Armato was traveling from Phoenix to Los Angeles in 2010 with bottles of pumped breast milk for her 7-month-old son when she was stopped at a security checkpoint at Sky Harbor International Airport.
In both these cases the airlines have settled with the claimants but these events happen daily. This approach pervades both the airline and the airport industry and any of us on this forum could find many other cases that amount to no more than abuse of authority by airlines, airport authorities and/or individual crew members. Post 911, we SLF (a derogatory term that should not be used- that's for another discussion) have become the threat. Within every airport and aircraft cabin is a potential threat to be identified, searched, denigrated, caged and heaved off, arbitarily in some cases with little or no recourse.
Security is not staffed by the Airlines.
Pilots and crew also have to go through security, and I have seen their fair share of yoghurts and liquids confiscated. Those including me who sometimes ‘beeped’ the gate have to go back through and remove shoes, belts hankies etc; been there, done that many times - and we have to do it every day or night that we go to work ! Occasionally, frustrated crews have thrown said yoghurt at the security staff or onto the floor and been suspended and had their airside pass confiscated as a result. At some airports, crew are not allowed to have duty free goods, and are subjected to a very detailed search of all their bags and cases to check - much more thorough than the passengers.
But in my nearly 20 years’ as a pilot flying with three (UK) airlines, two of them long-haul, I can honestly say that our airline crews have been polite, diplomatic and respectful to passengers. On my most recent flight we had a chap who was a right pain in the arse for 7 hours but our Purser and No 1 were unfailingly polite and respectful with him, and did everything they could for him - and we contacted Medilink three times - even though it was quite obvious that he was faking it and just wanted freebies.
I don’t know exactly what happened in this OP, but as a passenger myself, positioning on other airlines, I have never experienced any cabin crew being rude to me nor anyone else. Cabin crew do have to TELL passengers to do certain things and ensure they do them, but this is for very good safety reasons. You cannot spend time having a chat and negotiating with each of 320 passengers whether to put their seatbelt on. Passengers are excited to be going on holiday and they are not thinking about safety. The pilots and crew are there primarily to ensure their safety and remind the passengers what they need to do. Safety might be optional on a train or in a bus but it is not optional on an aircraft.
PS; Putting the tray tables away, seat backs upright, window blinds open, seat belts on, earphones off, and many more instructions the crew will give, are all purely done for safety reasons.