Does will.i.am Not Understand How Airports Work?

will.i.am, on paper, is one of popular culture’s most accomplished figures. He’s a rapper, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, voice actor, DJ, record producer, reality show judge, and philanthropist. The other day I went to Asda and discovered an unauthorised biography written about him. Even his haircut has changed the world.

We know that will.i.am seems like a smart clued up dude - it takes a certain type of intelligence to spend $900,000 on a custom made car that looks as vacuous as it sounds – which is why it’s surprising he doesn’t seem to understand how airports work.

Yesterday evening Will fired off the following tweets.

Will is suggesting that in order to get on a United Airlines flight you need to arrive one day in advance or they will ban you from the flight. This, as anyone that’s ever been on an airplane will know, is not how it works. Here’s what actually happened.

The Black Eyed Peas rapper arrived at New York's JFK airport at 12:30pm on Wednesday, 45 minutes before his flight to China was due to depart. United had given away his seat. Its official policy states that passengers need to arrive at least an hour before take-off. (via NME)

So, essentially, Will was kicked off because he arrived 45 minutes before a longhaul flight. While I cannot claim to be a rapper, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, voice actor, DJ, record producer, reality show judge or philanthropist, I do get how airports work. Will, however, doesn’t seem to understand.

Back in May he fired off another series of tweets at the airline, calling “#unitedAIRLINES the worse [sic]” because they kicked him out of the first class lounge. This seems fair enough – until you realise the reason why he was kicked out.

The statement from United reads: “"We invite only customers travelling in United Global First, customers with Global Services status traveling in United BusinessFirst, and customers traveling in first class on other Star Alliance carriers to visit our Global First Lounges. Since the customer did not meet these criteria, he did not have access to the lounge. We are reaching out to the customer and appreciate his business."

So, basically, he didn’t have a First Class pass.

I am pretty certain that will.i.am has no idea how airports operate. So, in case he’s reading this - and if anyone out there is still living in a world without air travel - here is a handy guide to airports:

- You will not get in anywhere without the right ticket.
- You will not get in anywhere without the right pass.
- You will need to bring a passport.

- You should probably arrive between an hour and a half and two hours before your flight.

- You will need to get on the plane by yourself; you will not be carried on.
- Everything in WHSmiths will be horrendously over-priced.

And that’s pretty much everything you need to know.

Follow Ryan on Twitter: @RyanBassil