ATLANTA — A Frontier Airlines passenger says two employees tried extorting him for money as he tried to board his plane.
He said he was even more alarmed when they said what they wanted to use the money for.
Demonta Roach said he could tell the employees that they have done this before, pressuring him to send the money so they could buy weed and get their nails done.
“Her words: I don’t give a damn what you’re in, as long as you have my damn money,” Roach said is what the employees told him.
It was a military discount Roach said he didn’t ask for.
“Her friend said, we normally charge $100 for this but since you’re in the military we’ll charge you $50,” Roach said.
Roach told Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln he was returning to his Navy base in Los Angeles and said two Frontier gate agents attempted to shake him down for $50 before letting him board his flight at the Atlanta Airport.
“It happened Monday on Veteran’s Day,” he said.
After arriving at the airport two hours early, he learned his flight was delayed. Roach said he decided to grab a bite to eat, about 50 steps from the gate.
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He said when he returned to the gate, he was the last passenger attempting to board. However, he said he was there well before the final boarding call.
“The lady closed the door, she said, ‘I don’t care who you report to if you want to get back on this plane, you have to pay me,’” he said.
Roach said he began recording cell phone video after the outrageous request from the two Frontier employees.
In the video, you can hear the employees ask Roach multiple times to send them the money via Cash App.
When he wouldn’t pay, he said they threatened to have him removed from the flight.
Lincoln reached out to Frontier. The company sent her a statement, saying:
“We take claims like this seriously, and our team is in the process of investigating the situation to determine what happened. In the meantime, we have offered the customer a voucher for $150 as a customer service gesture.”
Roach said eventually he was able to board the plane after pretending he would send the employees the money.
He told Lincoln he thinks the employees should be fired.
“If she did this to me, I can only imagine how many other people she’s also done this to,” Roach said.
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