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Frontier Airlines flight attendant hit by passenger with intercom phone

DENVER — A Frontier Airlines flight attendant was allegedly assaulted by an intercom phone wielded by a passenger, airline officials said Sunday.

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According to officials with Frontier Airlines, the alleged incident occurred Sunday at Denver International Airport, KDVR-TV reported. Flight 708 was about to depart for Tampa, Florida, according to the television station.

The airline said in a statement that when a passenger became “belligerent,” she were asked to leave the aircraft, KUSA-TV reported.

“As she was deplaning, she picked up an intercom phone and struck a flight attendant with it,” Frontier said in a statement, according to CNN.

It was unclear what led the passenger to become unruly.

According to the Denver Police Department, the woman was cited with assault, KUSA reported. Officers helped the woman book a different flight, according to the television station.

The flight attendant was not seriously injured, KUSA reported.

The flight was delayed approximately four hours and took off for Florida at about 5:30 a.m. MDT, KDVR reported.

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents 50,000 flight attendants at 19 airlines including Frontier, issued a statement in support of the flight attendant, according to the television station.

“Violence has no place anywhere and certainly not in a mode of transportation that requires strict procedures to keep everyone safe. That’s why flight attendants, passenger service agents and pilots are trained to keep problems on the ground,” union president Sara Nelson said. “When incidents like this happen, it not only risks the safety of the workers involved, it takes away from flight attendants’ and other aviation workers’ ability to respond to medical, safety, or security emergencies. Bottom line: it puts everyone at risk and there’s zero tolerance for that.”

According to statistics on its website, the Federal Aviation Authority received reports of at least 670 unruly airline passengers as of May 14, 2023.

The FAA said there were 2,455 passengers classified as “unruly” during 2022, CNN reported.