As I stood at the Malaysia Airlines service desk at Sydney International Airport, a gentleman approached the counter and began apologising to the staff.  The staff member he was addressing was clearly was not interested. She said: “Please take a seat Mr Jones -we will be done in a few minutes”

As he walked away she giggled and said to the woman serving me and myself: “Jesus must have spoken to him“.

The context : ten minutes before he had been told there was a problem with his ticket and the staff would need a few minutes to fix it.  This pushed the passenger into a major melt down . He screamed at the staff demanding to be let on the flight. As the women explained to him that they  would need time to process his ticket, he filmed them. He continued filming as he told them that his rights were being taken away. The camera phone filmed away as he advised the staff that karma was real and that he knew Jesus. Furthermore,  Jesus would punish them for their wrong doing. After some very calm but firm responding by the staff, I think it gradually dawned on him that they were in fact helping him.

I was so tempted to film him for the passenger shaming file but was not sure I could do it that subtley! I was also tempted to hope he would not be let on my flight.

He was in fact on my flight, seated close to me. When he arrived, he unpacked his stuff and sat down in seat K (the window seat). After a few minutes another gentleman arrived and the following conversation ensured:

New Passenger: I think you are sitting on my seat

Mr Trouble: No this is my seat

NP: I am in seat K, the window seat

Mr T: the window seat is H. The aisle seat is K. You are seated in the aisle seat.

NP: No I requested, the window. It is seat K. Could you please move to your seat which is seat H.

Mr T then began to berate the new passenger insisting that the seat order ran FG KH.

NP stood there bemused and confused,  as I watched another meltdown. Agan, I was tempted to film it. This time, he did not invoke the name of Jesus.

The situation was resolved when Mr T grabbed a steward and demanded the steward tell the new passenger that he was in the wrong. When the steward confirmed that NP was correct and it was his seat, Mr T demanded the steward make the  new passenger swap seats! This did not happen and Mr T made a big show of angrily throwing his stuff onto the aisle seat as he huffed and puffed and grumbled.

We did not hear a peep from him for the whole flight. I hope the rest of his day was better and he did not take his own problems out on other people.

Should the airline have let a man like this fly?

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