Geno Smith will have to keep his headphone wearing to pregame in the future.
Credit: Getty Images
Jets quarterback Geno Smith had enough problems through the air this year, but his most recent problem — those of the airplane variety — apparently are an issue no more.
Smith, who was kicked off a Virgin America flight last Friday after an incident with a flight attendant, received an apology from the airline Thursday. The incident stems from Smith allegedly not taking off his earphones prior to the flight, leading him to leave the plane after an exchange with a flight attendant reportedly got testy.
No witnesses on the plane ever stepped forward to say Smith was out of line, painting the picture of the Jets rookie as the one who was wronged. A statement from the airline on Thursday proved this point.
“After a full review of the incident, we believe it was the result of a misunderstanding that regrettably escalated unnecessarily. We’ve apologized to Mr. Smith for his experience, which could have been better — and we’d welcome him back onboard any time. As an airline that prides itself on our guest service, we take incidents such as this one very seriously.”
Smith seemed willing to drop the issue, not unlike one of his passes to Stephen Hill, and is willing to board another flight on the airline.
“I really appreciate that Virgin America took this seriously, looked into this matter and followed up with me,” Smith said in a statement released by the team. “I look forward to flying their airline again soon.”
As far as his interception numbers, Smith did throw just three interceptions over the final five games of the season, a marked improvement for the rookie who had 21 on the season.
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
