A passenger video recorded a United Airlines ticket agent at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport threatening to cancel his ticket for capturing their dispute on camera.
Navang Oza, who was traveling home to the San Francisco bay area on May 4, said the ticket agent canceled his flight after he filmed an escalating dispute between the agent and himself, SF Gate reported.
“Stop! Stop! Put it down now,” the woman agent said in the video.
The dispute stemmed from the agent’s attempt to charge him $300 for checking a bag that weighed more than 50 pounds when he said that same bag, which was allegedly the same weight, only cost him $125 to check at San Francisco International Airport when he was traveling to New Orleans.
“In trying to get an answer, the lady was being rude,” Oza told NBC Bay Area. “I was shocked because I didn’t know she had the right to cancel my flight because I started recording.”
The video begins with the ticket agent pointing a finger at Oza, saying, “You did not have my permission to videotape.”
She then motions to her coworker and tells him to “cancel the reservation.”
When Oza asked why, she responded, “Because you did not have my permission.”
After the agent canceled Oza’s trip, the United agent pulled out her phone and started recording him.
“I’ll do the same thing,” she said, recording Oza with her smartphone. She eventually called the police, and when the officer arrived, Oza asked him if he could continue recording.
“Sir, you have the right to do whatever you want; it’s a public space,” the officer replied.
The SFist reported that Oza said he had two beers with his co-workers before heading to the airport, and police told him he was drunk, but the airline did not give a reason for canceling Oza’s ticket.
A spokesperson for United said the incident is under investigation.
“The video does not reflect the positive customer experience we strive to offer, and for that, we apologize,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We are reviewing this situation, including talking with Mr. Oza and our employees, to better understand what happened.”
United Airlines has been struggling to rebuild its public image after an incident in April where a doctor was dragged off a flight for refusing to give up his seat.