European soccer star David De Gea lashed out at American Airlines on Twitter after showing up at the last minute for a flight and being denied access, prompting a huge backlash against the world’s largest airline from many of his 5.7 million followers.
The goalie for Manchester United and the Spanish national team had been vacationing in the U.S. with Spanish pop star girlfriend Edurne Garcia and friends following Spain’s premature exit from Euro 2016. The party went to Miami and also visited the Grand Canyon.
However De Gea found his return journey to the UK for preseason training with Manchester United so problematic he sent out the following tweet in English and Spanish:
The USA is a spectacular country, I recommend that you visit it…And if you avoid flying with @AmericanAir, even better
— David De Gea (@D_DeGea) July 16, 2016
An American Airlines spokeswoman told Heat Street that De Gea and his party were refused travel because they arrived to their gate at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport just one minute before the plane was scheduled to take off.
De Gea’s annoyance was intensified by the fact that he failed to get upgraded to first class for the flight he missed or the rebooked flight.
But De Gea’s fans, who knew nothing about the circumstances behind his tweet, angrily weighed in on social media, with some even pledging to boycott the airline:
@AmericanAir @D_DeGea none of us will ever fly with you, we listen to Dave
— jai (@bIindinho) July 16, 2016
@AmericanAir @Hisroyaldopenez no way! De Gea says no
— Niall (@Njc38362252) July 17, 2016
@D_DeGea @AmericanAir this is epic. This should happen more so all these big company start giving better service or lower their prices.
— sudip (@sudip10994) July 17, 2016
Other airlines were swift to get in on the act:
@RealPaulMadison Thanks for your vote of confidence! -Krista
@RealPaulMadison Thanks for your vote of confidence! -Krista
— Alaska Airlines (@AlaskaAir) July 16, 2016
— Alaska Airlines (@AlaskaAir) July 16, 2016
American Airlines later reached out to De Gea to tell him it was looking into the incident.
