Viewers defend airline employee who charged passenger $200 for overweight bag in viral TikTok

Viewers have defended a Delta airline employee who charged a passenger $200 for their overweight bag in a viral TikTok video.

Jeremy Kim, one of the co-founders of canned alcohol brand Nectar Seltzer (@nectarseltzer), described as a “hard seltzer with Asian flavours,” revealed his recent run-in with a Delta airline attendant in a video posted to TikTok on 13 July. In the video, the leader of the brand is seen putting his suitcase full of new flavours on the bag check scale ahead of his flight from Los Angeles to Houston. “You know your bag is overweight?” the airline’s baggage attendant proceeded to ask him.

She then explained that the suitcase is six pounds over the maximum limit Delta allows, before listing the prices for different bag weights. “You pay $30 for 50 pounds, 50 to 70 pounds, $100. This is 76; $200,” the woman said.

With little hesitation, the alcohol entrepreneur agreed to pay the charge. However, before the payment was complete, the Delta worker noticed a crack in his suitcase. Though Kim assured her there were only boxes inside, she still had him sign a form and wrap the luggage in tape for security during the flight.

“Your stuff will fall out,” the airline worker proclaimed. “So, inside I’m not worried about it,” the Nectar Seltzer founder responded.

However, he proceeded to tape the crack while the woman told him to continue patching it up because “it doesn’t matter” what’s inside, as she explained Delta’s policy requires him to completely cover it.

“That was a hilarious experience. The lady was just tripping about the weight of my bag. I had to pay basically triple the cost to get it to Houston, but I couldn’t leave any of the flavours in LA,” Kim said after the experience. “She robbed me.”

TikTok viewers were up in arms over the encounter shared online. “[She] ain’t playing you with today,” one person commented, to which the Nectar Seltzer founder replied: “She would’ve taken the shirt off my back if she could.”

“She’s really good at her job,” another user wrote.

A passionate person agreed: “She is very good at her job. Detailed, not giving an inch but still respectful and by the book.”

According to a Daily Dot report, a Delta spokesperson responded to the flood of support for their employee. “We always appreciate the love and support of our people being shared far and wide,” they remarked.

Speaking to The Independent, Kim clarified that the entire video is “light-hearted” and that he was being “sarcastic” when he alleged that the airport employee was “yelling” at him. “This lady reminds me of my mom when she would nag me as a child. There was no malice towards her,” he said.

Kim also confirmed he “never fought” the employee’s requests, and that the video “wasn’t for any intention except my audience that follows my life in building my business”.

As for those who criticised him over the video, he said: “Everyone who took it personal can eat my socks. Both me and the [employee] knew what’s up. She did her job and I did what she told me to. That’s it! Any interpretation beyond that is people getting triggered over nothing.”

The Independent has contacted Delta for comment.