Overview

• An unidentified woman yanked another passenger’s hair and spat at her during boarding of a Southwest Airlines flight from New York’s LaGuardia to Kansas City.
• Flight attendants and fellow travelers restrained the attacker on the cabin floor before law enforcement carried her from the aircraft on a stretcher.
• In a statement to Newsweek, Southwest Airlines confirmed the customer was removed from the flight and denied future boarding.
• Social media posts indicate the outburst began after the woman objected to sitting next to a larger passenger.
• The airline’s zero-tolerance policy makes it likely she will be placed on Southwest’s no-fly list and revives questions over cabin safety protocols.