Multiple sources are reporting that, based on court-filed documents, Hawaiian Airlines suffered an unruly passenger incident that caused one of their flights to return to the gate, the passenger to be removed and arrested, and the flight to be delayed.
FlightAware data shows that the incident occurred on Saturday, October 15, on HA flight 452, which was bound from Sydney to Honolulu. The plane departed gate 53 at Kingsford Smith Airport.
The previous unruly passenger incident on Hawaiian Airlines occurred in June, when a guest, en route from New York to Honolulu, tried to breach the Airbus A330 cockpit. When that plane landed in Honolulu, it was met by law enforcement. During the flight, the passenger remained restrained. They were not, however, detained by authorities.
How did this Hawaiian Airlines’ unruly passenger issue arise?
According to reports based on information from Downing Centre District Court in Sydney, the passenger, Daniele De Matos, age 36, is a U.S. citizen who appears to be from Walnut Creek, CA. She had purchased an expensive business class ticket to Honolulu. On that route, business fares can cost up to $3,000 or more one-way. Somehow, she was incorrectly seated in economy class, where fares can be as little as $500. Documents indicated she had been in Sydney for work in the software industry.
The report stated, “On boarding, cabin crew directed the accused to an economy seat which caused the accused to become verbally abusive towards the staff members.”
There were concerning mood swings that caused the airline to take decisive action.
Subsequently, De Matos was allowed to take to the seat she had purchased. At some point, the passenger again became abusive toward the flight attendants. Reportedly she was angered when a pre-departure drink she hadn’t finished was taken from her.
The passenger told flight attendants not to look at her for the flight’s duration. At one point, the flight attendant put her hand on the accused’s shoulder to try to calm her, but that further exacerbated the situation. She began staring at the crewmember who had taken away her drink in a concerning way after the aircraft had left the gate and was headed toward takeoff. Furthermore, the report said, “As a result of these interactions, the cabin crew advised the captain of the accused’s behavior.”
The captain formed the view that the accused’s erratic and disorderly behavior presented a risk to the safety of the aircraft.
At that point, the takeoff plans were abruptly aborted, and the plane returned to the gate at SYD to deplane De Matos. The passenger then refused to leave the aircraft as requested by Hawaiian Airlines personnel.
Australian Federal Police officers came onboard to arrest the passenger. They reported she was aggressive with them but ultimately exited the plane willingly.
She subsequently faced charges at Sydney’s Downing Center Criminal Court. The passenger pleaded guilty to behaving in an offensive or disorderly manner, affecting safety on the plane. She was convicted on the spot and fined A$600.
It isn’t known whether De Matos was later allowed to fly back to the U.S. on Hawaiian or if she was temporarily or permanently banned by the airline.
Please share your thoughts on this incident and how it was handled.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
HA should’ve handled the situation differently. They originally started the eereor which caused the passenger to act so erratically to begin with. Escalating the situation by physically touching her cause her to snap. HA owes this poor woman an apology and all reimbursement towards of whatever she had paid for her reservation. Period, end of story!
This makes menso sad to read.
Please … no one has the right to behave in this way unless being threatened with great harm.
Would you hire someone with this behavior, or want them as a friend?
Hawaiian Airlines is the Booze Cruise of the sky! First class drinks start the minute you take your seat and you’ll be served until you are unconscious with your phone on the floor and trash around you seat!
No problem getting completely trashed on Hawaiian Air.
Totally disagree, Hawaiian, American (HP/USAir) have been very responsible as to controlling the flow of Adult Beverage in the Sky. As one who before retirement, flew 46 of 52 weeks a year for 25+ years, as an Elite being Upgraded weekly, there may have been the 1 in 12 that may have been on the way to having too many, but Flight Attendants were always judicious in their control, Domestic or International. Hawaiian, our choice over the last 15 years for Hawaii and always in First, may be the most responsible as to controlling the flow. My opinion, is the problem begins pre-flight at Airport Facilities and those travelers who may carry on illegally their own small bottles. As with anything in life, ‘Responsibility’ is the key.
General comment, good job Hawaiian airlines (thumbs up!)
