Outrage as video of 'rude' Frontier Airlines agents mocking passenger trying to check in goes viral

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA: Frontier Airlines gate agents faced backlash online after they behaved rudely with a passenger trying to check in for his flight to Boston.

The incident was caught on camera after the unidentified 45-year-old passenger went to check in for his Frontier Airlines flight from Raleigh to Boston last week.

Despite having 50 minutes to spare, he could not check in because he had missed the company’s 60-minute pre-departure window, the New York Post reported.

Passenger claims he was treated unprofessionally by Frontier Airlines staff

The 45-year-old man claimed that he did not know about the 60-minute rule and tried to solve things by speaking to a Frontier Airlines employee.

However, he was asked to pay a $25 fee to be able to check in, and from there, things began to turn sour.

The married man, who was on a business trip, shared, “They all kind of started chiming in, ‘Well, you should have checked the website.’ Like not in a professional or polite way. They were like, ‘It was your fault for not checking the website. Sorry, it’s on you.’”

He said that he and the staff argued for nearly 20 minutes before he decided to pay the money.

Passenger accuses Frontier Airlines staff of mocking him

The man, however, also said to himself, “I’m never flying this sh—y airline again,” which allegedly offended the agents.

“When I said that, the lady who I was talking to took a step back and gasped, and was like, ‘How dare you curse at me? I’m not checking you in. I don’t have to check you in.’ And my reaction was, ‘You will check me in.’ I think those were the words that I used,” he revealed.

The man further disclosed, “And when I said that, she completely just went — I don’t know  if ‘ballistic’ is the word, but essentially she shut off completely and absolutely refused to check me in.”

Soon, two other female employees of the airlines began to mock him.

Pointing their own phones at the passenger, the employees repeatedly laughed and said, “You thought you were gonna get on your flight?”

Passenger says Frontier Airlines staffers were ‘disrespectful to’ him

Sharing his frustration, the man said of the exchange, “What was remarkable to me also is that not one person on their side took the professional route or the high road.”

“Listen, it’s my money at the end of the day, and when somebody is caught off guard with a charge that they feel is in some ways unfair or unreasonable, of course, they have a right to express themselves,” he noted.

He added, “It’s not okay to be disrespectful of somebody for no reason, but I was not being disrespectful to them personally, in my opinion. I thought that they were being disrespectful to me out of the gate because I was complaining about a fee that I was completely caught off guard by.”

Eventually, cops got involved in the matter, and the passenger said, “I had a very, very professional conversation with two officers who were there and were completely empathetic.”

“They 100% seemed to agree with where I was coming from. I asked them, off the record, essentially, am I being ridiculous here? And they both with serious expressions, sympathetic expressions, shook their heads, ‘No, we see these sorts of disagreements with this airline frequently, and this is probably not going to be the last one,’” he stated.

Frontier Airlines terminates staff in question

The man, however, flew to Boston after buying a $500 JetBlue ticket. But he also got reimbursed by Frontier Airlines.

Later, a representative of the airline said, “We are aware of what occurred and have been directly in touch with the customer. The individuals in question, who work for a third party contractor, are no longer associated with the Frontier account.”

Internet calls out Frontier Airlines agents for ‘unacceptable behavior’ 

The video of the exchange has gone viral on the internet, with people on social media slamming Frontier Airlines. They took to X to call out the staffers for their “unacceptable” behavior while deeming them “bullies.”

An X user posted, “@FlyFrontier Pretty unprofessional on the part of the ticket counter folks. Just let the buy pay the $25 and rush to make his flight. If he doesn't then that's on him. No need to be rude and condescending.”

Another user wrote, “What's amazing is that there was not just ONE idiot. Not just TWO idiots. There were THREE idiots working for this very company. At the same location. On the same day. At the same time. Holy hell, @FlyFrontier what does this say about the rest of your staff at other locations?" 

"I am trying to steel-man this in terms of what might have come before the video that could explain this away, but I'm at a loss. And I am creative. lol And for anyone saying "30 minutes is not enough time to check in"... Have you never been stuck in traffic? Gotten lost? Missed an alarm? Enough time to taunt, enough time to check in.” they further said.

“I would walk to my destination before flying @FlyFrontier,” one person commented.

“@FlyFrontier Unacceptable behavior,” another remarked.

Someone else declared, “There is NO excuse for these Frontier Airlines employees' behavior. None. It is disrespectful, taunting, insulting and childish - It's like a pack of airline agent BULLIES!!! They are very happy this man will not make his flight? HAPPY??? I hope they get fired because they deserve it.”

“Gate agents at Frontier Airlines act like this because some dude tried to check in late (evidently you must check in 60 minutes before a flight and he was there 30 minutes before it.) The behavior seems ridiculously unprofessional, and there's a reason why Frontier has the reputation that it does. How would you react to being treated like this?” another added.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.