Actor Marlon Wayans Takes Aim At United Airlines After Being Removed From Flight
Actor Marlon Wayans was removed from a United Airlines flight from Denver to Kansas City Friday afternoon following a dispute with a gate agent over checked baggage. Wayans, known for his work in comedies like 'White Chicks' and the 'Scary Movie' franchise, was due to appear at a show in Kansas City later on in the evening.
Checked baggage dispute
According to an Instagram reel the actor posted while in the airport, Wayans was told to consolidate his luggage by a gate agent prior to boarding, saying he had too many bags. After consolidating his bags, Wayans said the agent told him he would need to gate-check them.
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United Airlines said Wayans refused to gate-check his bag, and instead attempted to board the plane.
“In Denver on Friday, a customer who had been told he would have to gate-check his bag instead pushed past a United employee at the jetbridge and attempted to board the aircraft,” United Airlines Media Relations said in a statement provided to Simple Flying. “The customer won't be flying on United to his destination.”
According to United’s baggage policies, it reserves the right to gate-check baggage in the event an aircraft is too small to fit carry-on bags, or if the flight runs out of overhead luggage space. Gate-checked bags are checked for free, and passengers are able to pick them up upon exiting the plane instead of at baggage claim.
As appears to have been the case in this instance, United also reserves the right to gate-check bags in other situations as well. In the event carry-on baggage is larger than United’s published size limits or is beyond the carry-on bag allowance that comes with a passenger’s ticket class, the luggage must be checked at the gate and can be picked up at baggage claim.
A witness told TMZ that Wayans became very upset when he was asked to gate-check his bag and proceeded to slam his ticket down on the counter before beginning to force his way onto the plane.
According to TMZ’s report of the incident, Wayans actually managed to get aboard the plane and remained seated for about 30 minutes before he was escorted off. A source from Denver International Airport said Denver Police were involved in resolving the incident.
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The fallout
Wayans posted on Instagram later in the day that he ultimately made it to Kansas City on board an American Airlines flight, although he did not appear in his show last night. According to further posts, Wayans claimed he plans to seek compensation from United for the shows he missed after being forced off his planned flight.
“This agent was clearly picking on me,” Wayans wrote. “He asked me to consolidate my bags and I complied. Then said now I have to check the bag because now, since I consolidated it into one bag, it was too big. At that point I said ‘see now you’re just [expletive] with me.’ So I grabbed my ticket off the counter, got on the plane,"
United has been involved in a few incidents involving removed passengers that resulted in apologies or settlements, including removing a woman from business class due to her crying baby in 2018 and the forcible removal of a doctor from an overbooked flight in 2017.
What do you think about the incident? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: TMZ
Source: Simple Flying
