The rap group migos was catching a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Des Moines, Iowa on Friday, just hours before a scheduled concert in that city. After Takeoff was kicked off the plane for ‘disobeying instructions’ given to him by a cabin crew member, the other two members, and their manager left with him. Their manager is now accusing Delta of racial profiling, while the rap trio was threatening to sue the airline for lost income.
Delta flight returns to the gate at Atlanta
The Delta Air Lines plane returned to the gate in Atlanta after an incident with Migos on the flight.
The rappers were traveling in first class and reportedly a bag belonging to Takeoff was on the floor and had not been placed in overhead storage as is required by the airline. The rap trio’s manager told TMZ that Takeoff had failed to place his bag in the overhead compartment because he was sleeping at the time.
According to the TMZ report, all three members were exhausted and fell asleep as they got on the plane. The bag that was found on the floor was a book bag belonging to Takeoff. The manager stressed that the rapper was not disobeying instructions and that he was sleeping.
The irony of someone called "Takeoff" being deplaned was not lost on some Twitter users.
What Delta did to the Migos was lame but if #Punked was still on TV the joke would have been to just remove Takeoff from the flight.
— Charlamagne Tha God (@cthagod) July 8, 2017
Airline issues statement on the Migos incident
Delta Air Lines made a statement to say their flight 1532 traveling from Atlanta to Des Moines had to return to the gate in order to deplane a number of customers in the first class cabin.
The airline said the customers had “repeatedly refused” to follow instructions by a cabin crew member to stow away carry-on items in the overhead compartments and that they had refused to buckle their seatbelts.
According to Delta, the three rappers and their manager were rebooked on an alternative flight, which would have arrived in Des Moines after 9 p.m.
that night. As their concert started at 10 p.m., this would have been a close call.
Migos member Takeoff was booted from a Delta flight, preventing the plane from, um, taking off. https://t.co/xPju31qfQl pic.twitter.com/GMqdaEIgCh
— FOX13 Memphis (@FOX13Memphis) July 8, 2017
Rap group threatens law suit, manager talks 'racial profiling'
Variety reports that in a video of the incident a flight attendant can be seen discussing the situation with the three rappers. One of the group mentions that they were supposed to be performing at a show in Des Moines and threatens to sue Delta for lost earnings. While Takeoff was the only one the flight attendant wished to deplane, his fellow artists, Offset and Quavo, and their manager left the flight in solidarity with him.
Their manager can also be heard in the video accusing the airline of racial profiling in the incident.
A video of the incident is included below and viewers are warned that some strong language has not been “beeped.”
According to the YouTube video included below, not only did Delta book new flights for the rapper trio, they also reportedly gave them a whole plane to themselves.