An internal investigation is underway after a dispute between two flight attendants caused a delay in takeoff, left one of them in tears and culminated in both abandoning the plane.
American Airlines Flight 4860, operated by SkyWest Airlines as American Eagle, was scheduled to take off from Los Angeles for Houston on Saturday afternoon when the argument soured the trip.
ESPN “SportsCenter” anchor and reporter Ashley Brewer shared a Tik Tok Video describing the ordeal, saying the fight stemmed from a first-class passenger requesting to switch seats with someone in economy class so she could sit next to her husband.
A flight attendant agreed to let him change, but a female flight attendant argued that it was against the rules, according to Brewer.
Brewer said the first-class passenger was sitting next to her and it was okay if she didn’t move, but the argument between the flight attendants escalated.
«Well, for whatever reason, the flight attendants weren’t doing well and they kept arguing and going back and forth in the middle of the aisle about the rules, what was right and what was wrong,» Brewer said. “They just had some meat or something, so they kept going back and forth and he started yelling at her. He was really out of line. He shouldn’t have done that.»
The flight attendant ran to the front of the plane and ended up in tears, Brewer said. She said that she went up to the flight attendant to see how she was doing and the flight attendant allegedly said, «I won’t be flying with him.»
The pilots and flight crew got out and tried to talk to the two flight attendants, but they both eventually left the plane.
Passengers had to wait for almost two hours for new crew members to come on board so they could take off. according to one of Brewer’s videos.
informed flight data shows that the flight was delayed by one hour and took off from Los Angeles International Airport at 2:04 pm local time; it touched down in Houston around 7 p.m. local time.
SkyWest said in a statement that it is aware of reports «about an issue with the flight attendant» that caused the flight to be delayed on Saturday.
«We are sorry for the delay this caused our passengers and we apologize for any inconvenience. We hold all of our employees to the highest standards of professionalism and are conducting an internal investigation related to this flight,» the statement said.