A Delta Air Lines flight flying from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) had to divert due to an unruly passenger. The flight, which initially intended to fly to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), was forced to divert its route and land at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). The plane arrived just before 21:00 local time and was immediately met by law enforcement after its arrival, and the passenger was removed from the plane.

Delta Flight 134

The operating aircraft was an Airbus A330-200, and because of this incident, the airplane arrived at its destination, Amsterdam, almost three hours late.

Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-302 N823NW
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

The airline did not specifically say what the unruly passenger did that caused the plane to divert. The airlines also stated that this is a standard procedure based on similar circumstances. In a statement, the airline said,

"We have zero tolerance for unruly behavior on our aircraft and express apologies to our valued customers and crew for experiencing this unfortunate delay in their travels."

Another incident in an increase in disgruntled or aggressive passengers

The Delta Air Lines passenger being removed from the plane for being unruly is following a recent trend of many passengers causing diversions due to poor behavior on flights.

Early last week, a disruptive Frontier Airlines passenger was "voted off" her flight. Frontier Airlines flight F9 807 was heading to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport from Trenton Mercer Airport. The incident began with an altercation between a couple and flight attendants. The initial argument began after the couple was dissatisfied with their seating arrangements and wanted to be closer to the front of the plane.

Shortly after the disagreement, another passenger made several remarks about the initial couple's behavior aboard the flight. This caused a larger disagreement between the couple and the other passenger. Because of this argument, the plane was held at Trenton Mercer Airport and did not depart on time. Eventually, as the argument escalated, flight attendants called security officers to board the flight to escort the unruly couple from the aircraft.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320neo | N384FR 'Mojave the Desert Tortoise'
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock

After the couple was forced to deplane, other passengers took the matter into their own hands and proceeded to vote on the status of the third passenger. Ultimately, the majority of the flight raised their hands, voting for the passenger to be taken off the plane as well.

Several other incidents involving disruptive passengers have happened over the past few months as well. Jet2 recently announced that they had banned a passenger for life.

The passenger forced his flight, which was initially traveling from Glasgow International Airport (GLA) to Dalaman Airport (DLM), to divert to Sofia International Airport (SOF) in Bulgaria. The passenger allegedly behaved "in such appalling fashion" that the flight crew was forced to divert the aircraft. Law enforcement met the plane to offload the passenger.

Another recent incident includes a disgruntled passenger that phoned in a bomb threat after missing his flight. United Airlines banned another passenger that assaulted an employee at San Francisco International Airport. Early last week, three other passengers were escorted off a Jetstar Flight after a violent disagreement.