Plane Passenger Threatens Flight Staff for Refusing Him a Bacon Sandwich, Served Hefty Fine

It’s easy to get enraged on a budget flight. It takes an hour an half for the plane to start moving, you’re not sure what it feels like to have leg space anymore, and the man in the seat in front of you has been humming “(Is This the Way to) Amarillo” non-stop since he sat down. You may have only paid £42 for a return flight to Malia, but it would be nice to not feel like a small animal trapped in a tin can with a bunch of men in “Stags on Tour” vests making the entire place smell like Lynx Africa.

While the budget airline experience can be rage-inducing, it’s important not to act like a dick to the cabin staff, who probably hate the experience as much as you do. Especially when bad behaviour could land you in court.

This was the case for 68-year-old Ronald James, who was fined £115, plus £215 compensation costs after he abused cabin staff for refusing him food.

As the Evening Standard reports, James was on TUI flight from Palma to Exeter earlier this year when he requested a bacon sandwich for his granddaughter. Flight staff informed James that the sandwich wasn’t available, and he became very angry.

Although James was offered beef burgers as a replacement, he complained that they were “poor quality” and demanded to speak to the captain. After his request was denied, James refused to sit down for the plane’s descent and left one attendant in tears, Exeter Magistrates' Court was told.

“The flight had no hot food. We had no breakfast, my granddaughter had been pushing for something to eat, and I said, ‘Wait until we are on the plane,’” James told the court. “The hostess came around and wasn’t really bothered.”

Lyndsey Baker, the prosecutor, explained in court that James “demanded to see the captain. He wanted to speak to him. He was told he could not go up to the cockpit and was shouting face to face at [the attendant].”

The things people will do for a bacon sandwich.