A United Airlines pilot appealed for calm after a racially-charged dispute related to the U.S. presidential election result erupted before a flight to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, took off from San Francisco, Calif. on Nov. 11.
In a short video posted to YouTube that day, the pilot can be heard, over the intercom, urging passengers to keep their political views to themselves during their three hour and 13 minute trip.
鈥淲e鈥檙e gonna be in a metal tube at 35,000 feet,鈥� the pilot said. 鈥淚 understand everybody has their opinions, that鈥檚 fine. If you support him (Donald Trump), great. If you don鈥檛, I understand. However, we鈥檙e out here to go to Puerta Vallarta to have a good time.鈥�
According to John Bauer, the passenger who uploaded the video, a scuffle occurred when an individual wearing a 鈥減laid shirt and a camo cap鈥� made a racist remark to an African American woman. Bauer wrote that the woman began to cry and 鈥渇reak out,鈥� prompting the flight crew to separate them and the pilot to intervene.
A spokesperson for United Airlines, Maddie King, confirmed the dispute in an emailed statement to CTVNews.ca.
鈥淥ur pilot was doing his best to diffuse an argument between two customers in order to get all the customers to their final destination safely,鈥� King wrote.
The pilot asked passengers to display some "common decency" towards one another and respect each other鈥檚 decisions. He added that no one is going to change someone else鈥檚 mind by arguing with them during the flight.
鈥淲hen cooler heads prevail and we can talk and realize that we鈥檙e all human beings, and we all can stick together and we can all feel for this country in our own way, then that鈥檚 what we should do,鈥� the pilot declared.
The pilot took a firmer tone when he ended his speech by telling the passengers that if anyone had a problem with his request and they still felt the need to 鈥渞ant and rave,鈥� then they could leave.
鈥淭here鈥檚 another flight tomorrow. You鈥檙e not going to be on this one,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 hope that鈥檚 clear.鈥�
The seated passengers erupted into cheers and started clapping to applaud the pilot on his sensible message.
