Family sues Delta airline over agent smacking phone out of kid’s hand

Matthew Boggan, a 12-year-old boy, waiting to board a Delta flight from La Guardia Airport to Florida with his family had his iPhone 6s smacked out of his hands by the airline staff who didn’t want him filming her excuses to weary passengers after a 17-hour delay, according to a suit filed in Rockland County.Matthew was headed to West Palm Beach with 10 family members on July 1, 2016 when their trip was beset by the nearly day-long delay forcing the family to sleep on the floor outside the gate for Delta Flight 2370.

Acoording to his attorney Terrence James Cortelli, after waiting in the terminal for 12 hours Matthew took out his to film the passengers’ reaction when the airline agent made the announcement in the terminal at 7:06 a.m. on July 2.

But as he started recording, a Delta employee approached him and then “smacked” the phone out of his hand, the suit alleges.

“She just came over and hit me,” the Suffern High School honor roll student told The Post Tuesday.

“My phone went flying,” Boggan said. “I was in shock.”

The Delta agent also yelled that it was “illegal” for him the film the scene, the suit says.

In response, passengers started yelling, “This is child abuse,” added Matthew’s father, Brian Boggan, a physical education teacher, added.

The family eventually boarded the flight, but arrived in Florida so late that they missed most of the bar mitzvah they were scheduled to attend.

The Boggans filed their suit last year but Matthew said the recent incident when a Kentucky doctor was bloodied while being dragged off an over-booked United flight in Chicago to make room for airline employees brought back terrible memories.

He’s sworn off flying both United and Delta.

“I’ll only fly Jet Blue,” Matthew said.

Cortelli said both incidents are indicative of the broader industry’s disregard for passengers.

“They don’t care. They know we’re trapped. We have to do whatever they say,” said the lawyer.

The Boggan family is seeking unspecified damages from Delta.

Delta spokesman Anthony Black declined to comment, but an attorney for the airline said Matthew “interfered with the Delta agent’s ability to communication an announcement.”



In court papers, Delta attributed the extensive delay to a “weather event” and related “effects on the air crew’s availability.”a