On Jan. 22, Delta Flight 2598 took off from Los Angeles, headed to Minneapolis. About 40 minutes into the flight, while the plane was at an altitude of 37,000 feet, two female flight attendants got into an argument over work conditions and the disagreement escalated into a fist fight. A third female member of the crew intervened and ended up being punched.
The purser informed the captain who decided to divert the flight. While it did not appear there was any danger to the aircraft, the pilot wanted to learn what happened from the flight attendants. The plane landed in Salt Lake City, about 180 miles away.
A passenger told The Aviation Herald three crew members were removed from the plane for “bad behaviour”. The plane remained on the ground for 80 minutes until a replacement crew boarded the aircraft. The flight arrived at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport about 75 minutes late.
The incident was first reported by The Aviation Herald on Jan. 23. But it was only yesterday that Delta Airlines acknowledged what had happened.
In a statement to Fox News 9, Delta Airlines apologized for the incident. The airline apologized to passengers who were inconvenienced after the unscheduled stop in Salt Lake City and said, “The actions of these crew members in no way reflect the values and professionalism we expect from all of our employees.”
Delta also said a letter of apology was given to each passenger after the plane landed in Minneapolis. Passengers were also given travel vouchers or SkyMiles credits to compensate them for their inconvenience.
The airline has not said what disciplinary action, if any, will be taken against the pugilist flight attendants.
