New Jersey Family Kicked Off JetBlue Flight Over Birthday Cake

A family from New Jersey was kicked out of a Las Vegas-bound JetBlue flight over a birthday cake. Minta and Cameron Burke, who were onboard a JetBlue flight with their two children, decided to bring a birthday cake as carry-on item. However, a spat occurred after they were asked to remove the birthday cake from the storage cabin.

A JetBlue flight attendant approached Cameron Burke and his family and asked them to remove his wife's birthday cake. Burke told New York Daily News, "A flight attendant nicely asked me to remove the cake from that compartment, so I moved it to another one." He said. "She then asked me to move it to underneath the seat in front of me, I did."

However, the JetBlue cake incident escalated when a second flight attendant started berating the first flight attendant. Burke explained, "She said I was being non-compliant. I said, 'Miss, have you been drinking?' Because her behavior was irrational and she stormed off."

Burke claimed that he approached the two flight attendants to try and resolve the issue after he was told that was being non-compliant. However, the said exchange was not on video. Burke, however, managed to record a video of airport security confirming that there was no evidence of misconduct that took place. One officer can be heard in the video saying, "No one is in trouble." Passengers were asked to exit the plane as well, so the Burke family could be evacuated off the JetBlue plane. The Burkes were refunded for their flight after they filed a report.

JetBlue issued a statement that implies a different version of the incident. JetBlue stated that the New Jersey family was at fault for storing the cake in the compartment which is made for emergency equipment, and refusing to comply. The airline claims, "[The customer] refused multiple requests from the crew to remove the items... became agitated, cursed and yelled at the crew, and made false accusations about a crewmember's fitness to fly."

Burke managed to book a United Airlines flight to Las Vegas the following day and intends to file a lawsuit against JetBlue. Burke said, "I want the flight attendant fired, she has no business serving the public," He further added, "I hope JetBlue will retrain their staff and recreate the culture I once loved."