Airline sues disruptive passenger; angry passenger sues airline

 

There should be more of it. 

With drunk and disorderly passengers on the upswing, one airline has decided to sue a passenger who abused air crew and caused a delay. 

Ryanair has initiated a private criminal prosecution in Spain against a passenger who allegedly behaved like a complete asshole, British media outlets reported. 

The airline says the passenger caused a 40-minute delay and "unnecessary disruption to 137 passengers".

The incident happened on a flight from Lanzarote to Santiago de Compostela in January.

This passenger "claimed to be a UN diplomat with diplomatic immunity, attempted to take a seat that was not assigned to him and became verbally abusive," the airline said.

He was removed from the flight by the Spanish Guardia Civil.

Ryanair says it has a strict zero tolerance policy towards passenger misconduct and will take decisive action

“It is unacceptable that passengers, many of whom are on a family holiday, are suffering unnecessary delay as a result of one unruly passenger’s behavior,” the airline said.

“We have initiated a private criminal prosecution against this passenger, in which the court may impose a sentence of 3-12 months imprisonment or a fine.

“These are just some of the potential consequences under Ryanair’s zero tolerance policy.”

But Ryanair is also being sued by a non-binary passenger because airline website did not provide gender-neutral title option for a flight booking|

The non-binary flyer is seeking £4,200 in damages.

After Ryanair refused to reach an out-of-court settlement, the complaint will now be heard by a court in Berlin.

As well as damages, the customer wants the airline to amend its booking platform to provide an option of a gender-neutral title.