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Kevin Smith misses Virgin America flight, throws another fit
Kevin Smith, a director and actor who played roles such as Silent Bob in Clerks is not a happy man. Late for his Virgin America flight out of New York earlier today he arrived at the gate only ten minutes prior to departure and was greeted by a closed door and a stern gate agent – neither of which were going to let him get on the aircraft.Despite his first class ticket, his calm reasoning and his wife's medication onboard in a checked bag, the gate agent wouldn't budge, and the flight left without him. In an online post on his personal site, he now swears that he'll never fly Virgin America again – or work with any other Virgin product – though in an update, he now says that VX has offered a full refund and additional free tickets.
While we at Gadling Labs surely do sympathize with Mr. Smith, we can't really blame the airline for their behavior. Passengers are required to be onboard well-prior to departure for security and cabin checks, and opening the boarding door (or moving around checked luggage for that matter) can severely delay a flight and adversely affect hundreds of innocent passengers. That's why they start boarding 30 minutes prior to departure.
For a rude gate agent, there is no excuse. But flip the situation around and one might understand why the employees were so stern. Virgin America flies dozens of flights out of New York each week, and most of those flights have a few passengers who don't make it on time. And among those passengers, you can bet that a fair share of them are full of spite. Dealing with five Kevin Smith's every day five days a week can probably turn even the nicest of people stone cold within a month.
For what it's worth, we think that Mr. Smith was treated more than fairly, especially considering he was rebooked on the next flight, filed his complaint in the air on Virgin America's free wireless and received an apology before he even touched the ground – all for something that was really his fault.
Perhaps, however, since his kerfuffle with Southwest earlier this year earned him so much media attention, he's just trying to stoke the fire and earn it bit more. Don't be surprised if Kevin Smith cologne hits the shelves in a store near you tomorrow.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jason Dec 6th 2010 10:00PM
I agree with Kevin Smith on this one. The "departure time" should be the time that the gates close, not when the plane starts to leave the terminal. It would be simpler for everyone.
Bev Dec 7th 2010 6:19PM
Jason: Do you know what the word departure means. obvious not, it means to leave. Everyone knows you have to be at the airport and checked in for a while before the airplane leaves the terminal. He wasn't there and he is no different than any other passenger. As for his wife's meds he can call the dr and they can give him a script for refills.
Bert Dec 19th 2010 3:50PM
How departure time is figured is not an airline decision. It is the U.S Department of Transportation's decision. On Time Departure of each flight as reported monthly to the public by the DOT. It is based on when the aircraft leaves the gate, NOT when the gate is closed. As for the MEDS that what the carry on luggage is for.
Corey T Dec 6th 2010 10:08PM
Will that Kevin Smith cologne you mention be available in the Sky Mall catalog?
Deanne Dec 6th 2010 10:55PM
Did you not read the part in the blog where they also took advantage of having a concierge who's job it is to get them to the plane while they are still able to board? I work in the airline industry and usually I would be the first to agree that a passenger is to blame for not being there on time but from Kevin's blog it sounds like he did EVERYTHING right and that the Airline staff that he dealt with were unreasonable.
epilonious Dec 6th 2010 11:15PM
Sorry Grant, I'm going to have to ring this "big omission" bell over here and point out that you left out the fact that Kevin was paying for a concierge service whose express purpose is to get you onto the plane the last second before the door closes.
Thus, I am pretty sure it was a case of a gate agent deciding that rather than look stupid and go "oh shnap, we forgot to wait for the concierge'd dude" tried to make it about him being "too late" and then power tripping, much to the detriment of Virgin America.
And to be honest, Had Virgin been as crazy as Southwest, this whole fracas will probably outweigh the Vam opening at DFW. Luckily, they did their best to apologize and make things better, and it seems everyone is placated.
Grant Martin Dec 6th 2010 11:24PM
It's their job to get you to the gate at the last minute or just get you to the gate? I feel like a concierge service would know how much time is required before a gate closes. I suppose an alternative source of error (read: party to blame) could thus be the concierge. If they didn't do a good job getting Kevin to the gate on time then it's their fault.
epilonious Dec 7th 2010 11:56AM
From Kevin's Post: "But Affleck told me that when he flies, he uses a concierge service: a company that works with the airport and each airlines. Their job is to get you to the plane on time, but not when boarding begins; that way, you don’t have to play the Elephant Man for passengers passing you en route to their seats. Essentially, you board last. The entire service is designed to get you to the plane door shortly before the door closes."
"So that’s why I got to the door ten minutes before the flight: because I was told to by a professional who’s been working JFK for years. It didn’t matter; The gate agents made up their minds to lose Virgin some business."
Aglaia761 Dec 7th 2010 12:44AM
Last time I checked it was the passengers job to get to the gate on time period. I don't care how busy or important you are, unless its a matter of national security there is no reason that one person should inconvenience an entire flight simply because they are running late.
You're in NYC, you know you'll be stuck in traffic, you may be running late due to meetings, life etc. Don't book an earlier flight if you know you may be short on time; Which he obviously did since he paid for a "concierge service". Book yourself on a later flight and if you can get to the airport early see if you can take the earlier flight.
Kevin Smith is not an occasional leisure traveler, he travels all the time for business, he knows he needs to get to the airport at least a couple of hours early especially if he's also checking baggage.
