Staffing Match employee Salman Iftikhar threatened to rape flight attendant in first class blowup

An intoxicated, wealthy entrepreneur threatened to rape a Virgin Atlantic flight attendant before blowing up her hotel room during a mid-air, first-class blowup.

Salman Iftikhar was sentenced to 15 months in jail on Tuesday for his vile threats directed at the cabin crew aboard a Virgin flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to Lahore, Pakistan on Feb. 7, 2023.

“Don’t tell me what to do you racist f–king bitch. I know where you are from in Cardiff,” Iftikhar screamed during the flight, according to The Mirror.

The first-class meltdown began during the eight-hour flight’s first meal service.

The 37-year-old was downing champagne at the plane’s in-flight bar when he reached over the counter and began grabbing ice for himself using his hands, the Isleworth Crown Court heard, according to the outlet.

The intoxicated passenger, who was flying with his wife and three children, was confronted by the flight crew and told to return to his seat.

Iftikhar turned hostile and accused the crew of being racist.

“You called me a p-ki in front of everybody,” the man yelled.

The irate passenger began filming the flight attendants.

“Do not tell me what to do you bitch,” Iftikhar shouts before threatening one female flight attendant.

The flight deck was notified of the meltdown and activated the seatbelt sign, in hopes the hot-headed businessman would follow orders.

Iftikhar blamed the seatbelt sign on the flight crew.

On board staff claimed Iftikhar was slurring his words during the outburst, becoming aggressive and asking people if they knew who he was, according to the outlet.

Iftikhar’s wife, at one point, walked to the food bar to talk with flight attendants but was pushed away by her husband, who ordered her not to talk to them.

Iftikhar attempted to fight male flight attendant Tommy Merchant by grabbing him and telling him to shut up.

“Do you know who I am? F–k off. You should know who I am. Come on you heard me. Let’s go right now,” he told Merchant.

Iftikhar escalated the already out-of-control situation when he threatened the flight crew with the exact room numbers they’d be staying at in the Avari Lahore Hotel.

He grabbed one of the flight attendants calling her “f–king white Welsh c–t,” before threatening to rape her.

“The white sheep s–ting bitch will be dead. The floor of your hotel will be blown up and it will disappear,” he shouted, according to The Mirror. “You will be dragged by your hair from your room and gang raped and set on fire.”

The unidentified flight attendant was left traumatized over the encounter and was forced to take 14 months off work.

“I am a strong brave, happy stewardess, and loved my job. I am well known within the company. I have been flying with Virgin Atlantic for 37 years. I was working when all flights were grounded on 9/11, and I’ve even flown into a warzone. But this incident has broken me,” she read in a victim impact statement.

“Never in my entire career flying for 37 years have I not been sure what to do. I have had the best career in the world for 37 years. But he has taken that away from me,” she added.

Iftikhar is the founder and director of the recruitment firm Staffing Match, according to his LinkedIn

The violent passenger was free to leave the plane and wasn’t arrested by authorities when the flight landed in Pakistan.

He was arrested over a year later at his $1.2M home in Iver, England, just outside of London on March 16, 2024.

Iftikhar, who is from Iver, admitted to making the threats to kill and the racial harassment of the female flight attendant.

He was cleared of assault and threats to kill Merchant.

His lawyer claimed the businessman was suffering from “amnesia blood loss,” during his violent outburst.