Man Loses Cool After Learning Flight Was Cancelled, Punches Fellow Passenger

Despite the pandemic, there are people on the go. However, it remains that some airlines now have a higher chance of canceling flights due to one reason or another. Over at Florida's St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport on Boxing Day, finding out his flight had to be canceled did not sit well.

According to WFLA, the man who was identified as Efren Dawson lost his cool and began to shout profanities to a crowd that included children on Saturday night. He was enraged after finding out that his Virginia-bound flight had been scrapped.

Likely peeved at knowing that the flight was canceled, another passenger was in a foul mood as well on the same Allegiant flight. The man, whose identity has not been revealed, told Dawson to "shut his Black a** up". This resulted in the 20-year-old punching him in the face, nose and eye which caused his eye to swell and nose to bleed according to Pinellas County deputies.

In the aftermath of the commotion, Dawson was arrested for simple battery and booked at the Pinellas County Jail. He has since been released after posting a $500 bond, Tampa Bay 10 reported.

Dawson is black and the man he punched was reportedly white according to Pinellas County Sheriff's Office spokesman Corporal Chuck Skipper.

A spokesperson for St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport stated the matter and apologized to passengers for the inconvenience.

"We are sorry for our passengers and employees who were impacted by this individual’s unacceptable behavior," the statement read.

With most people busy traveling despite the restrictions set to safeguard them from the COVID-19 pandemic, people holed up at airports and left to wait are likely to be in a foul mood.

This included another incident where an American Airlines passenger filed a lawsuit against the airline after a flight attendant reportedly grabbed her and shook her arm after she used an extra blanket during a flight.

The woman was identified as Nathalie Sorensen of Miami who filed the lawsuit against American Airlines in Dallas. She is suing the airline for more than $1 million in Dallas County Court.