It Takes The Cake

I may sound like a broken record but I have another airline story to write about today. The skies are getting more weird with every flight and this incident is more odd than the one in which the passenger was dragged off a United Airlines flight, blood dripping from his face,  because he refused to leave when the airline said it needed his seat for airline personnel flying to work. This one can be called, the incident that takes the cake!

A family heading to birthday celebrations in Las Vegas were kicked off a Jet Blue flight after an argument over a birthday cake they had brought onto the plane. Cameron Burke, his wife and two children were in their seats  at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Burke initially stored the cake in the overhead bin, but he said he moved it down when asked to do so by a flight attendant. All flyers are allowed to bring onboard one carry on and one personal item, including cakes, within the size limits. Burke said he and his family were asked to leave the plane after a second attendant told him off, and Burke questioned whether the attendant had been drinking.

Telling the flight attendant she was drunk , even in jest, was not a good move. But one wonders why the cake caused so much distress for the flight crew. "She said I was being noncompliance," Burke said.. “I then remarked to her, ‘Miss, have you been drinking?’ Because her behavior was irrational and she stormed off." Hmmm The irrationality was just beginning because the crew called police to arrest Burke. I guess there is a law about unauthorized cake stowing in New York? Police acted irrationally too. They kicked everybody off the plane (Maybe they were accessories to illegal cake stowing?)

Jet Blue confirmed the incident but said the removal was justified because the passengers' "behavior demonstrated a risk for additional escalation in air." The airline also said that the Burke's cursed and shouted at the crew and "refused to speak with a team leader about the situation." There is yet no confirmation of that or that all parts of the story told by Burke and the airline are correct. But the stupidity of it all is astounding.

I wonder where common sense is in the skies today. It would have been smart for the airline to not harass the Burke family about the cake, and Burke should have complied to the airline request without smarmy remarks. Burke sees dollars in his future, despite having his money refunded after being kicked off.  The  rest of the passengers reboarded the Cake plane (without cakes, I presume) and the Burkes were able to take a flight from Newark to Las Vegas the following day, but Burke claims he did nothing wrong and plans to sue Jet Blue with the help of National Action Network, a not-for-profit civil rights organization.“ I want the flight attendant fired, she has no business serving the public,” Burke said. “I hope Jet Blue will retrain their staff and recreate the culture I once loved.” 
Culture he once loved?

Wow! Maybe someone should test Burke's sanity. for claiming that kind of airline culture has ever existed.