Frontier Airlines Flight Goes Viral With Unruly Passenger Being Duct Taped To His Seat

In the new generation of social media, a company trending on Twitter Inc TWTR is usually for one end of the spectrum of the press, either very good or very bad. In the case of Frontier Airlines, the trending topic on Tuesday wasn’t a good one.

What Happened: Frontier Airlines, which is a unit of Frontier Group Holdings Inc ULCC, found itself the subject of a viral video Tuesday.

A flight from Philadelphia to Miami on July 31 featured an unruly passenger captured in a video seen over four million times, shared by ABC’s Sam Sweeney.

The passenger, Max Berry (22), is heard in an expletive-filled rant on how horrible the airline is and how his parents are worth $2 million.

Berry allegedly touched two flight attendants improperly prior to the video and can then be seen punching a male flight attendant in the video.

The flight attendant is later seen in the video restraining Berry to his seat using a form of duct tape and putting his mask over his mouth.

The restraint elicits cheers and laughs from other passengers.

Related Link: Frontier Airlines Plans IPO: What Investors Need To Know 

Why It’s Important: Frontier is trending on Twitter and could see calls for people to boycott the airline if it does not choose its sides correctly.

“Unfortunately, the proper policies for restraining a passenger were not followed. As a result, the flight attendants involved have been suspending pending further investigation,” the company said in a statement shared by Sweeney.

Many on social media were quick to say that the flight attendants should be rewarded instead of suspended and that Berry should face a lifetime commercial airline ban.

Berry is in custody, according to reports, and could be charged over assault on several of the flight attendants.

Frontier Group reports quarterly earnings on Wednesday, August 4, and could be asked for an update on the situation.

Price Action: ULCC shares traded up .3% to $15.25 on Tuesday.

Photo by Tomas Del Coro on Wikimedia