Last week, Paul Faust flew on JetBlue and went viral for his video on his flight experience.
In it, he noted that a flight attendant sitting right in front of him in the jump seat was wearing several pins, including a BLM pin and a free Palestine pin. He sat next to another Jewish passenger and discussed the current state of the war and protests within earshot of the flight attendant.
What bothered him was that when the flight attendant put on an apron for drink service, she moved the free Palestine pin to her apron, though not the other pins. Paul took that as a sign that it was done deliberately.
Mr. Faust went to the lead flight attendant, identified himself as a Mosaic elite member, and expressed concern about the moving of just the free Palestine pin onto the apron. He asked that it not be dealt with onboard, but to pass on the feedback after the flight that it could make passengers feel uncomfortable.
He had no interaction with the flight attendant with the pin during the flight, but after the flight she pointed him out to someone, who pulled him over for causing an in-flight disturbance, which he says didn’t happen. That person said he needed to speak to him because the pilot had phoned in about a disturbance, and the person proceeded to call the Las Vegas police department about Mr. Faust. Paul then left the airport, rather than wait for the police.
His return flight was then canceled, without notification. When he called the Mosaic line the agent read the notes that said he caused an in-flight disturbance, didn’t listen to in-flight crew instructions, which he denies, and didn’t listen to the supervisor instructions after the flight, which he admits to, though says they never identified themselves as a supervisor.
Multiple passengers on the flight confirmed Mr. Faust’s version of the story to the Daily Mail.
JetBlue later reached out to Mr. Faust for his version of the story and said it would be investigated.
I reached out to JetBlue for a statement, and they responded that due to this incident, they have now changed their previous policy, which allowed crewmembers to wear one unoffensive personal pin of their choice. Crewmembers can now only wear pins approved or issued by JetBlue. The airline notes that they have apologized to Mr. Faust and hope to serve him again in the future. They also note that after further review of the incident, they will take action against any employees that violated JetBlue policies.
“As New York’s Hometown Airline, we are proud of our long history welcoming customers of different backgrounds and faiths from around the world. JetBlue does not tolerate discriminatory conduct, and we are committed to providing a respectful and welcoming environment for all our customers and crewmembers. We are taking this matter very seriously and conducting a full investigation into our crewmembers’ actions. We will take appropriate action once our investigation is complete as a result of non-compliance with any JetBlue policies.
At JetBlue, our #1 value is safety, and it guides every decision JetBlue makes. Our crewmembers should be focused on the safety of our flights and delivering a great customer experience. We have changed our uniform policy to make clear that on board the aircraft is not the right place for crewmembers to advocate positions on certain issues or political topics. Going forward crewmembers will only be permitted to wear pins approved or issued by JetBlue.
We had previously identified that our pin policy, which had dated back many years and allowed crewmembers to wear one unoffensive personal pin of their choice, needed to be updated to reflect the current environment. In light of this incident, we urgently expedited this change.
We have reached out to listen to Mr. Faust and offer our apologies for the breakdown in our policies during his flight. We hope with these actions we can welcome him back onto a JetBlue flight in the future.”
I know that I wouldn’t have said anything about a pin, but in this case speaking up has led to a company-wide policy change that is certainly logical in these times.
What do you think of Mr. Faust’s actions and the airline’s response?
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@JetBlue Horrible way to treat a very loyal customer pic.twitter.com/KhaQFoDCZP
— Paul Faust (@RealCoolGuyPaul) April 29, 2024
Jet Blue passenger says his flight was canceled without his knowledge after he was accused of a disturbance. @JetBlue
Full interview : https://t.co/qzMWzgiF2m pic.twitter.com/yCnY7d0GwW
— Stella Escobedo (@StellaEscoTV) May 7, 2024
JetBlue, shame on you, still have done nothing. Time to boycott!!! pic.twitter.com/DwGbjtbBYd
— Hugh (@springbok007) May 5, 2024
The most disturbing aspect of the story is the fabricated accusation that the passenger caused an in-flight disturbance, and the resulting harassment he faced. This was not yet addressed by the airline. A change in employee pin-wearing policy doesn’t have anything to do with responding to and preventing future malicious persecution of anyone.
@ Sara. Agreed they just for got that part?
Did they refund the ticket cost or offer a free flight?
Fly Delta in the future @
Flew Jet Blue to Mexico for Passover.
While we were a very large group the flight attendants were just not nice. Obviously bothered by a large group of Jews.
On the other hand the same large group were treated nicely by the cabin crew as well as the pilot on the return trip.
Crews should keep there personal feelings out of the cabin and treat passengers with respect
Regardless of the passengers religion.