A Jewish JetBlue passenger accused the airline of “blatant antisemitism” after it canceled his flight because he objected to a flight attendant wearing a “Free Palestine” pin during his trip to Las Vegas.
Paul Faust, a 54-year-old telecom entrepreneur from Parkland, Fla., had flown on April 28 from South Florida to Sin City, where he was met by a JetBlue official after getting off the plane, he said in a video about the incident, first reported by DailyMail.com.
Faust, a father of two, said the JetBlue official accused him of “causing a disturbance” during the flight and called the Las Vegas police department.
JetBlue said it has launched an investigation into the incident.
“We are taking this matter very seriously and conducting a full investigation into our crew members’ actions,” a representative for the airline told The Post on Monday.
“We will take appropriate action once our investigation is complete as a result of non-compliance with any JetBlue policies.”
Faust said that he initially kept quiet after seeing the flight attendant wear several pins — including a one bearing the Palestine flag and the words Free Palestine, as well as a Black Lives Matter badge — but spoke up during the trans-continental flight after she began serving drinks.
He claimed the flight attendant had shifted the pro-Palestinian pin to the front of her apron — a move that he interpreted as provocative and deliberate.
Faust said he brought his complaint to another flight attendant, saying: “I just wanna 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.”
The flight attendant reportedly told Faust: “Okay, I’ll speak with her.”
“I don’t want there to be an issue,” Faust is said to have replied.
“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.”
After passengers disembarked, Faust said one of the flight attendants pointed him out to another JetBlue official who was wearing a yellow vest.
“Sir, I need to speak with you,” the official is said to have told Faust.
Faust said that he was told he had caused a disturbance and that he needed to produce ID.
“I didn’t cause any disturbance. I’m not giving you my ID,” Faust said he told them.
The JetBlue official is then said to have called the police, telling authorities: “I’m standing here with a passenger that caused a disturbance on our flight.”
Faust said he walked away because “I was not going to sit there while he made up lies.”
The next day, Faust, who was scheduled to fly back to Florida, but said his return flight was canceled.
JetBlue didn’t bother to notify Faust of the cancellation, he said.
When Faust called customer service to follow up on the matter, he said the airline booted him because he had “caused a disturbance on the flight, did not listen to flight crew instructions, and didn’t listen to the supervisor at the gate.”
Faust denied the accusations.
The JetBlue spokesperson said the airline has expedited a change to its pin policy, which had dated back many years and allowed crew members to wear one inoffensive personal pin of their choice, “to reflect the current environment.”
The airline has reached out to Faust offer to “our apologies for the breakdown in our policies during his flight,” the rep said.
“We hope with these actions we can welcome him back onto a JetBlue flight in the future.”
Several social media users called for a boycott of JetBlue after Faust posted his video.
