A Texas woman is no longer welcome on Southwest flights after she hit a flight attendant in the face.
Southwest banned Vyvianna Quinonez after the Sunday morning fight was caught on camera and went viral.
“We do not condone or tolerate verbal or physical abuse of our flight crews, who are responsible for the safety of our passengers,” Southwest spokesperson Chris Mainz told the Washington Post.
The incident occurred after a flight from Sacramento to San Diego landed. A video recorded by another passenger shows the flight attendant and Quinonez arguing before Quinonez stands up and punches the employee. A male passenger quickly gets between the women to break up the fight.
***Video contains profanity and violence.***
The president of the Southwest employees union said the flight attendant had severe injuries and lost two teeth.
Quinonez was escorted by police off the plane and is now facing charges for felony battery.
The Federal Aviation Administration says there's been a trend of unruly passengers attacking airline employees now that air travel has picked up.
"Since Jan. 1, 2021, the FAA has received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly behavior by passengers, including about 1,900 reports of passengers refusing to comply with the federal facemask mandate," the federal agency said in a statement earlier this week.
Nearly 3,000 passengers have been banned by U.S. airlines since the start of the year, CBS News reported.
Photo: Getty Images