Watch an Airport Brawl Erupt After Spirit Airlines Cancels Flights (Videos)

Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport descended into total chaos Monday night after nine Spirit Airlines flights were canceled, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded and increasingly irate in the terminal.

Of course, the ensuing scuffles were all captured on cellphone video.

Footage of the incident shows crowds gathered around Spirit Airlines ticket counters, with people cursing and pushing. Things turn violent when a Broward County Sheriff deputy is seen being shoved to the ground. Fox affiliate WSVN reported that sheriff’s deputies detained several passengers and charged them with disorderly conduct.

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“All of a sudden, one particular flight got canceled, and a mob ensued up here at the front counter, in front of everyone else who had been waiting in line,” passenger Paul Smith told the station.

According to another passenger who spoke with the station, Spirit employees “couldn’t handle what was going on, so they called in for police.”

Around 300 Spirit Airlines flights have been cancelled in the last week, according to CNN. The cancellations are reportedly the result of a legal dispute between the budget airline and the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA).

In a statement provided to The Washington Post, Spirit Airlines blamed its pilots for the cancellations and the chaos that followed.

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“We are shocked and saddened to see the videos of what took place at Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport,” Spirit spokesman Paul Berry told the paper in a statement. “This is a result of unlawful labor activity by some Spirit pilots designed to disrupt Spirit operations for our customers, by canceling multiple flights across our network. These pilots have put their quest for a new contract ahead of getting customers to their destinations and the safety of their fellow Spirit Team Members.”

Spirit canceled 81 flights on Sunday alone, according to CNN, as a result of the legal dispute. It’s estimated that about 20,000 customers have been affected since the cancellations began last week.

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The ALPA denied carrying out a slowdown in a statement to provided to CNN: “Rather, ALPA and the Spirit pilots are continuing to do everything possible to help restore the company’s operations, which have experienced significant problems over the past several days.”

Watch videos from Monday above and below:

Just witnessed police brutality at Fort Lauderdale airport @SpiritAirlines trying to get back to NYC…i'm tired its 2017 pic.twitter.com/3UHGUqCuwm

— Brionka Halbert (@brionkahalbert) May 9, 2017

Passengers erupted in anger overnight after Spirit Airlines canceled *nine* flights at @FLLFlyer. WATCH: https://t.co/8IU6ecDHhs pic.twitter.com/i0Skl41Jql

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) May 9, 2017

11 Companies That Created Their Own PR Nightmares (Photos)

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United's latest public relations nightmare was preceded by an incident last month in which two teenagers were barred from boarding their flight because they were wearing leggings.
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Within minutes of Pepsi unveiling a new ad starring Kendall Jenner, social media users almost unanimously came down against it, calling the protest-themed commercial tone deaf and opportunistic. The ad, which depicted Jenner resolving the tension at a protest scene with a can of Pepsi, was pulled after a day and the company issued an apology.
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In 2015, Starbucks had its own PR disaster with its "race together" campaign, which sought to help heal race relations in America through coffee cup stickers, and not much else. Critics slammed the campaign, which began in response to a series police shootings, as a cheap marketing ploy.
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Bloomingdales ran a print ad in 2015 encouraging readers to "spike your best friend's eggnog when they're not looking." With the accompanying photo of a man looking at a distracted woman, some accused the ad of contributing rape culture by encouraging people to shirk consent.
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Budweiser found itself in a similar position when customers noticed that some Bud Light cans featured the quote “The perfect beer for removing ‘no’ from your vocabulary for the night.” One of 140 slogans printed on the cans as part of the “Up for Whatever” campaign, the quote nonetheless drew the ire of those who said the company was encouraging rape.
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The skincare company Nivea took some heat on social media after it debuted an ad featuring the phrase "white is purity," which some accused of supporting white supremacy. The ad also included a picture of a woman and the caption "Keep it clean, keep it bright. Don't let anything ruin it."
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Samsung began selling its Galaxy Note 7 phones in August 2016, and by September, it had suspended sales of the phone due to reports that they were catching fire during charging. After issuing replacement phones only to find that those phones were also catching fire, the company officially recalled the product on Sept. 15. In October, it issued a software update to brick the model entirely.
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Wells Fargo is currently amid its own PR disaster after it came to light that employees were creating thousands of fraudulent accounts to meet unrealistic sales goals. As many of 5,300 employees were fired as a result, and the company has since clawed back $180 million from two former executives.
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When President Trump signed the first version of his Muslim travel ban in February and taxis briefly withheld service from airports in protest, Uber announced it would be lowering its own prices. The action led to a mass boycott of the ride sharing service and the hashtag #DeleteUber.
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Chick-fil-A's history of anti-LGBT activism came to light after the company's CEO Dan Cathy admitted to opposing same-sex marriage in 2012. Amid increasing public outcry, the company eventually vowed to stop donating to anti-LGBT causes.
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From United Airlines violently removing a passenger to Pepsi, Starbucks and Chick-fil-A’s public faux pas

United Airlines went viral in the worst way possible when video of a man being wrestled off one of its flights hit the internet. The man, a doctor who needed to return home for his shift at a hospital, was forcibly removed from a plane because a crew member needed his seat. Video showed security dragging the man being off the plane by his arms with blood on his face.

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11 Companies That Created Their Own PR Nightmares (Photos)

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