If I had paid a whopping £3500 for an airline ticket - I would expect to be treated like a prince by the overpaid VS captain whose salary I was paying for the week.
If all I had said was "well done" in a sarcastic manner - I would not expect to be subjected to a 15 hour delay.
I may not be an airline captain myself, but I exercise captaincy as a military helicopter pilot. True, the pax I carry are not under the slightest influence of booze or holiday nerves - they have other matters to think about. Consequently I have never thrown anyone off one of my 'flights' - its a different ball game that I speak of.
But what Capt Crooked did was unacceptable! He ruined the day of a highly paying pax who was just a little irked with the company. The pax was not a booze fuelled skinhead - he was a middle aged man with his wife, and I would wager did not pose any threat to the safe conduct of the flight.
This case has parallels with the american pax who was thrown off a BA flight in San Francisco - because he was wearing a tiny badge that said - potential terrorist.
Overreaction in both cases I think.
If I was Branson, I'd sack Mr Crooked.