--- title: EPA Head Scott Pruitt Said He Flies First Class for Security description: Security staffers for Environmental Protection Agency head recommended he fly first class after several encounters with irate passengers. canonical: https://time.com/5162986/scott-pruitt-airport-altercation-first-class/ author: Nash Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-16T19:00:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:19:42.687Z article:section: Politics og:title: EPA Security Backed Up Scott Pruitt's Argument for Flying First-Class og:description: "He was approached in the airport numerous times." og:url: https://time.com/5162986/scott-pruitt-airport-altercation-first-class/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5579a45b785964c2/698927f2096a946cd36a1893/gettyimages-917485538.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: President Trump Hosts An Infrastructure Initiative Meeting With State And Local Officials og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: EPA Security Backed Up Scott Pruitt's Argument for Flying First-Class twitter:description: "He was approached in the airport numerous times." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5579a45b785964c2/698927f2096a946cd36a1893/gettyimages-917485538.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # EPA Security Backed Up Scott Pruitt's Argument for Flying First-Class > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c9e53471-79c0-4e70-8b95-c7e03bfde2ec&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Feb 16, 2018 7:00 PM UTC  Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), speaks during an infrastructure initiative meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, not pictured, at the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), speaks during an infrastructure initiative meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, not pictured, at the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Feb 16, 2018 7:00 PM UTC Security staffers for Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt recommended that he fly first class after several encounters with irate passengers, according to a report in [Politico](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/15/scott-pruitt-first-class-travel-epa-351669?lo=ap%5Fd1). “He was approached in the airport numerous times, to the point of profanities being yelled at him and so forth,” Henry Barnet, who leads the agency’s Office of Criminal Enforcement, told the news outlet. Pruitt has been under fire since the Washington _Post_ [reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/first-class-travel-distinguishes-scott-pruitts-epa-tenure/2018/02/11/5bb89afc-0b7d-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.69b8dfb375ca) earlier this week that he spent $1,641 on a first-class flight from Washington to new York City, more than six times the cost of the ticket for aides who rode in coach on the same flight, among other first-class trips. He later [told the New Hampshire _Union Leader_](http://time.com/5158661/scott-pruitt-first-class/) that the first-class tickets were because of the “very toxic environment politically” which had led to “incidents” on flights shortly after he took the Trump Administration post. Barnet backed up that account, saying that Pruitt was subjected to profanities and threats increasingly as his public profile grew. On one occasion, at the airport in Atlanta last October, Barnet said that a man approached Pruitt and began shouting something to the effect of “Scott Pruitt, you’re f—ing up the environment!” all while recording the encounter on his phone. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5162986/scott-pruitt-airport-altercation-first-class/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5162986/scott-pruitt-airport-altercation-first-class/"},"headline":"EPA Security Backed Up Scott Pruitt's Argument for Flying First-Class","datePublished":"2018-02-16T19:00:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:19:42.687Z","description":"Security staffers for Environmental Protection Agency head recommended he fly first class after several encounters with irate passengers.","url":"https://time.com/5162986/scott-pruitt-airport-altercation-first-class/","keywords":["Environment","EPA","onetime","Scott Pruitt"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5579a45b785964c2/698927f2096a946cd36a1893/gettyimages-917485538.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5579a45b785964c2/698927f2096a946cd36a1893/gettyimages-917485538.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Hosts An Infrastructure Initiative Meeting With State And Local Officials","caption":"President Trump Hosts An Infrastructure Initiative Meeting With State And Local Officials","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5162986/scott-pruitt-airport-altercation-first-class/","name":"EPA Security Backed Up Scott Pruitt's Argument for Flying First-Class"}}]}] ```