A passenger who was removed from Hawaiian Air’s flight from Honolulu Thursday night claims mistreatment, unfair profiling, and humiliation by airline staff.
McCann Utu says he had booked seat 47 to honor President Trump, the 47th President. But after taking his seat, he was asked by a flight attendant to move to another seat further in front because the flight wasn’t full.
He said that he declined and explained the reason why he wanted to remain in seat 47.
Utu claims that the flight attendant then told him that she could smell alcohol on his breath. He was caught by surprise at the flight attendant’s comment and asked, “What does that have to do with anything?”
According to Utu, the flight attendant said they have to be cautious with people who are intoxicated. He asked the flight attendant, “What does that have to do with me?” Since he wasn’t causing any trouble and was minding his own business.
He said after the flight attendant left, another one approached and told him to gather his belonging as they were removing him from the aircraft.
When he asked why the flight attendant said her colleagues felt threatened or uncomfortable with him on board.
Utu videoed the back and forth he had with the second flight attendant, where he repeatedly asks what did I do, and even asks to speak to the captain.
He was removed from the aircraft and found airport sheriffs waiting to escort him. Utu said he asked what reason Hawaiian Air had given for his removal, but the airport sheriffs couldn’t provide one. He was told that since he no longer had a ticket, that was grounds for them to remove him.
Utu claims that at the last minute Hawaiian Airlines decided to rebook him on the same flight he was removed from. But, he said, at that point the damage had already been done. “I wasn’t going to go back on the flight after how they treated me,” he told KHJ News. “They had the nerve to come and ask me to come back, that they decided to rebook me after all the drama.”
He said he was taking legal action against the airline and attorney friends in Texas have already reached out to represent him.
When asked for a comment, Hawaiian Airlines spokesman Alex Da Silva said, “Our crew members removed a passenger from our Honolulu to Pago Pago flight yesterday (Thursday) for failing to comply with their instructions prior to departure. Safety is our priority and we apologize to guests impacted by this disturbance.”
