Police say passenger punched an airline employee in the head.
An employee for Southwest Airlines was hospitalized Saturday after she was allegedly assaulted by a passenger boarding a flight from Dallas Love Field to New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
According to the Dallas Police Department, Arielle Jean Jackson, 32, boarded the flight at 12:40 p.m. on Saturday, before having a verbal altercation with an operations agent who instructed her to leave the aircraft.
As Jackson was exiting, she had another verbal argument with a different Southwest Airlines operation agent at the front of the plane.
She then allegedly punched the employee in the head, resulting in the operations agent being taken to hospital.
Jackson was arrested and now faces a charge of aggravated assault.
“We have a Station Manager with her at the hospital with the full support of her Southwest Family sending our thoughts, prayers, and love,” an airline spokesman said in an emailed statement.
“Southwest Airlines maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding any type of harassment or assault and fully support our Employee as we cooperate with local authorities regarding this unacceptable incident.”
The Federal Aviation Administration has reported an unprecedented surge this year in incidents of unruly passengers, documenting 5,100 cases as of the beginning of November.
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