A Florida Evangelist Was Removed From an Alaska Airlines Flight for Preaching During a Delay — and the Internet Cannot Agree on Who Was Right

Aug 03, 2026 by apost team

On Thursday, July 30, 2026, Alaska Airlines Flight 708 was sitting at the gate at Orlando International Airport, bound for San Diego, when a delay was announced. For most passengers, that meant checking their phones or staring out the window. For Whitney Lynn, 40, a Florida-based evangelist and social media influencer, it meant something different.

Lynn stood up in the aisle and addressed the cabin.

"I know we're all waiting. It's kind of frustrating, right?" she said, footage later posted to Instagram shows. "But I want to tell you that God's timing is perfect and God knows everything. And maybe he's sparing us from danger today. So I want you to rest and know that Jesus Christ loves you so much that he died on the cross for your sins." She closed the remarks with a prayer for the flight and returned to her seat.

She was escorted off the plane before it took off.

Alaska Airlines confirmed the incident to PEOPLE. "Our flight crew became increasingly concerned about a guest's behavior on board the aircraft, which was also affecting other guests," a spokesperson said. "The passenger was asked to deplane the aircraft for safety reasons. For the foreseeable future, the guest will not be permitted to travel on our flights."

Lynn did not take the removal quietly. She posted a series of videos about the incident on Instagram — one of which accumulated more than 3 million views within 24 hours. She described the removal as "spiritual warfare," said she plans to continue preaching on future flights, and has indicated she is considering legal action.

The internet immediately — and loudly — took sides.

Lynn's position on what happened is consistent across her posts. "Demons don't like the name of Jesus," she wrote in one caption. In another, she described the incident as a setback that God had turned into an opportunity: she prayed with the shuttle driver who took her back to her hotel and with a man she met at the front desk afterward. "Looking back, I can clearly see God's hand in it all," she wrote. She also maintained that passengers on a delayed flight had "no choice" but to listen to her gospel message, noting that a captive audience was also an opportunity.

That framing generated the most friction online. "Please stop rewriting the story to make yourself the martyr," one Instagram commenter wrote. "You weren't kicked off that flight because you were 'preaching the Gospel.' You were removed because you were being disruptive and imposing your preaching on an audience that never consented to it." Another asked: "Have you ever considered the pure unadulterated joy of minding your own business and celebrating your faith with people someplace else?"

Others were supportive. "Instead of appreciating this, people are bothered by it. What a sad world we live in," one user wrote.

Lynn's preaching on flights had been the subject of a profile in The Washington Post prior to this incident — a practice that has gained enough traction in evangelical circles that the Post had documented it as a trend. The Alaska Airlines incident was the first time it resulted in her removal. Alaska Airlines' position was equally straightforward: the decision was a safety one, and it stands.

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Do you think Whitney Lynn had the right to preach to fellow passengers during the delay? Or do you think Alaska Airlines made the right call? Let us know in the comments and pass this on to your family, friends, and anyone who has an opinion on this story!

Watch the full video here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DbemKtzJB20/?hl=en