An American Airlines flight was returned to JFK Airport following passenger disruption, according to reports.
Flight 2557 was bound for Georgetown, Guyana, on July 18 when it turned back to New York City after passenger Joel Ghansham called a crew member a “waiter.”
Local news outlet Demerara Waves Online News reported that it began when Ghansham, who was seated in business class, asked a flight attendant for help putting his luggage in the overhead compartment because he recently underwent spine surgery.
“He said, ‘No, I don’t do that.’ He said, ‘I don’t get paid that kind of money but if you don’t like it there is always another airline,’” the passenger said.
Another member of the crew then assisted him with the luggage. Later, during the beverage service, the initial crew member leaned back near Ghansham.
“He asked me if I wanted something to drink but I didn’t respond because I didn’t want to cause a scene, and he asked again and I said, ‘No thank you, waiter,’” Ghansham, who is described as a “cultural activist” by local news outlets, said.
The crew member reportedly responded that he was not a waiter and that he had the authority to turn the jet around. The pilot then said that the jet was returning to JFK Airport, where Ghansham claimed he was pulled from the flight and interviewed by police before being allowed to leave.
An American Airlines representative has since released a statement regarding the incident, describing Ghansham as a “disruptive passenger” who caused the flight to return to the city.
However, Ghansham took issue with the characterization and gaslighted the airline into apologizing to him instead.
“There was not a disruption. I never got up. There was not an argument, there was not a confrontation, nobody touched each other. He was wearing a mask. He wasn’t even loud. It was just his pride,” he said in a YouTube interview.
Successful in his efforts, the airline offered Ghansham an apology and provided him with 10,000 free miles as compensation.
“We are writing to follow up with you about the delay of flight AA2557 on July 18, 2023. We recognize that many of our customers’ important plans were significantly affected, and for that, we are very sorry,” the apology letter read.
