Yesterday, I wrote about JT Genter being kicked off an American Airlines flight for moving the bag of a crewmember without permission. Now the flight attendant has purportedly come forward to tell his side of the story and Genter has responded.

Flight Attendant Claims JT Genter Refused To Comply Before He Was Removed From American Airlines Flight

I won’t rehash the entire story, but you can read my post on what happened here.

> Read More: Travel Blogger Kicked Off American Airlines Flight By Power-Tripping Flight Attendant

The flight attendant in question, who identified himself as Scott Shoup, appears to be an AA flight attendant based in New York JFK. He left the following comment on View From The Wing:

I am the flight attendant whose bag was removed from the overhead bin by Mr. Genter. I agree that he should not be removed from the flight for this reason. If he had simply asked someone in the crew about space for his bag, I would have been happy to move mine to accommodate his. There was more than ample space further forward and I was not married to the spot above his seat.

I contend that Mr. Genter was well aware that my bag was a crew bag ( I have crew tags on it…) and took umbrage over the fact that my bag was in “his” overhead bin. Again, I would have moved it for him if asked and I don’t think this conflict over space is a proper reason to remove him.

The real reason he was removed was because he indicated that he did not have to comply with crew member instructions, basically defying me and 3 other flight attendants. Mr. Genter indicated to me, the purser and 2 other flight attendants that he did not have to follow the rules and there was nothing we could do about it.

I think it is reasonable to expect that this defiant and non compliant behavior would continue after take off. That is a problem not only for the security of the flight but also for the financial bottom line of my company. If he chose to remain non compliant and an incident arose with him inflight we would have been forced to divert to another airport to remove him there, costing the airline and the passengers money and time. In consultation with the captain and corporate security we determined that it was prudent to have Mr. Genter removed to avoid disrupting the otherwise normal operation of this flight.

Of course, at this point, we can only speculate as to whether this really was the flight attendant in question, but it represents an extraordinary escalation of the sort of conflict that is typically handled behind the scenes.

There are two big differences among the two accounts:

• Was the bag clearly labeled with crew tags?
• Did Genter say he would not comply with crewmember instructions (“The real reason he was removed was because he indicated that he did not have to comply with crew member instructions, basically defying me and 3 other flight attendants.”)

The second post, in particular, seems like a huge stretch. I cannot believe Getner would ever say that…and pushing back on moving his bag to business class because it contained his electronic devices and medication does not strike me as “delaying crewmember instructions” as much as it does reasoning with an unreasonable demand. Flight attendants should be treated with respect, but they are not gods onboard. You do not have to follow unlawful regulations…

As I said yesterday, I’ve known JT for years and it would surprise me greatly if it turned out the flight attendant was telling the truth. Genter also claims to have recordings, which I urge him to release at this point, especially after his honesty has been called into question by this flight attendant.

The flight attendant should have de-escalated the situation instead of making it worse. Shoup now uses carefully-tailored language in his side of the story (“I think it is reasonable to expect that this defiant and non compliant behavior would continue after take off. That is a problem not only for the security of the flight but also for the financial bottom line of my company.”), but I believe Genter that he was not at all defiant in the way the flight attendant alleges.

Genter Responds To Flight Attendant

Genter provided the following response to Live And Let’s Fly:

“If this is a statement from the actual flight attendant, this is a slam dunk defamation case. The flight attendant cannot prove these claims, and I have audio recording of the incident that proves these claims are false.

That’s why these claims are being made in a non-verified forum (a blog comment section where you can list any name you want when commenting). If any of the crew members wants to make these claims on the record, I will respond accordingly. Otherwise, this statement should be disregarded as an anonymous internet comment.

It’s worth noting that American Airlines continues to decline to comment in the crew member’s defense. So, it’s seems the airline knows the crew’s actions were out of line. And it’s possible that the crew member is already facing disciplinary action based on internal reporting by the gate supervisor who was a party to the situation and listened to the audio recording.”

CONCLUSION

It’s rare to see a flight attendant take to social media (and even use his real name…) to offer his side of the story, but I’m glad he stepped forward. He’s either correct, or his post provides more fodder for his termination. Because I don’t think Genter lied, I suspect the latter is correct…and I hope Genter will release the audio files so we can listen ourselves.