Averell Fights the Man

B.J. Averell '02 continued his one-man battle against Delta Airlines, entering a plea of 'not guilty' at his arraignment yesterday morning.

Averell was arrested last Wednesday for trespassing and disorderly conduct when he attempted to board a Delta Express plane even after being turned away at the gate.

Despite Averell's plea, the state has not dropped the charges against him and has set a pretrial hearing date for Jan. 7.

"There is no basis to proceed against B.J.," said R. Tod Cronan, Averell's lawyer. "We have given our information to the District Attorney, who should come to the same conclusion."

The information Cronan has given the District Attorney challenges Delta's version of the events.

According to Cronan, Averell arrived at the airport 45 minutes before the departure of his 6:15 p.m. flight from Boston home to Philadelphia.

When he reached the check-in gate approximately 25 minutes before the scheduled take-off, Averell was "summarily told that his seat had been given away," Cronan continued. "They told him that the best they could do would be to seat him standby on Thanksgiving day."

Delta officials counter that Averell was in fact late for his flight.

According to Phil Orlandella, director of media relations for Logan International Airport, Delta officials have told him that Averell "came late, and a verbal altercation ensued at the check-in gate."

"[Averell] proceeded to jump over the railing, boarded the aircraft and hid in the bathroom," Orlandella said. "After he was discovered by a passenger, the captain went in and apprehended him."

But Cronan maintained yesterday that Delta Airlines acted inappropriately.

"The actions were contrary to Delta's stated policy of not giving away a seat on an overbooked flight without asking if there are passengers willing to give up the seat," Cronan said. "It is also contrary to the policy that if you arrive 20 minutes early, with a ticket, you will get your seat."

Cronan said he suspects that the airline felt comfortable treating Averell unjustly because of his age.

"If it were me, a 40 year old lawyer in a suit, I would not have been bumped off the airplane," he said.

Averell yesterday declined to comment on the incident, referring questions to Cronan.

If the charges are not ultimately dropped, Averell could face "a relatively minor fine, if anything. In the worst case scenario, this will be considered an extremely minor infraction," Cronan said.

But Delta did not treat the incident as minor last Wednesday night, said Noah J. Snyder '02, who was also on the flight.

"We were all told to leave the plane, so that our carry-on luggage could be checked for bombs. We came off the plane and B.J. was standing there, surrounded by police," he said.

Snyder said he was surprised at the time that Delta took such precautions.

"It was somewhat amusing," Snyder added. " I knew it was B.J. He didn't have any bombs. He just wanted to go home for Thanksgiving."