Alec Baldwin Responds To Being Thrown Off Flight With Lessons Learned

Former KNOTS LANDING and THE DOCTORS star Alec Baldwin was thrown off an American Airlines flight on Dec. 6 for for playing a Scrabble-like game on his cell phone as the plane was about to depart from Los Angeles. He wrote an apology of sorts for Huffington Post yesterday detailing lessons learned from the experience. Here's an excerpt:

Airlines in the US are struggling with fuel costs, labor costs, bankruptcies, you name it. It's no secret that the level of service on US carriers has deteriorated to a point that would make Howard Hughes red-faced. Filthy planes, barely edible meals, cuts in jet service to less-traveled locations. One of the big changes, in my time, is in the increase of the post-9/11, paramilitary bearing of much of the air travel business. September 11th was a horrific day in the airline industry, yet in the wake of that event, I believe carriers and airports have used that as an excuse to make the air travel experience as inelegant as possible.

The lesson I've learned is to keep my phone off when the 1950's gym teacher is on duty. That was my fault there, even though this trip was quite a bit different from so many others. But it is sad, I think, that you've got to fly overseas today in order to bring back what has been thrown overboard by US carriers in terms of common sense, style, and service.

Read the entire entry here.

American Airlines wrote the following on their Facebook page: ""He slammed the lavatory door so hard, the cockpit crew heard it and became alarmed, even with the cockpit door closed and locked. The passenger was extremely rude to the crew, calling them inappropriate names and using offensive language. Given the facts above, the passenger was removed from the flight and denied boarding."

What do you think? Agree with him being tossed off the flight? And what about his blog post? Weigh in below in our Comments section.