Alec Baldwin has apologised for his behaviour onboard an American Airlines flight bound for New York on Tuesday (06Dec11), insisting it was never his intention to "inconvenience" his fellow passengers.
The actor was kicked off the plane after refusing to turn off an electronic device at the request of a flight attendant as the pilot was preparing for take-off from Los Angeles International Airport.
As per policy, the pilot had to return to the gate to let Baldwin exit the already delayed plane.
The incident prompted fellow passengers to tweet their outrage and take aim at Baldwin for not obeying pre-flight instructions.
The actor was reportedly playing a word game and when he was asked to turn it off and prepare for take-off he refused, and took the device to a bathroom.
In an apology posted on news site Huffington Post on Wednesday (07Dec11), Baldwin wrote, "First off, I would like to apologize to the other passengers onboard the American Airlines flight that I was thrown off of yesterday. It was never my intention to inconvenience anyone with my 'issue' with a certain flight attendant.
"My confusion began when the flight, already a half hour behind schedule, boarded, the door closed, and we proceeded to sit at the gate for another fifteen minutes. I then did what I have nearly always done and that was to pull out my phone to complete any other messaging I had to do before take off.
"In nearly all other instances, the flight attendants seemed to be unbothered by and said nothing about such activity, by me or anyone else, until we actually were pulling away from the gate.
"The lesson I've learned is to keep my phone off when the 1950's gym teacher is on duty. That was my fault there, even though this trip was quite a bit different from so many others. But it is sad, I think, that you've got to fly overseas today in order to bring back what has been thrown overboard by US carriers in terms of common sense, style, and service."
Baldwin boarded a later American Airlines flight on Tuesday and later tweeted he would no longer be using the company.
American Airlines officials responded with a statement revealing The Cooler star had been "extremely rude to the crew" before he was ultimately ejected for disobeying company policy.
The officials are still considering filing a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration (Faa). If that happens, a regulatory committee will investigate the incident and may choose to fine Baldwin.