Spirit Airlines' Passengers Brawl Over Cancellations at Fort Lauderdale Airport

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — Angry airline passengers became unruly and began brawling on Monday night at the Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport after discount air carrier Spirit Airlines canceled a number of flights. The airline, whose motto is "home of the bare fare" blames the cancellations on a labor action by pilots. Police arrested three passengers.

The raucous incident played out on cellphone video that has gone viral. Broward Sheriff's deputies said the atmosphere resembled the start of a riot. (Watch video below.)

"We are shocked and saddened to see the videos of what took place at Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport this evening. This is a result of unlawful labor activity by some Spirit pilots designed to disrupt Spirit operations for our customers, by canceling multiple flights across our network," Spirit said in a statement emailed to Patch. (Sign up for our free Daily Newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Aventura Patch.

"These pilots have put their quest for a new contract ahead of getting customers to their destinations and the safety of their fellow Spirit Team Members. It is for this reason, Spirit has filed suit in Federal Court to protect our customers' future travel," the statement added.

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The Broward Sheriff's Office said that one of the passengers who was arrested was screaming at airline employees and "challenged them to step outside to fight" as a crowd of nearly 500 people was incited to "near violence" against Spirit employees.

The three people arrested were all members of the same family.

"I was upset and they tried to say I started a riot for being upset," insisted 24-year-old Janice Waul of Brentwood, New York, who is facing charges related to the incident along with her two brothers. "This is my first time ever being arrested in my life —in my life — and I have a college degree so this is ridiculous."

Speaking to Local 10 News, she said she missed her graduation ceremony because of the ordeal. Her brother, Desmond, added that airport security treated his family like animals.

Watch the incident play out on cellphone video:

Photo courtesy of Spirit Airlines