A U.S. Navy sailor trying to fly back to his base in the Los Angeles area claims a Frontier Gate agent refused to let him board his flight unless he paid her.
“I was thinking man, this is crazy,” Demonta Roach said. “I actually get up in the morning. I fight for this country, speak out loud, break my back and I come home with stuff like this.”
Petty Officer Roach said the incident occurred at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport after he spent Veterans Day weekend with his family in Atlanta. He was waiting to board his flight to LAX when he said it was delayed at the gate.
“I went out for a bite to eat and when I came back the lady closed the door,” Roach said.
He said the gate agent told him he was late and wouldn’t let him on the flight back to LA. He denies he was late and claims the gate agent told him to pay her $50 if he wanted to move on.
“I said, ‘Well, look, I’m in the Navy and I’m just trying to get back,’” Roach recalled. “I kept my composure.”
Roach claims the gate agent said, “I don’t care what you’re in, give me my money.”
He said he was able to board after pretending to send the money to her account. Roach also claimed that another officer said the fee is usually $150, but because he was in the military, they would only charge him $50.
Frontier Airlines said it would investigate the claims.
“We take these allegations very seriously and are fully investigating them,” the airline said in a statement. “We appreciate this customer bringing the situation to our attention and have provided a full refund for his reservation and a voucher for future travel.”
Roach said the refund and voucher aren’t enough.
“They showed no remorse towards me and like I said, I started to get angry, but the military teaches us to keep our composure,” he said. “A flight is not enough, a free flight – a voucher, that is not enough. This isn’t going to cut it.
KCAL News contacted the number. Cockroach said the gate agent entered his phone but no one answered or replied to our messages.
