JetBlue is facing calls to boycott its airlines after a Jewish passenger, Paul Faust, posted a video to Instagram saying he was accused of “causing a ‘disturbance'” after he mentioned a flight attendant’s “Free Palestine” lapel pin to a supervisor.
Faust also said the police were called on him and his return flight from Las Vegas back to Fort Lauderdale was canceled without notice by the airline on April 28.
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Faust, president and co-founder of RingBoost.com, told Newsweek on Monday afternoon via a phone interview that he, personally, wasn’t initially upset by seeing the pin. He said the passenger beside him, who he said was also Jewish, noticed the pin and was more upset than him. Faust added that he and the passenger quietly discussed Pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses and the ongoing war in Gaza during the flight.
He said in the now-viral video that he felt the need to speak, privately, to the lead flight attendant when the crew member put on an apron and moved the Palestine pin on top of the apron, while not moving other pins she was wearing, so it still prominently showed.
Travelers check in for their flights for JetBlue flights at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) on December 23, 2023, in New York.
AFP/Getty Images
In the video, Faust said he told the lead flight attendant, “I just want to tell you I’m a frequent flyer, and it was upsetting that she wore that, and that she only changed that pin to the front of the apron, not the others. Maybe speak with her after we leave the plane. Just talk about how it was maybe a little insensitive, it made me feel a little uncomfortable. I deliberately didn’t want there to be an issue.”
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He said he felt assured by that brief chat then went back to his seat with no issues for the duration of the flight.
When the plane landed in Las Vegas, Faust said an official demanded to see his ID for causing a disturbance on the plane. Faust said he left the conversation with the official briskly, then found out the next morning that JetBlue had canceled his return flight.
“This all could have been handled internally. I intentionally didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, then it cascaded, and they made it worse,” Faust told Newsweek.
Faust said he called customer service after realizing his flight was canceled.
“She read me the notes. It said ‘Mr. Faust caused a disturbance on the flight, did not listen to flight crew instructions’ – not true, there was no instruction I was given – ‘didn’t listen to the supervisor that met him at the gate … And said Mr. Faust said everyone should go to Gaza so they can be killed.’ Again, not true at all,” Faust said on the Instagram video.
On Tuesday, a host of social media accounts were calling for JetBlue boycotts.
“Wow, this is absolutely inexcusable @JetBlue. I’m also a Mosaic member and will not fly with you again until this is rectified,” wrote conservative commentator Dave Rubin on X, formerly Twitter, to his 1.4 million followers.
“Jet Blue cancelled the flight of a peaceful, respectful and sensible passenger because he’s Jewish. Moreover, Jet Blue is allowing flight crew to wear pro-Palestine propaganda on flights and to harass passengers with it. Unbelievable. Boycott Jet Blue!” wrote Paul A. Szypula on X.
“Woke Jet Blue canceled the flight of a Jewish passenger due to allegations from a pro-Hamas flight attendant who falsely accused him of causing a disturbance on the plane. Boycott Jet Blue!” wrote the @ImMeme0 account on X.
“Boycott JetBlue immediately. Please share @coolguypaulfaust story as much as possible,” wrote the @joanofjudea Instagram account.
Faust told Newsweek that social media support has been “extremely supportive” after he posted the video.
Newsweek reached out to JetBlue via email Monday afternoon for comment.
Faust added in the phone interview that he has been a loyal JetBlue flier, and he’s been a member of the budget airline’s Mosaic membership club for 10 years. Faust said he spoke to an official with the airline this week, who told him that JetBlue was already looking into changes to its uniform policy and that this incident would “accelerate” potential updates to that policy.
He also said JetBlue is investigating the incident. However, he said he hasn’t received a formal apology in writing from the airline, which he believes he deserves.
“They have failed at every angle of this. They should put it all in writing,” said Faust, who added that he doesn’t plan to file a lawsuit against the airline. “There still has been no apologies for completely fabricating the story they told about me or for the police report.”
When reached via email Monday night, Derek Dombrowski, JetBlue’s senior manager of corporate communications said in part, “We had previously identified that our pin policy, which had dated back many years and allowed crewmembers to wear one unoffensive personal pin of their choice, needed to be updated to reflect the current environment. In light of this incident, we urgently expedited this change.
We have reached out to listen to Mr. Faust and offer our apologies for the breakdown in our policies during his flight. We hope with these actions we can welcome him back onto a JetBlue flight in the future.”
Update: 5/6/2024, 9:12 p.m.: This story has been updated to clarify the headline and to add comments provided by JetBlue.
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