Scottish Jet2 passenger ‘banned for life’ after ‘crew attacked’ on Tenerife flight

A Scottish teenager has been ‘banned for life’ from Jet2 after the airline claimed an incident onboard a Tenerife-bound flight was ‘one of the worst’ cases of disruptive behaviour the firm has seen.

Jay Dalziel, 19, allegedly forced the Glasgow flight to divert to Shannon Airport in Co Clare, Ireland, on Wednesday afternoon after acting in a manner the airline described as “appalling and deplorable.”

The Motherwell teenager has since been blacklisted from all Jet2 flights for life, reports Glasgow Live, and appeared at court on Thursday following what is understood to have been a serious incident onboard.

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It is alleged Dalziel became disruptive as soon as the flight took off from Glasgow as video footage captured the moment local police seemingly ‘dragged’ a topless man off the plane after cabin crew were ‘attacked’.

Jet2’s Managing Director Phil Ward has since confirmed the case was ‘one of the worst’ the airline has witnessed in its history and it will be pursuing the individual for all the costs incurred as a result of the diversion as well as banning him for life.

Mr Ward said: “This is one of the worst cases of disruptive passenger behaviour that we have ever witnessed, and we would like to apologise to all colleagues and customers onboard for what they had to experience.

“It is a disgrace that hardworking customers, families and colleagues should be subjected to such appalling behaviour and we will vigorously pursue Mr Dalziel for all the costs that we incurred as a result of this diversion, as well as banning him for life.”

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He added: “We would also like to thank customers and colleagues who helped deal with Mr Dalziel onboard, as well as Garda for their assistance in offloading him. We will support them fully with their investigations and Mr Dalziel should be prepared to face severe consequences for his actions.

“This event should act as a stark warning to anyone who thinks that it might be acceptable to behave in such an unacceptable manner onboard one of our flights. Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of customers enjoy their flights and continue to have a lovely holiday, and we will continue to work hard to provide our VIP customer service as always.”

Garda officers confirmed to Glasgow Live a passenger was taken into custody. A spokesperson said: “Gardaj attached to Shannon Airport arrested a man, aged in his 20s following an incident on board an aircraft that diverted to Shannon Airport earlier this evening Wednesday 12th June, 2024 at approximately 5.30pm.

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“Gardai met the aircraft and arrested the man under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997. He is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at a Garda station in County Clare. Investigations are ongoing.”

A Jet2 spokesperson said: “After Mr Dalziel was offloaded, a standby aircraft and crew were immediately flown to Shannon Airport to take customers to Tenerife, with Jet2.com apologising to customers for the delay to the start of their well-deserved holidays.

They added: “Ahead of the busy summer season, Jet2.com is using this incident to reiterate its commitment to its industry-leading Onboard Together policy. This policy sees Jet2.com take a zero-tolerance stance to the industry-wide issue of disruptive and offensive behaviour.”