A disruptive passenger has today been jailed for six months after his abusive and aggressive behaviour forced Jet2.com to divert a flight from Leeds Bradford to Manchester last month.

Joshua Strickland, 21, of York, who had been consuming his own alcohol illicitly on the Larnaca bound flight, not only threatened a family but also verbally abused a cabin crew member. The leading leisure airline made the immediate decision to divert into Manchester where he was arrested and charged by Greater Manchester Police.

Strickland appeared at Manchester Crown Court today where he pleaded guilty to being drunk onboard an aircraft and was sent to prison.

In addition Jet2.com is vigorously pursuing to recover £10,300 for the costs incurred by this unnecessary divert and has issued him with a lifetime ban.

Managing director of Jet2.com

Phil Ward said: “We are thrilled with the decision by Manchester Crown Court today. Joshua Strickland’s violent outburst was absolutely unacceptable and caused a lot of distress plus significant delays for our customers.

“Our customers, many of whom are families, should be able to look forward to an enjoyable flight experience with us and we will not let a disruptive few spoil this. We will take whatever action necessary to stamp it out. Passengers should be in no doubt that the consequences of abusive and unruly behaviour onboard aircraft do lead to custodial and financial penalties.”

Jet2.com’s Onboard Together initiative commits the airline to a zero tolerance stance against disruptive passenger behaviour, including banning the sale of alcohol onboard all flights before 8am. So far more than 500 passengers have been refused travel and over 60 of these have been given lifetime bans.