that just want to get where they’re going without delay isn’t cool or popular, Baldwin decided to take it one step further and appear on Saturday Night Live tonight, playing the part of the captain of that American Airlines flight… apologizing to Mr. Baldwin for throwing him off.
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This move shows what utter disdain Mr. Baldwin has for the traveling public in general, and how much better he thinks he is than the rules he agrees to follow when he buys a ticket on a public airline.
Despite your feelings on whether or not electronics do present a safety issue to airplanes, the rules exist and must be enforced by airline personnel. To refuse to obey, cause a scene and get thrown off simply indicates you’re’ not willing to follow those rules… and if you don’t follow them, you don’t travel. It’s that simple.
I have a suggestion for Mr. Baldwin, though: charter flights. If you want to set the rules, either buy a plane and hire a pilot or charter a flight and make the bet that they won’t hassle you because you’re paying good money for the flight. That, and keep off the airlines the rest of us are on if you can’t do anything but cause trouble.
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