Couple Kicked Off 13+ Hour Qantas A380-800 in Business Class for Being Rude!

My wife and I, just last week, returned home from Sydney on Friday the 13th 2026, Australia and had the chance to fly for the first time on a Qantas A380 in business class (review up in a bit). Boarding was a bit of a mess because of a small gate assigned to our massive double decker jumbo jet.

First class, that consisted of rows 1-5 downstairs, boarded first as well as one couple that had escorted boarding and were the first upstairs in business class.

After a short delay business class was called and quickly filled up both the mini cabin near the front of the jet as well as the main business cabin space. My wife was seated in row 20K and myself a number of rows back in 26K.

After settling in and nearing departure time my wife started texting me that the passengers in the middle of row 19 near her were being kicked off the flight! She said that the couple was being kicked off the jet because the man was rude. The couple had already made themselves comfortable when a flight attendant, somewhat forcefully told the male passenger from across the aisle “DON’T BE RUDE” and then she walked away.

The passenger then seemed to be very agitated and in a huff and his mood did not seem to improve. Then maybe a minute or two later the same flight attendant came back and again speaking across to the man said “THAT WAS VERY RUDE” and walked back to the galley area.

A few minutes later one of the gate agents came onboard and told the man to gather his things, he then asked the woman if she was traveling with him and when she indicated she was he told her to gather her things as well and they were to both come off the jet with him!

We never really found out exactly what he said, either time, that was so rude that it merited being removed from the jet but almost immediately after their departure the captain made an announcement that two guests would not be flying with us tonight and there would be a slight delay while their bags were found and offloaded before we could push back from the gate.

This was not the first time I have witnessed a couple kicked off just before departure but the first time a couple in business class and I was surprised there was so little push-back from the couple as they seemed to readily comply with the order to deplane.

We are living in interesting times, to say the very least, and Qantas seems to have a zero tolerance policy to those who have a rude attitude or some kind of disruptive behavior onboard – even in a business class seat! – Rene