At least two instances have been reported in the past ten days in which U.S. airlines have had to deal with passengers who have become unruly because of religion-related objections to some aspect of the flight. The New York Post reports on an incident last Tuesday in which American Airlines escorted a passenger off a flight he had just boarded at LaGuardia Airport. The passenger, despite attempts to calm him, continued to shout at the flight crew objecting to the gate agent and flight attendant wishing passengers "Merry Christmas." He shouted that not everyone celebrates Christmas. Passengers applauded his ouster from the plane.
Meanwhile Failed Messiah reports on a December 20 incident at New York's JFK Airport on a Delta flight to Israel. Haredi (Jewish ultra-Orthodox) men refused to take their assigned seats that turned out to be between two women. Other passengers, many of them Israeli, refused to move. The flight finally took off 30 minutes late after an American passenger changed seats to accommodate the men.