I was on the flight and as far as I am concern she should have been fined a lot more than $600. Because of her we missed our connecting flight to SF. Rebooked to another flight to Maui to SF, in which we yet again missed our connecting flight. Finally to get a last min flight to Oakland instead. Hand to pay another night dog fee and there were others in my family that hand to accomodate all the changes to help us. And we are just three of the many passangers that missed connecting flights that day! One person caused so much travel stress and delays pathetic! Because of one person I had the worst travel home experience of my life wwith my two kids.
I think that the airline made a mistake in Trying to put her in Economy and should have been more conciliatory with her and it probably would have eased her anger and not led to her being so aggravated. They tend to be very cavalier about passengers difficulties instead of truly being helpful or apologetic which could diffuse the situation instead of inflame
Seems like the passenger had a legitimate complaint. I believe crew could have de escalated the situation sooner. Flying sucks anyways, perhaps no more alcohol on flights would help.
I think that if she was put in an economy class that she had a right to be annoyed. they could have handled it more professionally and she could have been more mature about it.
both parties seem to feel they were in the right.
Maybe it’s fair for a first offense. Maybe not. The bigger takeaway from that part is how fast the justice system worked there in Australia. Low end crap happened. Crap was resolved. People moved on. We try to do better. Human.
Obviously an Eliteist in the IT field.
Passengers that misbehave and disrespect flight attendants should be dealt with legally and in this case she got what she deserved.
While the travelers behavior is over the top, Hawaiian trying to seat her in economy is ridiculous. Over-sold the flight Again Hawaiian?
It’s the airlines’ fault. The airline industry knowingly serves mind altering substances to passengers and then we are all outraged when a few of these passengers act up and inconvenience us with their loutish behavior. What do we expect? Stop serving alcohol on flights. I am in the medical field and when a patient arrives to the hospital intoxicated, they are legally not allowed to make decisions for themselves because they are technically impaired. They do not have the capacity to make good decisions. This lady was punished for behavior she committed while she was on a mind altering substance. That doesn’t even seem fair. It’s just Gris by the airlines. They make a lot of money serving those little bottles of booze.
My opinion, Hawaiian flight crew created the incident. The passenger should never have been directed to economy. Also the attendant should never have touched the passenger, even to calm her.
I think I might also be upset if I had booked and paid for Business Class, then told I had to sit in economy. Having had to fight for my seat, to then have a long-awaited drink removed, and then my request to be left alone violated, I’d be further upset. There was no mention of prior alcohol abuse, or any untoward or blatant behavior – other than a “look” when the FA, a stranger, put her hand on the individual “to calm her down”. I call BS Hawaiian. You screwed up and then you tried to justify your behavior. Not buying this one. How about you try treating customers as customers, rather than cattle, Hawaiian? Could go a long way in achieving the nirvana in the skies that you promise.
She didn’t have to be bitchy right off the bat,mistakes happen, let them attempt to fix first,then get pissy if that doesn’t work, I think Hawaiian is great personally 😉
There’s a certain way to behave in public and even more so in an enclosed space, shooting across open ocean at 560mph! If the crew felt this “person” was going to be a risk… or make the flight uncomfortable or unpleasant for the rest of the passengers… my thanks go to them for taking her off and sending her packing! Way to go crew! We appreciate you watching over everyone!
I donʻt believe that a fine of $600 AUD (about $450 USD) equates to ʻjustce’. Her actions cost Hawsiian thousands of dollars, and affected every crew member and PAX on board, as well the ground personnel.
Iʻve been in and around aviation my whole life, and if I had my way, every passenger that creates disturburance to cause a diversion, would be fined to equal the cost of actions required to secure the safety of the flight.
sounds like the right procedures were followed and justice was served.
the pilot made the right decision. fortunately, the crew advised the pilot of the behavior before take off. the behavior may have become more aggressive during flight and the consequences of that conduct could have been disastrous.
Wow. Staring in a concerning manner and being mouthy. I wonder how the crew treated her while they insisted she sit in Economy. Just sayin, they left out the second side perspective. Regardless, manners matter…greatly.
Hey we’re probably going off her boarding card… so I doubt they’d deny her a FC seat with a boarding card that said she was in that cabin. I’ve flown HA FC more than my fair share of times and the crews and never been anything but wonderful and respectful! “Just sayin!”