It's people like him that give frequent fliers like me a bad name
Tom Dec 7th 2010 1:31AM
Smith who flys so much should know the rules... There is a lot that goes on in the last ten min the paper work of where every passanger is sitting planes have zones and the plane has to be balanced and then the total waights have to be added up sent to the company for ok to fly and if they would have add people/took bags off it would have been at least a 15 min delay to get new paper work filled out and flied as well as the time it took to find the bags if they would have taken it off the flight att have already closed all the bids did the brefings to the people on the plane and getting it shut up ready to do... and the person only got them thru tsa faster by moving them to the front of the line and helping them thru... its still his job to be at the gate... and who knows maybe the person told him it was time to go and he refused to go.... its still up to him to make sure he gets to the gate on time... and dep time is the time the plane departs from the gate...it says it in the name..!!!! its not fair to the other 140+ people who got up made it to the airport thru tsa and sat at the gate got on the plane sat there put there stuff away for him to then delay that alll by 10-15 min cuse he wanted one more drink.... there are other people in the world besides him... and last time i checked he bought his ticket... not like suprise.... your flight time is in 10 min RUN to make it... he chose the flight time.... so i really dont see how its virgins fault... to have to redo all that hard work the flight crew is not getting paid for by the way till the door closes and the plane departs is not fair to them who also showed up to the airplane on time... once the paper is printed and final its hard to change it... hell its the faa/dot/usa goverment.... nothing moves fast when you have to deal with them...
michael Dec 7th 2010 2:47AM
is it true that you invented an entire chapter of this article?
F**K grant martin
girlnamedjake Dec 7th 2010 2:56AM
30 minutes? On what airline have you EVER been boarded 30 minutes prior to departure? I'm one of those "needing help" gimpy people who go on first & I don't even get called 30 minutes prior. Chastizing someone for not being there 10 minutes prior is a joke when I've sat on countless flights watching idiots saunter onto flights with Starbucks in hand as if it's no problem at all although their name has been called several times.
I agree with Smith...there was one person in his party with a name too unique to have missed on an announcement when 4 people were listening for it if it really were called. Virgin missed it this time. This is not Smith's issue & that's why Virgin did the correct thing and apoligized.
epilonious Dec 7th 2010 12:14PM
To be fair, I've seen wide variance in flight board/departure times with my hub-assigned airline, Delta. I've been boarded 10 minutes before departure even though everyone (gate agents, pilots, flight attendants, adorable stowaway pets) was there despite a departure curfew... and I've been boarded 40 minutes before departure time just because the everyone was /really/ on their game that day.
Generally tho, the warning's I've heard start coming 35 minutes before departure (where they go over the zone system and what not) and then open up the plane about 28 minutes before departure.
That all being said... Airtran and Southwest have a major hard-on for quick turn-around... they'll have the plane arrive 30 minutes before departure, get everyone off 20 minutes before, board 15 minutes before, and have that puppy locked down and rolling away from the gate right on time.
So airline companies vary in how they like to do things... but the concierges seem to (or are at least paid to) know their stuff... so the concierge going "this is ludicrous and the first I've heard of it" makes me feel like the gate agents were new/crazy/insidious/what-have-you.
And thankfully, Virgin America agreed and threw tickets and apologies as fast as the internet would carry them. Good on 'em.
Burndog Dec 7th 2010 3:04AM
If you can't even read the man's blog properly, what right do you have to write an article about this? All you are doing is paraphrasing the blog...and you somehow managed to screw this up! You didn't mention the concierge....you said that he 'filed his complaint in the air'...I mean...basic facts.
If this was a basic comprehension test...what grade do you think you would have received? D? D-? Maybe a C- if you had a generous teacher. I'm giving you an F.
Jeff Dec 7th 2010 3:09AM
Grant Martin, you are a hack. How about you take that axe that you feel the need to grind and stick it up your smug a**hole.
Jeff Dec 7th 2010 3:16AM
And before Grant tries to defend himself, there is no ignoring that last paragraph. Take off the last paragraph, and maybe people would be alright with him overlooking necessary facts. But it's pretty obvious what he's trying to do, and he knows it.
Unfortunately, someone as sad and pathetic as Grant Martin probably thinks his work means something. Too bad it doesn't. He's just jealous that Kevin Smith is a real writer making real money, not some hack writing for some B.S travel blog. Congratulations Grant, you're a failure!
John Dec 7th 2010 4:11AM
Grant, your version of events does not tally with Kevin's version of events, except in the most general terms. (Man misses flight).
If I can get the story right in under 5 minutes with some reading, why can't you?
One can only presume you are either unwilling to read for 5 minutes, which is a terrible indictment on the status of so-called-new journalism, or alternatively, you have some sort of axe to grind when it comes to fat men throwing a fit, as you indelicately put it.
Bam McGuinness Dec 7th 2010 4:37AM
Dude, are you using this site as a launching pad for a career at Fox News?
Because you really seem to have a knack for misrepresenting the facts. An ability to skim social media and glean stories from what you see and turn it into misinformation does not a journalist make.
Leave the writing to people who can actually do it, like Kevin Smith or other luminaries like Neil Gaiman. Both of whom may be heard in the latest Smodcast http://starfucking.smodcast.com/ .
In closing, being that you write for a travel blog site, maybe you should take advice from your peers and take a vacation; from anything that involves the written word.
Stillwater Dec 7th 2010 4:47AM
The concierge is not owned or operated by the airline. They are two totally different companies. That Dorothy lady didn't do her job. Enough said.
LigOFE Dec 7th 2010 5:02AM
Why not just point people towards http://silentbobspeaks.com instead of making up your own story...