On January 11, the networks exploded when a video began to circulate of the former UFC lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, arguing with the stewards of his plane because they wanted to change his seat. The Russian was in the emergency exit row, so command of the language was crucial to guide the rest of the passengers. Finally, given the refusal to change seats, ‘Frontier Airlines’, the airline, decided that he had to disembark, something that Khabib accepted and ended up abandoning the plane.
The flight in question departed from Las Vegas to San Francisco, as Khabib was attending UFC 311, where two of his students fight. The Dagestani will be present in the corner of the two title fights. In the co-feature fight he would support his cousin, Umar Nurmagomedov, in his title clash against Merab Dvalishvili. Then he would return to the cage for the star, accompanying Islam Makhachev in his fourth defense of the belt. Although for a few moments it seemed that Khabib was not going to arrive due to the incident, he reported that after an hour and a half he boarded another flight and arrived at his destination.
The setback occurred on January 11. The next day, the Russian made a statement explaining the situation. «The lady who came to see me with questions was very rude from the beginning. Even though I speak English very well and can understand everything and agreed to help, she insists on removing me from my seat. What was the reason for that, racial, national or otherwise? “I’m not sure,” Khabib said. He adds that after only “two minutes of conversation” security arrived to get him off the plane.
«I did my best to stay calm and be respectful as you can see in the video. But those crew members could do better next time and just be nice to customers,” he concluded. However, the airline has released an official statement, arguing that the decision was due to the lack of collaboration from the Russian: «Customer Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was sitting in an exit row, was asked several times if he was willing and able to help in the event of an emergency. According to the flight attendant, Mr. Nurmagomedov did not respond, despite repeated attempts, placing him in a position of non-compliance with FAA requirements. “The flight attendant informed Mr. Nurmagomedov that he could be moved to a different upgraded seat or exit the plane.”
They also add that the videos released to the networks take place after this first interaction. “As a result of the customer’s initial lack of response and his repeated refusals to a seat change, he was asked to disembark per airline and FAA policy. The decision to disembark the client was in no way related to his ethnic origin and we have refunded him and his travel companions the money for their flights,” the airline said in the statement.
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