JetBlue is being accused of antisemitism by a Jewish passenger who says the airline canceled his ticket after objecting to a flight attendant bearing a “Free Palestine” pin.
The airline reportedly called the police on 54-year-old Paul Faust just before his flight was set to take off from South Florida to Las Vegas on April 28.
In a video that he posted to Instagram, Faust claimed that he was accosted by an uniformed official at the airport after he allegedly “caused a disturbance” in response to a flight attendant wearing a pin that was emblazoned with the flag of the Palestine Liberation Organization as well as a Black Lives Matter badge.
Faust said that he initially kept quiet about the crew member but spoke up after she began serving drinks.
He claimed the flight attendant moved the pro-Palestinian pin to a spot where it would be more conspicuous — a move that he interpreted as provocative and deliberate.
Faust brought his complaint to another crew member, saying: “I just wanna tell you I’m a frequent flyer, and it was upsetting that she wore that, and that she only changed that pin to the front of the apron, not the others.”
The flight attendant reportedly told Faust: “Okay, I’ll speak with her.”
“I don’t want there to be an issue,” Faust is said to have replied.
“Maybe speak with her after we leave the plane. Just talk about how it was maybe a little insensitive, it made me feel a little uncomfortable.”
Faust said he went back to his seat and the plane took off to Las Vegas and landed without incident.
After passengers disembarked, Faust said one of the flight attendants pointed him out to another JetBlue official who was wearing a yellow vest.
“Sir, I need to speak with you,” the official is said to have told Faust.
Faust said that he was told he had caused a disturbance and that he needed to produce ID.
“I didn’t cause any disturbance. I’m not giving you my ID,” Faust said he told them.
The JetBlue official is then said to have called the police, telling authorities: “I’m standing here with a passenger that caused a disturbance on our flight.”
Faust said he walked away because “I was not going to sit there while he made up lies.”
The next day, Faust, who was scheduled to fly back to South Florida, had his return flight ticket canceled.
JetBlue didn’t bother to notify Faust of the cancellation, he claimed.
When Faust called customer service to follow up on the matter, he said that the decision was made because he had “caused a disturbance on the flight, did not listen to flight crew instructions, and didn’t listen to the supervisor at the gate.”
Faust denied the accusations. A JetBlue representative was not immediately available for comment.
News of the incident was first reported by DailyMail.com.
Faust said that he had been a Mosaic member with JetBlue. Mosaic is a frequent flyer perk that the airline offers to its most loyal customers.
Faust posted a video on Instagram, recounting the story. In response, several commenters said that they would be boycotting JetBlue in response.
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