Passenger arrives taped to a seat and is charged with assaulting flight attendants

A Frontier Airlines passenger assaulted three flight attendants, punching one and groping the breasts of two others, on a weekend flight from Philadelphia to Miami, prompting one crew member to tape him to his seat until the plane landed, the authorities said. Part of the altercation was caught on video by other passengers, who jeered as the man was restrained for the remainder of Flight 2289, which left Philadelphia at 10:41 p.m. on Saturday and landed 2 hours and 37 minutes later. Frontier Airlines said in an initial statement on Tuesday that the flight attendants would be “relieved of flying” while it investigated, which drew sharp criticism from the Association of Flight Attendants, the nation’s largest flight attendants union. Later on Tuesday, the airline said that paid leave was in line with “an event of this nature.” The Association of Flight Attendants said that the encounter was emblematic of the hostilities faced by airline crews since the loosening of travel restrictions that had been put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic. It came amid a surge of reports filed by airlines with the FAA about unruly passengers, who have faced steep fines for disruptions. In one video, which was obtained by several television stations and received widespread attention online, the man, who police said had been drinking, repeatedly cursed at other passengers and at the crew. He said that his parents were worth “two million goddamn dollars.” Berry was booked into the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department on Sunday and was released later that day. Court date information was not immediately available from the department.<br/>