A New Jersey family plans to take legal action against JetBlue after they were kicked off a Las Vegas bound flight over their carry on–a birthday cake.
Speaking to the New York Daily News on Saturday (May 13), Cameron Burke says the incident with his wife Minta and two children happened May 3 when they were heading to the vibrant city to celebrate Minta’s 40th birthday. Burke says they checked the cake from popular bakery Tonnie’s Minis through TSA, but faced issues on the flight. “A flight attendant nicely asked me to remove the cake from that compartment, so I moved it to another one,” he said. The speech pathologist says the moment got heated when another attendant came over and berated her co-worker then instructed them to remove the cake from the plane.
In a video recorded by Burke, his children are seen in tears while Minta, in her playful birthday crown looked bewildered.
“She said I was being non-compliant,” Burke said. “I said, ‘Miss, have you been drinking?’ Because her behavior was irrational and she stormed off.” His comment led to Port Authority police officers investigating the incident. While the officers stated the family did nothing wrong, they were instructed by JetBlue to remove the family from the plane.
Family kicked off Jet Blue over a birthday cake. The poor kids were frightened and crying. Boycott @JetBlue #jetbluehttps://t.co/qgbS83qYxa
— Bad Kitty For Congress ?? (@pepesgrandma) May 14, 2017
The Burkes were compensated for the flight but were offended by the entire ordeal. JetBlue shared a statement with CBS News about the incident and placed blame on the family.
“The customers became agitated, cursed and yelled at the crew, and made false accusations about a crew member’s fitness to fly,” the airline said. “After the customers refused to speak with a team leader about the situation, the Port Authority Police Department was called and the entire aircraft deplaned. The Captain determined the customers’ behavior demonstrated a risk for additional escalation in air and would not be allowed to fly.”
Burke booked another flight through United to celebrate his wife’s birthday. He’s also reached out to Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network and plans to file a lawsuit fairly soon.
“I want the flight attendant fired, she has no business serving the public,” he said. “I hope JetBlue will retrain their staff and recreate the culture I once loved.”