Actions that may lead to being offloaded from a flight.

I have been in the airline industry for over ten years and I have seen and experienced as much. Some experiences good and exciting and others not as much. One of the experiences that happens frequently is when a customer is denied boarding or offloaded from a flight. You can imagine, this is not such a good experience. I would not want to be in this kind of a situation. Apart from the fact that I do not wan to miss my pre-planned activities and sometimes my pre-paid accommodation fee, it is an embarrassing experience to say the least.

Various factors may lead to you being offloaded from a flight, some of your own making and other situations beyond your control like overbooking by the airline or weather situations that may prevent your plane from taking off.  Am not going to talk about the latter situations because there is nothing much you can do about it. However, there are situation within your control that you can avoid to ensure you take your flight and enjoy your trip.

The following are a few actions that may lead to being offloaded from a flight.

Being abusive to either staff of fellow passengers
A passenger who is abusive is considered a security risk and unfit to travel by air.

Being drunk
A drunk passenger is equally considered dangerous and poses safety risks to a flight. Cut down on that booze and show up sober for your flight.

Smoking on a flight
You can equally be considered a terrorist; smoking is strictly prohibited on flights and in most airports. No one wants to start putting out a fire leave alone above 3000 feet above sea level.

Ignoring flight attendant instructions
It’s against the law to interfere with a flight attendant’s instructions, and even the most innocent comment could have you on the wrong side of the law. 

Being sick or unhealthy
If the staff thinks that you are too sick to travel, you will not be allowed on board a flight. No one wants to have a medical emergency on air. Some medical emergencies have had flights diverted to remotes places, neither the staff nor fellow passengers find this amusing.

Not checking in on time on time for your flight.

All airlines have a check in time limit, it could be 30 minutes prior to departure for domestic flights to 1 hour for international flights.They vary from airline to airline. To avoid being late for your flight, come earlier for check in or better still check in online.

Travel documents
Not having the correct or all required documents. This can range from Passport, air ticket. visa, letters of invitation or letters that permit you entry to your destination, travel insurance among others.

Enough funds
Some destinations require you to have a minimum amount of funds for entry and they may give airlines directives to ensure this is done before guest is brought to their territory. Airlines may incur fines if they fail to meet this requirement. Before you embark on your travel do your research well.

Do you know of some factors that can prevent you from taking your flight? Have you been denied boarding or offloaded from a flight before?