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Baldwin Apologizes to Passengers, Slams Airlines

Says industry using 9/11 as an excuse for lousy service

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 7, 2011 7:17 PM CST | Updated Dec 8, 2011 8:59 AM CST

(Newser) – More fallout from Alec Baldwin's American Airlines incident: The actor has taken himself off Twitter. "Let’s play a game called Mass Unfollowing. I want to crash this acct and start again," he wrote before deactivating his account, according to the New York Post. But that doesn't mean he's done talking; on the Huffington Post, Baldwin apologizes to his fellow travelers for delaying their flight. "It was never my intention to inconvenience anyone with my 'issue' with a certain flight attendant," he writes. Baldwin says that he and lots of other people were using their phones while the plane was still at the gate, but that he got "singled out" by the attendant "in the most unpleasant of tones."

He chalks up the incident in part to the lousy state of air travel in the US, especially since 9/11. "I believe carriers and airports have used that as an excuse to make the air travel experience as inelegant as possible." Flight attendants like the one he encountered have turned flying into a "Greyhound bus experience," and it's sad "that you've got to fly overseas today in order to bring back what has been thrown overboard by US carriers in terms of common sense, style, and service." Read the full post. Meanwhile, fellow passengers tell the Post Baldwin dropped the F-word and twice screamed for the flight attendant to tell him her name. All of this is great news for Zynga, which makes Words With Friends, the game Baldwin was playing when he got booted, the New York Daily News notes: Daily active users are up by about 300,000 since the incident, and Zynga is relishing the free publicity.

Actor Alec Baldwin arrives at PETA's 30th Anniversary Gala and Humanitarian Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010.
Actor Alec Baldwin arrives at PETA's 30th Anniversary Gala and Humanitarian Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010.   (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Actor Alec Baldwin presents at Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation's A Magical Evening Gala at Cipriani Wall Street on November 30, 2011 in New York City.
Actor Alec Baldwin presents at Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation's A Magical Evening Gala at Cipriani Wall Street on November 30, 2011 in New York City.   (Getty Images)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 41 comments
JoeQ
Dec 8, 2011 12:20 PM CST
Vote with your feet and the bad airlines go belly up ... eventually.
odowd80
Dec 8, 2011 11:08 AM CST
Yes Alec Baldwin is being a pompous dick. Fine. But he's right. Everyone who has flown anywhere in the last ten years knows he's right. Passengers are treated like cattle, employees of the airlines are over-worked and underpaid, the planes are filthy, the flights are overbooked and commonly late, fees are out of control, and lets face it...the rules regarding personal electronics are retarded and don't improve anyone's safety. In my opinion, Baldwin's comment is an insult to Greyhound...they do a much better job.
theolddog
Dec 8, 2011 9:01 AM CST
But it is sad, I think, that you've got to fly overseas today in order to bring back what has been thrown overboard Well then why does he not just move to Europe!!
 

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