European budget airline EasyJet was busy trying to do damage control on Sunday after reports that a worker at Nice Airport in France punched one of the airline’s passengers who was holding a baby.
The altercation apparently began when the passenger complained about a long, 13-hour delay to the worker, who for some reason decided the best course of action was to unleash a punch. A photograph purporting to show the moment the worker took a swing at the passenger quickly went viral. Arabella Arkwright, who posted a photograph of the punch on Twitter, at first identified the worker as an EasyJet employee. “The man with the baby … went over and talked to the Frenchman and the Frenchman didn’t reply, he just smiled and smirked and then whacked this guy on the left side of his face,” she told BBC Radio 5 Live.
The airline denied the worker was a staff member, identifying him as an employee for the airport’s special assistance provider Samsic. “EasyJet is very concerned to see this picture and can confirm the person in the photo is not an easyJet member of staff and does not work for easyJet’s ground handling agents in Nice,” the airline said.
A director at the Nice Airport confirmed to CNN that “we had a serious problem with someone of staff from our subcontractor Samsic.” The employee has now been suspended. The airport also posted a statement on Facebook confirming the incident.
Arkwright, who said her husband held on to the attacker while they waited for police to arrive, implied the airline was at least indirectly to blame for the incident saying passengers had to endure a long delay without much information about what was going on. Although the man holding the baby was also taken away by airport authorities, he was later allowed to board the flight. “When he arrived on the plane, all the plane clapped him,” Arkwright said.
