Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Passenger Misconduct
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Company Policy; Human Factors
Just before departure; the gate agent called me out to the jetbridge to talk. She relayed a story of verbal abuse to her by one of our passengers. I asked that the passenger be paged to the front of the aircraft. I wanted to visit with him about his actions away from earshot of the other passengers. I also wanted to assess his willingness to comply with the flight crew going forward. Two PAs were made asking him by name to come forward. He did not respond or comply. Now that he has been abusive and non-compliant I went back to his seat to inform him I needed him to step off of the aircraft. With some protest he finally did.In the jetbridge he was contrite; apologetic; and soft spoken. He related that his father was on his deathbed and that he was upset and trying to get to [destination] in time to see him. I told [him] to wait a moment while I conferred with my crew. Flight Attendant Number 1 was in the front galley. As I approached her she immediately related that; while I was counseling [the passenger]; his sister in [seat next to him] had come up and spoken offensively to her. The Flight Attendant tried to reassure her that the Captain was working things out and to return to her seat. She would not; but only grew more obstinate. The Flight Attendant told her 4 times to return to her seat but she would not listen. Upon hearing this I decided that neither one could ride on our flight. They both failed to follow crew directions and had used abusive language toward the agent and Flight Attendant. Following in this pattern; they also refused to leave the aircraft until an [airport] police officer arrived on the scene.What sparked the exchange was the agent requiring the male passenger to put his rollaboard bag in the bag sizer. He reacted in anger and initially refused. He finally gave in but roughly shoved his bag in and called the agent a degrading name. When the agent relayed this to me later she was trembling. I think we can all sympathize with a passenger racing to be near a dying family member. But the reason for their travel does not justify the behavior. It may be that efforts to diffuse the behavior were not successfully deployed. Also; it would have been better to deny boarding than to remove him after the fact.
Air carrier Captain reported the removal of two passengers who used abusive language toward the flight attendants and a Gate Agent during boarding.