They were probably going off her boarding card… so I doubt they’d deny her a FC seat with a boarding card that said she was in that cabin. I’ve flown HA FC more than my fair share of times and the crews and never been anything but wonderful and respectful! “Just sayin!”
“…age 36, is a U.S. citizen who appears to be from Walnut Creek, CA.” “Documents indicated she had been in Sydney for work in the software industry.”
If there was ever a definition of a entitled yuppie GenX’er, this would fit the bill…
Considering that the generally accepted timeframe for Gen X stops at 1980, meaning 41/42 uears of age, your biased assessment is off base. Rather than trying to start a problem based off of inaccurate assessments and stereotyping, maybe just say aomething that can be defended with actual facts or say nothing at all unless it brings constructive ideas to the conversation. I am sure I could make sweeping generalizations about you based off of your comment, but given the lack of concrete evidence, I’ll abstain.
Considering that the generally accepted timeframe for Gen X stops at 1980, meaning 41/42 years of age, your biased assessment is off base. Rather than trying to start a problem based off of inaccurate assessments and stereotyping, maybe just say something that can be defended with actual facts or say nothing at all unless it brings constructive ideas to the conversation. I am sure I could make sweeping generalizations about you based off of your comment, but given the lack of concrete evidence, I’ll abstain.
Hello,
Punishment for poor behavior, aggressive behavior and violent behavior needs to be much more stringent.
Other passengers should not have the power to make others feel fearful, the power to delay flights, the power to make airline employees jobs more difficult nor the power to bring harm to others. Everyone on board should feel safe. I recently had an experience where, after landing and waiting to deplane, someone came through the aisle shoving passengers out of the way so that he could deplane. He knocked me over and into another passenger.
I did not know at that time that I had cancer which had metastasized into my bones. Shoving older people can be dangerous. The situation onboard is out of control.
I’ve stopped flying.
I’m sorry!
There is always two sides to a story, but it has been my experience that the best part of flying Hawaiian is always the flying part. Hawaiian personnel in the air, at least in my experience (475,000 miles) have Always been professional and attentive. I honestly can’t say the same for HA check in personnel.
An angry woman (from being initially erroneously seated in economy when she actually purchased business class) is then served alcohol. What could go wrong?
I wonder what her BAC was when she boarded the aircraft? Alcohol seems to be a contributing factor in a lot of these incidents. Serving drinks prior to take-off seems like a poor practice to me.
Based on the the description though, I can’t help but wonder if Hawaiian and the flight crew does not have some culpability here – they screwed up on an expensive seat assignment, the drink incident (which should have been immediately replaced), and when the passenger indicated, probably very firmly, that they wanted to be left alone, they tried to play pop-psycholgist.
It does sound like the passenger has an extremely short fuse and should get help for that. The guilty plea was probably out of embarrassment for her behavior.
It’s funny how money overrides everything. Hey let’s put booze in an establishment charge 3x more than normal and then put people in a steel tube for 9 hours where we serve more booze. What could go wrong? Bring back prohibition. No reason for alcohol to exist.
Unruly and Aggressive Behaviors should Never be allowed and when it does occur should not result in allowing anyone to simply walk away without consequences. A person doesn’t have to be wealthy to feel Entitled and not Privileged and too many these days believe that they can do and say as they please, maybe it’s time to check the Attitude with your Luggage! This will continue until everyone pays an Overwhelming Price.
I’m glad they convicted, fined and settled it right then. Unfortunately some choose to behave in such a manner and for some reason believe they are “owed” something. She was right to want her seat she paid for, however patience is virtue. So many humans have no regard for their behavior and how it affected everyone else on the plane. Hopefully she learned from this. I believe the airline handled it correctly.
My opinion, it was handled professionally and in a fair manner for all concerned. We may not have all the information, as to whether Alchohol prompted it from pre-Flight consumption, whether late Boarding and her Seat filled by some form of Upgrade, or simply the Seat, being downgraded initially. Having flown minimally 46 weeks a year for 25+ years, Passenger and Flight Safety are the most important issues, there are those who are allowed to board, have been drinking for an hour or more, their behavior ruins the experience for all. Since the Pandemic, it has only escalated with violence on the ground before boarding at incidents noted from Puerto Rico, Miami, Lauderdale and Philadelphia. One Year freeze on flying that Carrier, +$Fine.
I hope she lost her job.