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Celebrities are just like the rest of us, even when they travel, right?
After all, nobody likes the hassles of the airport: taking off your shoes, figuring out the latest baggage rules, or shooing away the paparazzi when you’re just trying to buy a magazine or some M&Ms before your flight.
Okay, so perhaps celebrities have it worse — in some ways — when negotiating their way through air travel.
On the other hand, famous folks also have a colorful track record of freaking out both in airports and while cruising at 30,000 feet.
Countless news reports detail some celebrity air rage incidents that many of us can relate to: Naomi Campbell went ballistic when her luggage got lost. And Clay Aiken got into a “dispute” with a fellow traveler when his in-flight nap invaded her personal space.
Other incidents get a little more extreme. Actor Alec Baldwin infamously lost his patience — slamming the bathroom door, pounding on the wall, cursing — when asked to quit playing Words With Friends on his phone. Icelandic singer Björk lashed out at a reporter in a Thai airport just for welcoming her to the country. And a near riot took place at London’s Heathrow after Snoop Dogg and some of his entourage were asked to leave a business-class lounge — and almost took down a duty-free shop with them.
The term “air rage” can be applied to anything from smoking onboard a plane to assaulting the flight crew. Andrew Thomas, a professor of international business at University of Akron, founder of Air Rage.org, and author of the book Air Rage: Crisis in the Skies, says that famous people have a higher likelihood of air rage, in large part because they tend to sit closer to the cockpit.
“There is an entitlement factor that goes with folks in the front of the plane, and I would extend that to celebrities as well,” he says. “There is a disproportionate number of air rage incidents that take place in business class — people who are not always used to the answer ‘no.’ ”
The FAA and Department of Homeland Security both monitor air rage incidents on U.S. flights, but they don’t strictly track it on all levels. Security breaches, meanwhile, are reported to the Department of Homeland Security. Technically, the FBI has jurisdiction over airspace, which is why anyone who breaks the rules by “interfering with the flight crew” will often be met by an FBI agent, rather than airport or local police, for questioning upon landing.
An Air Transport Association spokesman says that the airline industry group doesn’t track air rage at all, but that, “anecdotally, the number of unruly incidents, relative to the total number of travelers, is minuscule. Flight attendants do an excellent and commendable job at diffusing the potential for rage onboard.”
Interestingly enough, a striking number of celebrity air rage incidents involve London’s Heathrow Airport. Thomas speculates that the Heathrow problem stems from the fact that it’s the most-traveled international hub — and, perhaps, because of its easy access to the main trigger of in-flight rage: booze. “They really push the duty-free stuff at Heathrow,” he says, “so a lot of people buy their own stuff and carry it on the plane.”
But, for PR reasons, airlines don’t report the vast majority of incidents, unless there’s an extreme case requiring legal action. “The airlines’ unstated policy,” Thomas says, “is to get this passenger the hell out of here — and then let it go.”
More From Travel + Leisure:
Susan Boyle
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British singing sensation Susan Boyle startled passengers in a VIP lounge at London’s Heathrow Airport with erratic behavior, shouting curse words and singing into a mop.
One witness told the Sun: “She was singing and dancing around, shouting obscenities at full volume.” However, another onlooker told IrishCentral.com that the story was blown out of context. According to that witness, someone asked Boyle to sing and she complied.
But when an irritated flier made a snide comment, she grabbed hold of the mop saying she could sing if she wanted and added, “Oh, excuse me, sir, let me shine your shoes” and used the mop to shine his shoes.
Consequences: A British Airways official stayed with Boyle in a corridor until she boarded the Chicago-bound flight (Boyle was to appear on Oprah in January 2010). British Airways later released a statement: “A customer in the BA lounge on Tuesday was asked to temper their behavior as it was becoming disruptive.”
Billie Joe Armstrong
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In September 2011, just before takeoff from San Francisco International Airport, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant asked the Green Day lead singer to pull up his low-sagging pants. According to reports, Armstrong replied: “Don’t you have better things to do than worry about that?” After repeated requests, he became very angry. The flight attendant said, “Pull your pants up or you’re getting off the plane.”
Consequences: Armstrong and his traveling companion were thrown off the Burbank-bound flight. He then Tweeted, “Just got kicked off a southwest flight because my pants sagged too low!” The airline apologized and put him on the next flight out.
Wes Scantlin
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“When a grown man cannot purchase a beer on a five-hour flight from Boston to LA, then the airlines are completely losing their minds,” Puddle of Mud lead singer Wes Scantlin told TMZ.
He insisted that he was completely sober and had only wanted to purchase a beer after a two-hour nap on a JetBlue flight he took in September 2012. Officials, however, claim that the rocker was so drunkenly combative and argumentative that his unruly behavior created a public disturbance. When he was denied the drink, Scantlin and a flight attendant got into a verbal altercation and caused the plane to make an emergency landing in Austin, TX.
Consequences: Scantlin was booted off the flight, arrested, and charged with public intoxication. The other passengers each received a letter of apology and a $50 voucher for being grounded for more than an hour in Austin. However, the judge since dropped the charges due to insufficient evidence.
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